// tenant placement
Priced to the market, screened to a written standard, leased with the notices your city requires.
A vacancy costs more than the leasing fee. At Oakland's average rent of $2,323, every empty week is about $540 gone. We price the unit against what is actually renting nearby, list it with professional-quality photos you supply or we arrange, show it on a schedule that fits working applicants, and screen every file against the same written standard. The lease we sign carries the AB 1482 notices or the local ordinance notices the unit needs, so the first day of the tenancy does not become a problem on the last day.
We start with what comparable units in the same neighborhood leased for in the last 60 days, not what is listed and sitting. Median asking rents in the East Bay run from about $2,156 in Antioch to $3,441 in Lafayette, and a 1BR in Oakland is around $2,085 while a 2BR in Berkeley is near $2,995. Pricing high and waiting rarely wins. A unit that sits an extra month at $2,700 has given back more than it would have earned over a year at $2,600. We show you the comps, recommend a number, and explain the trade.
Every applicant is measured against the same written criteria: verified income, credit history, rental references, and a clean check of prior evictions. The standard is in writing before the listing goes live, and the first qualified applicant to complete a file gets the unit. SB 329 means a housing voucher or other lawful source of income counts as income and cannot be the reason for a denial. Fair-housing law means we do not ask about family status, national origin, disability or any other protected class, and we do not let a call from the owner change the outcome of a file. If a file is denied, the applicant gets the reason in writing.
The lease is where most compliance problems are born. An individually owned single-family home or condo is exempt from the AB 1482 cap only if the lease carries the statutory exemption language. A unit under AB 1482 needs the just-cause and rent-cap notice. Oakland, Berkeley, Alameda, Richmond and other cities require their own notice of tenant rights with the lease. Berkeley requires new partially covered tenancies to be reported to the Rent Board within 15 days. We use the right form for the unit, attach the right disclosures, and document the move-in with a dated, photographed condition report that both parties sign.
// questions
It depends on the price and the season. In Lafayette, one flat-fee competitor reports 14 to 21 days to lease. A unit priced to recent comps in Oakland or Berkeley, listed with good photos and shown promptly, is usually in the same range. A unit priced above the market can sit for months.
You set the standard with us before the listing goes live: minimum income multiple, credit floor, reference requirements. Once it is set, the first applicant who meets it gets the unit. Choosing between qualified applicants on anything else is where fair-housing claims come from, and we will not do it.
California caps security deposits at one month's rent (AB 12), whether the unit is furnished or not. In Berkeley the deposit also earns interest that must be paid to the tenant by Dec 31 each year; the 2025 rate was 0.9%.
Typically half of one month's rent, charged once the tenant has signed and paid. It covers pricing, listing, showings, screening, the lease and the move-in report. Nothing is owed if we do not place a tenant.
// where we work
The rule that applies in each city, and what we do about it there.
// start here
What your place should rent for, what the city will let you charge next year, and what we would do first. Written, within one business day.
// next step
A written rental analysis for your property, free, within one business day. No obligation and no sales call unless you ask for one.