Page 1 of 14. 328 articles in total.
Management fees are easy to price. The cost of doing it yourself is not, because most of it rarely reaches a spreadsheet. Here is the Columbus math, as of September 2026, with both columns filled in. TL;DR Professional management in Columbus runs $117 to $184 per unit per month on a flat-rate plan,
Read the article →You own the building. Someone else lives in it. Ohio law draws a line between those two facts, and it is more specific than most Columbus landlords expect. TL;DR Ohio requires reasonable notice before a landlord enters an occupied rental, and the statute puts a number on it: 24 hours is presumed rea
Read the article →Move-out is the point in a tenancy where Ohio law gets specific and expensive. Here is the sequence that keeps a Columbus landlord out of a deposit dispute. TL;DR An Ohio tenant move-out runs on one hard deadline: under ORC 5321.16(B), the itemized deduction list and any money owed are due within 30
Read the article →Renewal offers on leases signed last spring are going out right now. On most of them, the decision is worth more than the rent difference it turns on. TL;DR Raise rent at renewal when the gap to market is 10% or more, when the resident has gone two years without an increase, or when the
Read the article →The tenant is gone. The couch, the boxes, and half a closet of clothes are not. Before anything goes in a dumpster, it’s worth knowing that Ohio law says less about this situation than most landlords assume, and that the gap is where owners get sued. TL;DR Ohio has no statute spelling out how landlo
Read the article →Bexley is three miles from downtown Columbus, wrapped on three sides by the city, and priced like neither of those things. For investors, it’s a live demonstration of what school district demand and constrained inventory do to a rental market. TL;DR Bexley is a premium, supply-constrained rental sub
Read the article →Starting October 1, 2026, the cost of professional photos for a new listing shifts from RL Property Management’s books to the property owner’s, a change worth explaining rather than burying in a cost schedule update. TL;DR Starting October 1, 2026, RL Property Management passes the cost of professio
Read the article →Your listing has been live for two weeks. A handful of views, zero inquiries, zero applications, and the mortgage payment doesn’t pause while you wait. The good news: this problem is diagnosable, and the diagnosis usually comes down to one of three things. TL;DR A rental listing getting no applicati
Read the article →Ten years ago, New Albany was a master-planned suburb known for white fences and good schools. In 2026, it sits at the center of the largest concentration of tech and advanced manufacturing investment in Ohio’s history, and the rental math has changed with it. TL;DR New Albany is Columbus’s premium
Read the article →Nearly 6 in 10 renters have a pet. A “no pets” policy doesn’t just shrink your applicant pool; it filters out long-staying tenants while doing nothing about the animals that show up anyway. The real question isn’t whether to allow pets. It’s whether your policy protects you when you do. TL;DR Pet-fr
Read the article →Powell just closed the book on an eighteen-month zoning rewrite, Whitehall is weighing two ordinances that could touch construction and tenant activity, and a Franklin zoning board meets tonight. Here is what Central Ohio landlords need to track this week. TL;DR Powell City Council approved an updat
Read the article →Ohio doesn’t cap late rent fees. That sounds like freedom until a magistrate strikes your $15-per-day charge as a penalty, or a Columbus tenant uses your oversized fee against you in an eviction. The rules live in the lease you wrote and the consistency you bring to enforcing it. TL;DR Ohio has no s
Read the article →The rent didn’t arrive on the 1st. It’s now the 6th, the grace period is gone, and the tenant isn’t answering texts. What you do over the next 30 days determines whether this costs you a late fee or a five-figure loss. TL;DR When a tenant stops paying rent in Ohio, the process runs in
Read the article →A slow leak under a bathroom sink costs a few dollars to fix in March. Left alone until December, it can cost $3,000 in subfloor and drywall repairs. The difference between those two outcomes is usually one thing: whether anyone looked. TL;DR A quarterly rental property inspection checks safety equi
Read the article →Pickerington keeps turning up in Central Ohio’s strongest sales numbers, and the rental side of the market is following close behind. Here’s what an investor needs to know before buying in this southeast Columbus suburb. TL;DR Pickerington, a Fairfield/Franklin County suburb anchored by an A-rated s
Read the article →Your tenant pays rent on the 1st. Your money doesn’t always show up that day. Here’s exactly what happens in between, and what Ohio law requires your property manager to do with it. TL;DR When a tenant pays rent, the property management company collects it, subtracts the management fee and any appro
Read the article →A tenant hands back the keys. The clock starts. Under Ohio law, you have 30 days to either return the deposit or send a written, itemized deduction list, and what you charge better be defensible. Here’s the full breakdown of Ohio security deposit law for landlords. TL;DR Ohio sets no cap on securit
Read the article →A refrigerator dies at the worst possible time, mid-lease, on a Friday. Here’s the rule RLPM’s maintenance team uses to decide whether a failing appliance gets fixed or replaced, before it becomes an emergency. TL;DR Replace an appliance once it’s past roughly 75% of its expected lifespan and the re
Read the article →Twelve municipal updates crossed our desk this week. Three are worth your full attention: Franklin is weighing short-term rental rules that could set a template for neighboring suburbs, Grove City just passed a wet basement ordinance amendment with immediate compliance implications, and Worthington
Read the article →A burst pipe doesn’t wait for a convenient month. Before buying a first rental or refinancing a fifth, Columbus owners need a real number for how much cash should sit on the sidelines, not a guess. TL;DR RLPM recommends six months’ rent in reserve for a Central Ohio rental property, covering mainten
Read the article →Powell sits inside one of the fastest-growing counties in Ohio, anchored by a school district investors keep hearing about by name. Here is what the numbers say about renting, buying, and managing property there in 2026. TL;DR Powell, Ohio rents run well above the Columbus metro average, largely bec
Read the article →A lease ending doesn’t have to mean a clean choice between another year or losing a tenant for good. Month-to-month terms sit in the middle, and knowing when to use one is what separates a deliberate lease strategy from a reactive scramble. TL;DR Month-to-month leases work best when a fixed term end
Read the article →Central Ohio’s first heat advisory of the season landed in late June, with heat index values pushing past 100 degrees, and a round of severe storms already swept the region earlier in the month. Here’s what Columbus landlords should have locked down before the next heat wave or downburst hits. TL;DR
Read the article →You list the property, then you wait. Each day it sits empty is rent you will not get back. So how long should you actually expect to wait in the Columbus market right now? TL;DR Most Columbus rentals lease within a few weeks once they are rent-ready and priced to the current market. Nationally, the
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