It is no longer news that the property business has become the latest oil well. Although your rental property is going to yield good income, you must follow up on your investment.
It is not a business you can set up and forget. If you want to succeed as a landlord, you need to develop strategies that will enable you to manage your property well. Once you decide to buy a rental property for business, have it in mind that you will need to run the business even if you already hired a property manager.
As a landlord, you might have several properties you have put up for rent; setting policies that will govern your properties will be the best thing to follow. However, much still needs to be done as a landlord so that the running of your property will be smooth, and thereby you will be free from any further hassles.
The challenge most landlords face is coming up with good and effective strategies that will help them in maintaining their rental property. Hence, we have come up with six amazing tips that you as a landlord can use in managing your rented properties;
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1.Start with setting the right rent
Most landlords’ mistake is to set up a rental property and just put up a figure for rent that they feel is right. But that will be a wrong move to take. When you have decided to set up your rental amount, you need to find a realistic amount that you charge that will be comfortable for you and convenient for tenants to pay. For example, you’ll be able to charge a higher rent if you have Mountain View apartments for rent than if your property has a poor view.
When you have the best price, you will attract more tenants, and your property might even be tagged the best in the environment. Furthermore, you will also maintain a low vacancy rate and reduce tenant turnover. How do you get to find out the price that is right for you? It’s simple, and you only need to research other rental properties in the area your property is also located. Try to find out what their rent rate is, and then you can set up your rental rate for your property.
2.Ensure your property is always maintained routinely.
If you want your property to be intact in years to come, then you need to implement routine maintenance. You can decide to always clean the gutters around, replace your HVAC filters, trim the trees around your environment and ensure everywhere is always neat.
As seen on this link, you can also hire the services of expert property managers that can handle these issues for your tenants. This way, you won’t have to spend so much on repairs often. When your tenants call for repairs, responding timely to such requests will also help you in maintaining your property. Keeping your property maintained is solely your responsibility, and it is the only way the value of your property can continue to appreciate.
3. Enforce the landlord-tenant law and policy
This is one thing that most landlords have failed to recognize. They seem to forget that their rental property should also be treated like their regular business, and laws and policies should be laid down. After acquiring your property and setting up the property for rent, you need to know the landlord-tenant laws and policies.
The laws should comprise both federal and state laws as well as the law around your locality. If you want to succeed in the business and stay in business for a longer period, then ensure you are up-to-date with these laws because they keep changing all the time. You also need to concentrate on your responsibility as a landlord, especially the laws that have to do with screening tenants and evicting tenants.
4. Come up with a lease agreement
Before you decide to put up your property for lease, ensure that you come up with a lease agreement. You should also ensure your tenants read and sign the agreement as proof that they also accepted your agreement.
This will be very helpful when issues arise along the line or if you have misunderstandings in the future with your tenants. Furthermore, to be sure you are on the right track, let a lawyer go through the agreement or, better still, help you come up with an accurate agreement.
5. Screen your tenants properly
Before letting out your property, you should screen your tenants properly to avoid letting out your home to tenants that will become a problem to you in the future. For instance, some tenants will not pay rent on time or even avoid paying rent completely, and most landlords like to avoid such tenants.
A thorough screening process is the right thing to do, and this screening will involve background screening, checking their reference, place of work, and credit check. You can also create a tenant screening policy that you can stick to whenever you have to screen a new tenant.
6. Be strict with your rent collection
Your rental business is also a real business and should be treated as such. This simply means when it is time to collect your rent, you need to be strict with it. This will determine how profitable your rental property business will be. If you make the mistake of letting a tenant go without paying rent for one month, you never know.
Your good deed may backfire because that one month may turn into several months and maybe one year of not receiving payment. If this happens, how do you intend to keep maintaining your property? You need to be consistent in collecting your rent; you can even remind your tenants ahead of time to encourage early payment of rent.
Most landlords tend to be too busy, and as such, they might hand their property over to property managers to control. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take care of your property when you can.
While your managers will take care of your property the way they can, it is your responsibility to take out time to always inspect your properties. Since the success of your property lies in your hands, manage your property wisely using the few tips listed above and other tips that will be given to you by your property management company.
