Learning how to manage your rental properties through trial and error can be costly in the property management business. Even if you’ve been in the business a while, there are always new problems that may pop up over time and ones that you will want to find a way to avoid long before they become a possibility. We’ve compiled ten tips below to hit the high points of managing your rentals beginning to end.
- Make Sure you’re Ready – If you are looking at buying your first investment property or adding to your portfolio, you’ll want to make sure you’re financially ready to take that step.
- How to Start – Starting out as a landlord can be overwhelming. There are so many small things that you should know, and possibly more that you don’t even know that you should know. Take a look at this article to make sure you’re covering what you need.
- Tools of the Trade – When you’re getting ready to put your rental up for lease, you’ll want to make sure you have done the appropriate amount of research to ensure that potential tenants know that it’s the best option on the table for them. There are some great tools to help you in that research.
- Tenant Privacy -During the application and tenant screening process you may gather quite a bit of information from your applicants. Some of this information will be very sensitive, such as social security numbers and other identifying information. You will need to make sure it is safe and protected.
- Understanding Landlord Harassment – There may be times when a landlord needs to contact the tenant for something or even enter the home, but be careful that your actions aren’t viewed as harassing the tenants or keeping them from enjoying their home in peace, or you may find yourself in trouble.
- Preventative Maintenance – From time to time a repair will need to be made on the rental home that you own, and you should have an arrangement with your tenant so that they know that they need to alert you to this. Even so, preventative maintenance can save you a lot of money in the long run.
- Major Repairs – Preparing for major repairs on an occupied rental can be troublesome, but sometimes you have no choice. There are several things you will need to decide, but it’s best to work with your tenants to make sure that everyone is on the same page and you cause them the smallest amount of inconvenience possible.
- Negligence Lawsuits – When you accept a tenant into your rental home it is likely that you both sign a contract, agreeing to a set of rules between you. If you purposefully neglect something in that agreement, you may find yourself at the other end of a lawsuit.
- Outgoing Tenant Checklist – Tenant turnover can be a very rushed time, but you don’t want to let your outgoing tenant fall through the cracks just because you’re focused on your incoming tenant.
- Selling a Rental Property – There may come a time when you decide it’s time to sell your rental property. If so, there are several things you should think about before putting it on the market.
