Running a property can be expensive - in both time and money. We wanted to know how landlords keep their costs down, so we reached out to experienced landlords across the country for their perspectives and received back some intriguing and thought-provoking responses.
Inevitably, even your best tenants will move out sooner or later - hopefully later. Either way, when your tenants say goodbye, what is your plan to attract new, highly qualified ones? Mapping out your strategy before this happens will prepare you to quickly fill a vacancy. Here are some approaches to consider as you develop your dynamic marketing plan.
There are a lot of moving parts to the application process, but one you will not want to gloss over is rental history. It is an important predictor of how potential tenants will treat rental payments and care for your property. So, how do you prepare for this process? And what should you expect? Let’s dive in.
As an owner of properties, you may think that management process is very simple. After all, it’s just about finding tenants and collecting rent, right? However, you may be surprised how many tasks property managers actually have and how much time they spend on them.
Do you want to know why it’s important to learn how to balance a budget sooner rather than later and why insurance is a must? With modern technology, making a budget is easier than ever. Here we share four key tips that will help you get started.
It’s probably no surprise that security deposits can cause friction between landlords and prior tenants. No renter wants to lose that! On the other hand, landlords don’t want to keep deposits when it means they have to deal with the messy situations that merit a no-refund. So what are some of the top reasons landlords might legally keep part or all of a security deposit?
With few exceptions, landlords want to maximize profits from their rental properties, but what are the best ways to do this? We spoke with several experienced landlords from across the country about their top pieces of advice for increasing property income, and it’s intriguing to see what these experts focus on and how their pieces of advice overlap.
As we mentioned in part one of this series, categories like credit, rental, and employment history are important to think through when establishing your policies. We also offered an example list of criteria you could use, shown below. This list offers some guidelines that may seem inflexible, but your policy can be much more nuanced. Let’s consider some potential exceptions to this list as you start preparing your guidelines.
When filling a unit vacancy, it can be tempting to rent to people based solely on great first impressions. While your gauge of character may be spot on or your friends’ recommendations are always right, take the extra steps to protect yourself by conducting thorough background checks that follow screening guidelines you’ve previously established. By consistently using your policies to evaluate applicants equally and fairly, you can protect yourself from discrimination lawsuits.
As a landlord, having long-term tenants who communicate well with you and are responsible is ideal. It’s especially helpful when they’re responsible; you’ll receive rental payments on time, which will improve your cash flow and help you pay your upcoming bills. Here are some ways to significantly increase your chances of receiving rental payments on or before their due dates.
