How to manage Rental Properties in 5 easy steps
When you respect your property, chances are your tenant will also. Now, this is important, don’t be a slum landlord; I aim to have my units looking great from the get-go. If I would not live in the re
Managing rental properties
I use www.zillow.com, www.apartments.com, and www.stessa.com to post my rental vacancies. The apps are free for everyone to use searching for rentals. Each app allows the tenant to have a credit report and background check run. Make sure your applicant has a stable income and no evictions.
Most of my tenants come via Zillow. Zillow pushes it out to many sites for free. Try to be thorough with lease duration and moving-in costs. Do you allow pets, smoking, extended guest visits, and parking, to name a few? I look for good credit history of actually paying bills on time. How will you pay your rent on time if you can’t pay your phone bill on time? When you have lots of collections, then it’s plain that you don’t value finances, so why would you pay your rent on time? No evictions, period.
Bookkeeping
Make sure your books are in order from day one! I use google sheets to enter all my expenses/income per property. Rents and move-in cost the tenants pay on Apartments.com, and I track spending in Stessa.
Stessa will run property reports that I can’t do on Google Sheets. In Stessa, I have bank accounts connected for quick property allocation of charges.
Attract the right tenants.
When you respect your property, chances are your tenant will also. Now, this is important, don’t be a slum landlord; I aim to have my units looking great from the get-go. If I would not live in the rental because of its appearance, why should I expect someone else to pay me $?
Pricing your rental
I use www.rentometer.com to price my rentals. Please make a point of not thinking, hmm; I can get more $ than that! It’s essential to get the right tenant, but I also want to have many applicants apply. Pricing will also almost always guarantee that your tenants stay longer. It all boils down to this, you do not wish turnovers yearly, or your profits will be non-existent.
Lease
I use www.rocketlawyer.com to create my leases. The tenants and I all will sign the lease online. Ensure that you protect yourself. Your lease should spell out the terms and conditions to protect the tenant and landlord. Please also make sure that you follow and respect your local landlord-tenant laws.
It would help if you lay out expectations for what your business relationship will look like. For most landlords, this means using a solid lease agreement. Make your tenant aware of what an emergency is and what it’s not. They should know when and how to contact you, when rent is due, and what happens if they do not pay on time. Setting expectations upfront will save a lot of trouble.