Land-lording, for the most part, is a pretty intuitive practice. What successful land-lording boils down to is finding good tenants, keep them happy, and doing it at reasonable cost. While this equation seems pretty simple in theory, in practice it can be difficult to execute. We have assembled a list of landlord tips that will help you carry out your duties smoothly.
1.) Maintain your tenant’s properties to a high standard.
This one is seems like a no-brainer, but surprisingly enough it is often overlooked. In order to maintain a high standard of quality at your units, you should put some procedures in place.
Firstly, you should try to respond to repair requests within 1-2 days (especially if it’s an emergency). We realize that this isn’t always practical if you’re working full-time or managing several units, so we recommend having 2 trusted handymen who could assist you tenant if you cannot.
Secondly, we suggest doing walkthroughs of your units once a month. You may spot problems the tenant won’t, or find problems before they deteriorate further. Also, many tenants will appreciate your proactive efforts for unit upkeep.
Finally, you must be willing to upgrade your properties from time to time. This can be a fine line to walk because often times tenants make demands that are overly expensive. When a request is made you must carefully consider the cost/ benefit of the request, and factors like the tenants past behavior.
2.) Make yourself easily accessible to your tenants.
We just don’t mean for traditional means such as phone or email (while these mediums are a must nowadays). This can be done in several ways; possibilities include an online form to submit rent, requests, or applications. Also, encourage your tenants to follow you on your social media profiles (if you have any) because it’s a quick, informal medium for communicating.
3.) Evaluate.
Input from your tenants can be valuable, especially if you are new to being a landlord. Receiving input face-to-face can be a difficult process with tenants not always being honest, or being a little too combative to produce constructive results. We suggest writing up a short survey with the goal of finding out how you can improve your tenants living experiences. Distribute the survey once or twice a year, and assure your tenant it will remain anonymous.