How to Manage Rental Property
Managing a rental property efficiently helps you develop a good landlord-tenant relationship, which subsequently reduces the tenant turnover rate. If the tenants are satisfied living in your home as well as with your conduct, then they may renew their lease agreement, most probably with an increase in rent. This will not only save you the hassle of finding new tenants, but will also earn you more money. Even if your tenants decide against renewing their lease, they will cooperate with you when showing the unit to prospective new tenants at the end of the contract. Here are a few tips that you can utilize to manage your rental property efficiently to get the most out of it:
Advertise vacant property for rent
Start by advertising the vacant property for rent. There are a number of sources that you can use to grab the attention of prospective tenants. Advertise the property online, or place a classified ad in the property section of the newspaper or local property market. You can also seek help of a professional real estate agent.
Show the rental unit to prospective tenants
Once you have advertised your rental property, remain prepared for conducting viewings. Make sure the unit is in its prime condition to attract prospective tenants.
Seek written applications with credit and employment references
Interview the tenants interested in living in your house and screen the best candidates by seeking written applications, containing their credit information as well as employment references.
Investigate your prospective tenant’s background
It is very important to investigate the background of potential tenants to make sure they don’t have a history of evictions or lease violations.
Have your rental property insured
Before renting your property, it is very important to obtain fire, theft and other necessary insurances on it.
Maintenance and repairs
Make sure you carry out all the maintenances and repairs as soon as possible. Besides requested repairs and maintenance, conduct regular inspections of the property to avoid major repairs. Leave a questionnaire with your tenants after any repair or maintenance to know if they are satisfied with your performance.
Be available to your tenants
Respond to your tenant’s queries in time and ensure you are available to them whenever they need you.
Rental policies and procedures
Design rational rental policies and procedures and make sure the tenants comply with them.
Rental payments
Set a fair rent and establish an organized system for collection of monthly rental payments.
