Managing rental properties can be a lot of work, and it certainly brings its fair share of surprises. But there is a way to reduce the stress and set yourself up for success. Check out these tips for avoiding the most common rental property management mistakes.
Are you listing the apartments in your property for the right amount based on the price of upkeep as well as based on the average income in your area? Also, are you advertising your listings in the right places? Knowing the demographics of your target tenants can help you ensure your rental prices, listings and other property details are on target.
According to 5 Rental property Management Mistakes to Avoid, a common mistake made by new rental property managers is not keeping up with the maintenance demands of their properties. Avoid this pitfall by creating a maintenance schedule and then stick to that plan.
Details to consider for your maintenance schedule include how often you’ll service the appliances in each unit, how often you’ll schedule the building’s ducts to be cleaned and more. Be sure to work with your maintenance crew on establishing a reasonable maintenance schedule. This will help ensure everyone is on the same page and will close the door on miscommunications.
The staff members you hire to help manage the duties of your rental properties can mean the difference between success and failure. Find the right employees for every job around your properties by creating accurate job listings, by posting the listings in the right places and by thoroughly interviewing each candidate.
To experience real success as a rental property manager, you must not only manage the properties, you must also review the data behind them. For example, what is the average length that tenants live in your properties and how often is rent paid on time? How many tenant inquiries do you receive back from each advertisement you list? Tracking the data behind these and other details will provide the information to continuously evolve your property management strategy. It will also provide the information needed to make smarter business decisions.
The biggest worry of most rental property managers is how the properties will be treated by their tenants. Reduce this concern by implementing a screening process for all potential tenants. For example, your screening process may include reference checks, listings of places where potential tenants have lived in the past five years and more.
You will also likely want to require a security deposit of the first and last month’s rent. Requiring the security deposit shows that a potential tenant will be able to cover the monthly rent and also provides a cushion of funds for property repairs if needed.
Managing rental properties is a lot of work, but it needn’t be overly stressful. Learn more about the common mistakes made by rental property managers so you can create a plan to avoid them.
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