On the surface, the life of a landlord looks super-easy – after all, the only thing they need to do is to collect the money, right? The truth is that being a landlord is just as hard as anything else, as nothing comes easy.
If you are starting as a landlord, you will want to start with finding a trustworthy source for effective property management, as it is the key to the effective viability of the entire rental property business. If you aren’t strategic as a landlord, your profits will start to decline.
So, to make everything work smoothly and efficiently, you will want to consider the strategies given below to effectively manage your property.
Have a Schedule for Everything
Being a landlord is a job that literally puts you out there 24/7 if you don’t work within fixed working hours. That said, you will want to set a schedule for each task. Of course, you can make your job easier by getting professional help for property maintenance and paperwork. And upkeep.
If you have several properties that you have rented out, you will want alternative sayings for specific tasks, including tenant communication, rent collection, and regular maintenance. If you have open units, you will have to meet with several prospective tenants, which means you could opt for hosting an open house or scheduling appointments with the prospective tenants within a three-hour window.
Automate Processes
As a landlord, you can use technology effectively by automating the rent collection process. Of course, it will take a lot of time to show up at the properties to collect cash from each tenant. If you sign up to collect cash or the checks manually, then you will have to equally invest time in the subsequent bookkeeping process to ensure that each payment has been properly credited.
To save your time and to make things more convenient for your tenants, you will want to opt for automatic bank transfers while using apps such as Venmo. You could also opt for a specific invoicing app or a suitable app that is specific to rent collection alone.
Check Your Finances
You will always want an emergency plan ready to deal with sudden repairs, as you don’t always know whether your tenants have the money. So, on the safe side, you want to open a line of credit/ savings account dedicated as a repair fund for emergencies.
Offer Additional Services
Sometimes, certain things related to property maintenance are left to negotiation, such as lawn maintenance and snow shoveling. Some tenants might treat your property as their own and perform all home maintenance tasks themselves. Others might let things slide and not pay much attention to the things that need to be done, thus damaging your property.
If you find that a tenant cannot keep up with the maintenance tasks, it could lead to damage and cause you to spend more on maintenance after the tenants have left the property. So, you will want to ensure property maintenance by offering these additional services yourself – with the help of professional caretakers, you can later pass on the costs to the tenants.
