One of the best business ideas available is to buy a property and then rent it out, but finding good tenants is a difficult task. So, hiring a professional property management company will help you to manage the rental property by finding tenants that will save your time and money. By this, you can also have a monthly income that covers the mortgage and gives you a profit on top.
Picking a decent property in the right location and paying the correct money for it is only the beginning when it comes to being a landlord, however. If you want tenants to stay for the long term, saving you any time when your property is empty and you therefore aren’t making any money, it’s a good idea to be the best landlord you can. Here are some useful tips.
Customize The Lease
Once you have purchased a great looking property and you have decided you want to rent it out, you will need to work with any potential tenants to create a lease that works for both parties. Of course, this isn’t strictly necessary, there are standard leases you can use. By working through the lease and customizing it for the individual tenant who is hoping to rent from you, you can show them that you are listening to what they need, and ensuring that they are happy and comfortable in your property. By doing this, hopefully they will stay living there for a long time.
Items that might need to be customized in your lease include whether any pets are going to be allowed in the property, who is responsible for what when it comes to maintenance, and how long the lease is to last for.
Allow Changes To The Property
Most of the time, if a tenant wants to make changes to the property, such as installing new carpets or redecorating a room, those changes are going to make a difference to the value of the property in the future. If the tenant is happy to install their own new bathroom or kitchen, or even simply make the yard look tidier by putting in a new patio or decked area, this is all going to be an advantage to you in the future.
Therefore, it is usually a good idea to agree to any changes that the tenant wants to make, although of course you should check that they are going to be using qualified people to do the work, and that they have insurance in place. Not only does it show that the tenant is going to stay for longer, but it will save you money in the long term too. Plus, you’ll be proving you’re a good landlord to have.
Make Repairs In A Timely Manner
Small repairs around the house will probably be dealt with by the tenant as a matter of course (or you could include this in your tenancy agreement), but larger repairs are going to be down to the landlord to fix. This is one of the main benefits for renters; they don’t have the same responsibilities as a property owner does. Therefore, you shouldn’t be surprised if you find you receive maintenance requests from your tenants from time to time.
As a good landlord, you should assess these maintenance tasks and carry out the repairs in a timely manner. Again, this will help to keep your tenants happy and content, but it will also protect your property which, as an investment, needs to be carefully looked after.
