Landlord Recommendations to Properly Manage Your Rental Property

When you are the owner of a rental property, your job as the landlord is to protect your investment and ensure your rental is bringing in cash flow to cover its expenses. As part of this process, you need to find and secure great renters who will stay for as long as possible before you have to repeat the process and find a new renter. Here are some recommendations for you to use as a landlord to keep a better-managed property and positive cash flow property.

Use a Good Lease Contract

One of the first rules of being a good landlord and property manager is to have a solid lease contract that is going to protect your position as a landlord. However, you don't want the rental contract to be one-sided and not be attractive to your renters, as this can cause them to not renew their lease or not even sign the lease. 

For example, you don't want to be the landlord who tells them they cannot use nails in the walls to hang pictures and you want to be able to inspect the property at any time without notice. Be sure you outline in the contract some reasonable expectations of property care and allow for monthly or quarterly, as an example, inspections of the property with at least 24-hour notice.

Evaluate Your Tenants

Before you sign the lease with a new tenant and let them move in, be sure you are thoroughly screening them to make sure they are going to provide you with long-term rent potential and take care of your property. Keep in mind your tenants are going to cause regular wear and tear to the rental, but you can do some research with their rental application to avoid renting to a non-payer or someone who continually has problems with the police being called to their house.

Take some time to complete an interview with a potential renter when you show them the unit. Get a feel for how they seem as a renter and ask them to fill out a rental application. The rental application should provide you permission to review their credit report and also complete a background check. Look for any types of serious credit issues or a criminal background, which can be red flags to you as a landlord. You should also check their income and employment status to make sure they have the income to pay for the rental.

If you choose to hire a property manager to handle the tenant evaluation and screening process, they can use their experience in evaluating a potential renter. They will also be able to collect recommendations from past landlords and complete the required background checks.

To learn more, contact a property management service. 


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