An Essential Guide to Becoming an Effective First-Time Landlord

Becoming an Effective First-Time Landlord

You’ve always wanted to be in the real estate business, and after years of saving up and working hard, you can now finally call yourself a landlord.

However, along with the excitement comes the uncertainty of what lies ahead. You want to become effective in this business, but you don’t know exactly where to start.

Now leave all your worries behind because you have these tips to guide you:

Before Putting Your Properties for Rent

Becoming a landlord means you’re responsible for making sure that your property is up to code and compliant with all the rules for rental properties in your area.

So before putting anything up for rent, it’s very important to complete this checklist first:

• Get a complete home inspection to identify issues that need fixing before tenants move in.
• Make sure that all your vents are clean and your pipes don’t have any blockage.
• Acquire some reliable smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
• Ensure all locks for your doors and windows are functioning well.
• Know more about the laws regarding your rental, including the “warranty of habitability.”

Getting Your Business in Order

Your rental may be your primary job or not, but you have to treat it like a business. With that in mind, here are things that will help you run everything smoothly:

• Get a landlord insurance quote to know exactly how much you need to pay to protect your properties from any unforeseen circumstances.
• Open a bank account for your rental. It’s very important to separate your personal money from your business money, so it’s easier to keep track of your income.
• Create an emergency fund. This will help you cover the costs of any unplanned expenses and ensure that you can keep tenants happy by getting things fixed right away.
• Determine your rental prices. Do some research and see what the competitive price point is for the type of property you have in your area. This is also a good time to create a detailed description of what’s included in that rental.
• Work with a trusted attorney to help you draft contracts, impose rules and take care of all the legalities involved in running a rental business.
• Decide if you want to be the property manager or if you’re going to hire one. If this is your main business, then you can handle rent collection, bookkeeping, maintenance and requests. But if you’re busy with work or other responsibilities, you always have the option of hiring a property manager to do it for you.

Marketing Your Rental Business

Once everything is prepped and ready, you can now start putting the word out about your rental business.

Learn more from these tricks to help you out:

• Get your property listed in online listings that have high traffic. This will ensure your property gets the visibility it deserves, making it more accessible for prospective tenants to discover.
• Take professional photos of your property and ensure all the vital details are captured to add to the interest in your property.
• Create a detailed description of your property. Showcase all the important features of your rental to make it easier for potential tenants to know if it’s the right fit for them or not. This will also help you save time with the questions and unnecessary viewings.
• Go to social media or do local advertising to get the word out there without spending a lot of money on marketing.

Accepting Tenants

Once you already have enquiries knocking at your door, make sure to follow these tips in screening and accepting tenants:

• Don’t just accept tenants. Make sure that you do your due diligence before accepting an offer from anyone. Check personal information, do credit checks, and be on the lookout for red flags that could give you a headache in the long run.
• Check for any issues that could potentially cause you problems with repayments, including a poor credit score, previous late payments, evictions and notice of bankruptcies.
• Once you have a potential tenant, schedule a walkthrough of the property where you get to show how it is when you turn it over to them. This is also a good time to inform your tenant of his responsibilities to make sure that you’re both on the same page.
• Be clear about the rules and regulations in your property. It’s very important to be clear on dates of repayments, contracts and notices before you completely accept a tenant, so you won’t run into any problems later on.

Once the deal is closed and you already have a tenant, make sure to welcome them like you would your own family.

Moving into your property means getting to call it home, so make sure that they feel the love from their landlord by assisting them on the day of the move, giving them a little welcome gift and just letting them know that you are accessible to them.

If done right, a rental business can really bring you huge profits.

So follow these tips and work your way to becoming the best landlord that you can be.