Tips for First-Time Landlords - Get the Most From Your Property

As a landlord, managing a property and its tenants requires a lot of work in many different areas. It’s easy to become overwhelmed, lose sight of an important area, and ultimately lose profits due to that oversight. However, by being proactive, you can get better results. Don’t know where to start? No worries: check out this list of tips to help you get the most from your property.

1. Plan Your Maintenance

As a landlord, one of the most important factors in seeing a profit from your business is ensuring your building and its units are well maintained. This can be made much easier if you are able to find repair and service providers you can rely on to handle repairs in a timely manner.

Additionally, you should plan for regular seasonal maintenance. Especially when the winter months are approaching, it is vital to ensure any necessary repairs are made to furnaces, radiators, and roofs, for example. It can also help to schedule regular maintenance for things such as leaf and snow removal, which could lead to liabilities if left unattended.

While this type of preventative maintenance will cost you a small amount in the short term, it will help you avoid being surprised by costly repairs down the line, which could potentially lead to vacancies or extend them.

2. Invest in the Screening Process

Having a thorough screening process can help you to avoid potential issues with tenants before signing a lease. During the screening process, you can request the applicant’s criminal record, credit report, bankruptcy report, and evictions report.

Screenings can help determine whether an applicant will make for a quality tenant, as these reports will indicate whether or not a tenant will pay their rent on time, take proper care of the unit during their lease, or if they have a criminal history.

Keep in mind that these reports simply give you a general understanding of the applicant, and everyone’s situation is different. Screenings simply serve to help you avoid general behaviors that may signal an unreliable tenant, but it can also help to talk with the prospective tenants to get a more nuanced understanding of their situation before making a decision on their application.

3. Make Your Lease Agreements Clear and Concise

Your lease agreement signals the beginning of your formal, legal relationship with your new tenant. Because of this, it is important to ensure that your lease is clear on what is expected from both you and the tenant. It should clearly outline any restrictions against what a tenant is allowed to do as well as the repercussions they may face if they break a rule stated on the lease.

It is always best to be upfront to your tenants from the beginning. If your rules and expectations are clearly stated from the beginning, you reduce the likelihood of running into problems in the future. Additionally, this way tenants are aware of what they are getting themselves into and can pull out from the lease agreement if they do not think they will be able to abide by the rules.

4. Enforce the Rules Set in Your Lease Agreements

Not only should you set clear expectations for your tenants, but you should also hold them to these standards. Allowing tenants to break rules, such as paying rent late, may send the message that you are not serious about your expectations. Failing to enforce expectations about noise can diminish the quality of life for other tenants, which could ultimately lead them to vacate their unit when their lease ends, resulting in higher tenant turnover. 

In order to avoid this, be sure to strictly enforce all rules stated in the lease agreement. If a tenant fails to follow the rules, hold them accountable and be sure there are repercussions for their actions. This will not only show that tenant you are serious, but it will also show other tenants that they must abide by your rules as well.

5. Be Clear About Rent Collection and Make it Efficient

In the lease agreement, there should be clear policies in regards to rent collection. It should outline how rent should be paid, when it is owed, and what the repercussions will be if the tenant is late on rent. This will help avoid any issues later down the line.

Additionally, in order to make rent collection as simple as possible while holding all your tenants accountable, it is worth looking into an automated rent collection software. This creates a portal that tenants can access in order to add payment information, make payments on rent, and check their payment history. Not only will this make tenants feel more secure, but it will save you time as well as allow you to easily keep track of each tenant’s payments.

6. Document everything

In order to help avoid any legal complications in the future, you should be sure to document everything. One thing that many landlords forget to document is the condition of a unit before a new tenant moves in. While you may assume this condition will be the same as the condition of the apartment when the previous tenant left, this may not always be the case due to repairs and improvements. For this reason, it is important to schedule an inspection with the new tenant so that the condition is properly documented.

Additionally, you want to be sure you document everything related to your business. This can include inspections, new lease agreements, rent deposits, repair jobs, communication with tenants, and more. This will give you protection in the event a repair wasn’t done correctly, a tenant damages the unit, or rent isn’t paid.

Contact Outerbridge Law to Protect Your Business

At the moment, it can be a hassle to constantly be documenting things, running exceptionally thorough screenings, or going out of your way to enforce the rules set in your lease agreements. However, taking these steps can go a long way and save you a lot of time and money in the end if you have to pursue litigation against a tenant or repair company.

In the event that happens, even if you have well-documented evidence, you could still be vulnerable in court. Don’t take that risk—contact Outerbridge Law today if you think you have a case.