If you want to start investing in a rental property, you should know that there are many things that you need to do to manage one correctly. In this article, I will give you some tips on how to manage a rental property.
Managing your own rental property is not so easy as it seems and it takes a lot of hard work, especially if you want to be successful at it.Always be friendly and professional with the tenants. The way to be successful at managing rental properties is by having good relationships with your tenants consider rental management services with My Logan Realty. Keep in mind that they are paying the rent and they are the ones that keep your business running. So, always treat them with respect and make sure that they have a pleasant stay at your property.
Be available for any problems or questions that may arise during their stay. It is important for them to know that they can reach out to you if they need something or have any problems with the property.
1. Be in constant contact with your tenants
If you’ve moved out of town, it’s essential that you’re in touch with your tenants on a regular basis. For example, if they want to paint the walls or get some landscaping done, they need to be able to reach you. This is also important for handling repairs and maintenance.
2. Have a trusted contractor on call
You’ll want to have a reliable person on call for minor repairs and maintenance, such as replacing an electrical outlet or fixing a leaky sink. If you don’t have someone in mind, ask for recommendations from other property owners or look at online reviews.
3. Hire a manager
If you’re planning to buy rental properties, it might be easier to hire someone else to deal with the day-to-day responsibilities of managing a property — such as collecting rent payments, making repairs and coordinating with contractors. Property managers typically charge 8% to 10% of rent payments.
4. Get help with long-distance financing
If you’re purchasing an out-of-town property, look into national lenders like Quicken Loans that can offer low rates and flexible terms regardless of location. If you know where you’ll be buying, compare rates from local lenders as well as national ones.
5. Screen Your Tenants Carefully
This is by far one of the most important aspects of managing your rental property. You need to be extremely careful when screening tenants.
While it’s not always possible to predict whether or not they will pay their rent promptly and treat your home with respect, there are certain things you can do in order to minimize the risk. Make sure you check references and obtain credit reports. It is also helpful to talk with previous landlords in order to gain further insight into who you are considering renting your property too. The last thing you want is a tenant who doesn’t pay the full amount of rent on time each month, destroys your home, or causes problems with other tenants or neighbors.
6. Get insured
If you don’t already have landlord insurance, get some! It provides additional cover over standard home insurance and also covers things like rent arrears from tenants or malicious damage by them. It will also cover legal costs if your tenant takes you to court.
7. Check your tax position
You’ll be liable for paying income tax on any rental profit you make so speak to an accountant about any tax implications before letting your property. If this is going to be a large sum, you could see if there is anything you can do now to reduce your tax bill such as claiming against wear and tear on the property or buying furniture that can be written off against tax. Also check what records need to be kept in order to ensure that HMRC can’t come back to you later if they think you’ve underpaid tax.
8. Don’t let yourself become a slave to your tenants
Some landlords find that they spend all their time doing odd jobs or dealing with minor problems for their tenants. While it’s important to keep your tenants happy, you don’t want them to end up thinking that you’re at their beck and call 24/7. So make sure that you set some clear boundaries about when you will deal with problems (and what sort of problems you’ll deal with). It’s also a good idea to do things like setting an annual maintenance day when repairs can be done while they are out of the apartment so you don’t have to go round every time something small breaks down.