The best Lord of the Land: How-to

 

There’s more to “Landlording” than bragging rights. Being a landlord is a long-term commitment with demanding requirements of your time. Before you take the steps toward the job of a landlord, examine your capabilities and desires, and make sure that you’re up to it. If you are, it can be a wonderful and profitable experience. However, whether you’re a new landlord or are an experienced real estate investor, it’s still possible to make mistakes when renting your property. Being a landlord can be just as challenging as managing any other business. How to ensure that you get it right, every time?

 

Are You Landlord Ready?

You’d be quite surprised to what extent people skills come to the fore when dealing with tenants as a landlord. Landlord-tenant relationships are often complicated by a lot of legal stuff, but in the end, it’s more customer relations. If your tenants are happy, they generally don’t cause trouble and they pay their rent.

 

Make Rent the Priority

Rent is your revenue. It’s amazing how many landlords are not aggressive in pursuing rent and late charges. If your tenants just stop paying rent and ignoring your calls or texts, and become impossible financially, you need to start proceedings. Otherwise, you could be six months behind on rent before you know it, which makes this probably the most important of all the landlord tips.

 

Prepare a Comprehensive Landlord-Tenant Agreement
Being a landlord is a business and should be treated no less. You should have a contract that includes all possible facets of renting your property and all potential circumstances. The agreement must list in detail the rights and responsibilities of both the landlord and the tenant, as well as specific drawbacks for any breach of them. Do not leave your business to play itself out, you have to be intentional every step of the way. Be prepared for any situation. If needed, seek the help of a real estate lawyer to draft the contract. The extra money you pay will be totally worth it.

 

Who’s Your Tenant?
One of the most important tasks confronting the real estate investor-landlord is the selection of tenants. Shortcut this process and it can cost you more than money down the road. As a landlord or property manager, you need to make sure your properties have good, reliable tenants who will not cause problems and will pay their rent on time. Even if you’re tempted to fill vacancies as quickly as possible, you need to think about exactly who you are renting to and what the consequences might be.

 

Failing to properly vet your new tenants could lead to disaster. There could be late rent payments or even damage to your property. Be judicial in your approach to finding and evaluating new tenants, as this could save you many headaches down the road.

The first thing you should do is have a system and follow it at all times. A previous landlord reference is a very important piece of reviewing any potential tenant’s application.
It is really important to interview potential tenants, look them in the eye and call on their references. You can tell a lot by the tone of their references.

 

The smartest step is to have a bulletproof lease agreement that is constantly tweaked to your changing needs as a landlord or property manager.

Check their social media handles. You don’t have to agree with their lifestyle, but it’s a good idea to see what they post publicly. Carry out a basic or full background investigation, depending on the resources available to you. The fees spent to carry this out will be reasonable especially compared to the cost of eviction or future issues.

 

Make necessary repairs, provide secure premises, and prioritize renovations relating to Health & Safety
Stay on top of maintenance and repair needs and make repairs when requested. If the property is not kept in good repair, you’ll alienate good tenants, and they may be legally entitled to the withhold rent, repair the problem and deduct the cost from the rent, sue for injuries caused by defective conditions, and/or move out without giving notice.

 

When a tenant knows you aren’t just a money-maker and that you actually care about them having a comfortable stay in your property, they, in turn, will be more appreciative of your effort. Also, they will be more understanding when certain repairs take time to get fixed.

 

Budget repairs into your rents and save that money in an account for repairs. If you get used to spending it, you could come up with some surprises that damage your ROI considerably.

 

Landlords need to prioritize renovations relating to health and safety. These include installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, repairing loose stair handrails, repairing electrical issues that could cause a fire, and fixing sidewalk and pavement cracks that pose tripping hazards.

 

Don’t let your tenants and property become easy marks for a criminal. Assess your property’s security and take reasonable steps to protect it. Often the best measures, such as proper lights and trimmed landscaping, won’t cost an arm and a leg.

 

Don’t Invest in Renovations That Won’t Produce Higher Rent
If you’re going to invest in flamboyant, over-the-top renovations and remodelling, then the only way to justify that and make that worth your while is a high enough rent rate that’s commensurate. Yes, your rental property is your investment baby, but think practical, judicious numbers here.

 

Organization is key. You can only improve upon what you constantly take stock of.
Keep proper records of revenue and expenses. If this isn’t done, then you have absolutely no idea how profitable your property is.

 

Ultimately, it all comes down to perfecting the art of being a landlord, as well as getting the best out of your investment. Now go be the lord of the rings…ooops…land!