Real estate investments offer a great path to passive income. After purchasing the investment property, carry out regular maintenance and management. This will help to ensure that you continue to enjoy the cash flow, settle bills at the right time, and even pay off your mortgage to build equity. Investment property requires regular checks and management. However, you can handle these by yourself or hire a professional property management company. HomeKasa makes it easy to manage your properties.
Regular property management helps to ensure three things:
Follow these tips for managing your investment properties like a professional to reduce glitches. Let's dive right in.
Every state and region have landlord and tenant laws. While the overarching theme is the same, there are local variations. Some local towns also have additional rules to the existing statewide provisions. The landlord-tenant law outlines your duties as a landlord. It also explains what is expected of your tenants.
Obligations of a landlord outlined by the landlord-tenant law
You are required to provide a habitable house. In some instances and locations, the law provides that under certain conditions, tenants can withhold rent. In general, the law will guide you towards the right steps to take when issues arise between you and your tenants.
Read about rent withholding and how it works
You are required to refund the security deposit after addressing the required repairs caused by the tenant. Some places may even mandate interest rate on the deposit. Check your local laws.
Every tenant has a different behavior and set of values. It's very important you sit your tenant down and ask pertinent questions to identify the right match for you. For example, if your prospective tenant smokes, then such a person will pose a nuisance to other tenants, most especially, an asthmatic tenant. Find the right tenant for you through screening. Eviction is a pain to deal with, costing you time, and money. Likewise, cleanliness is a relative term. What one person considers messy is clean for another person. Ask the right questions, check the background, and conduct reference checks.
The next thing to do if you want to manage your properties like a pro is to listen to the complaints from your tenants. If your tenants are happy, they will be willing to extend their stay in your house. Tenant turnovers and empty houses impact your finances. A long-term tenant that takes good care of your house reduces your overall work. Plus addressing maintenance issues as they arise keeps your house in good working order. For example, a smaller leak is easier and cheaper to address than fixing a flooded kitchen that may require changing floors and cabinets.
If your tenants are complaining about another tenant’s disruptive pet, address the issue instead of hoping the issue to resolve itself. Otherwise, depending on your state and location, you may be liable for future damages. If however, the erring tenant is not willing to change, file an eviction notice. It's safe to lose one tenant than losing all other tenants.
Evicting quickly and successfully
By visiting your property periodically, you'll be able to see if the tenants are taking good care of your property. This will consequently reduce the cost of maintenance. Also, it helps you find and address any issues that the tenant may not have noticed. For instance, if the kitchen sink is dripping, the tenant may not catch the issue in time.
How often should you inspect the rental property?
What to look for during property inspection
Conduct proper move-in inspection and use a checklist so that you don’t miss anything. HomeKasa provides a free online checklist that captures the details of every room. Having clear documents is good for both you and the tenant. When the tenant moves out, conduct another inspection so that you can note down the differences and estimate the repair costs.
Our free online move-in and move-out checklist
How to conduct move-in and move-out inspection
Carefully select the right tenant for your needs, address issues as they arise, and comply with the law. Pros collect rent on time and manage tenants’ expectations. HomeKasa offers the best property management software to screen tenants, collect rents, inspect properties, renew insurance, etc all from one place. It’s free, get started now.