Best Business Practices for Landlords

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Want more frequent updates follow me on Twitter. Thanks for visiting!

Street
Creative Commons License photo credit: Lexsion

Being a landlord is one thing, but being a good landlord is another. If you’re thinking about renting your property or getting into the landlord business then set your sights on being a good landlord and save yourself the headache and trauma of having bad tenants and facing future lawsuits. The following tips will help you in your effort to becoming a landlord that your tenants respect and may actually like.

(more…)

When to Hire a Property Manager

Summer Vacation 2008
Creative Commons License photo credit: merfam

If you’re a property owner you will no doubt find yourself frustrated, exhausted and sick of dealing with your properties and tenants at one point or another. It’s just a part of the investment, the highs and lows of being a landlord. But some people actually suffer from more of these lows than others and hiring a property manager is the perfect solution. If you fall into the following categories you may want to consider hiring a property manager for your rental properties.

“Too Much Property”
If you have a lot of rental units or properties and are finding them just too taxing then it’s probably time to seek outside help. You?re not doing your tenants or yourself a favor if you?re spread too thin.

“You?re too Far Away”
If you live quite a long way from your properties then you may want to find someone who is in the area who can deal with your tenants and any problems that may arise. What is too far? Well, that?s up to you and your schedule.

“You?re Not Good at It”
Let?s face it, some people just aren’t good at dealing with other people or don?t have the organization skills necessary to be a hands on landlord. If you’ve ever rented you’ve probably come across these people before and the last thing you need to do is be one of them.

If you fall into any or all of these categories you probably want to consider hiring a property manager, either a full time service or possibly just some part time help. Whatever you decide, make sure you’re making an informed and well thought out decision.


Finding the Right Tenant

Image

Rental properties can be a very lucrative business and property owners stand to gain financially from both rent paid and property appreciation. The problem arises as tenants go bad and damage your property, refuse to pay rent, and ultimately refuse to vacate the premises. To limit the potential of selecting a bad tenant, you’ll need to properly research your applicants.

(more…)