With the average landlord earning as much as $61,920 from what’s often little more than a career sideline, more and more individuals are keen to break into the rental field. After all, this passive stream of income could help to boost your earnings or may lessen the amount of hours that you actually spend working. Not to mention that, with landlords having to think about everything from decor to furnishings, and even garden landscaping before putting their property on the market, you can display a whole host of skills when you get stuck into this area.
Unfortunately, though, busy landlords have a pretty bad reputation. Being tarred with that same brush might be hard but, if you approach the industry in the right way, you could end up being the change that tenants need to see in their landlords. Simply consider the following mistakes that you’ll want to avoid when making it happen.
1. Failing to keep on top of things
As mentioned, rental properties are a form of passive income that people typically have on the side of other business pursuits. As such, landlords often forget things like tenant check-ins, required repairs, and more.
Organization can help you to overcome this issue in your landlord journey. Namely, you’ll want to set aside specific periods at least three or more times a week where you take care of requests, repairs, and general tenant queries. You can also simplify landlord tasks with either clear lists or, if you have multiple rental properties, something like property management software development that makes it easier to outline your responsibilities, to-do lists, and more.
2. Being uncontactable
While it’s difficult to have your phone on hand all of the time, landlords who are constantly uncontactable are one of the worst issues in the industry and leave tenants having to deal with major repairs and even potential safety risks alone.
App development as mentioned is a great way to get around this, as it allows tenants to log issues straight away onto a system that you have direct access to. Equally, just letting your tenants know when you’re available outside of work hours, and setting aside set time to deal with their queries, as mentioned, can all help to keep the much-needed lines of communication open.
3. Treating tenants as indispensable
A rental property is a business pursuit, and your tenants are effectively customers who pay for your services. Yet, countless landlords treat tenants as disposable commodities, rather than people that they should know, nourish, and nurture.
By instead taking the time to get to know your tenants, and taking steps to get them onside, like letting them improve your property’s interior according to their taste, you can ensure long-term rentals that are ultimately far more lucrative. Not to mention that, even if your tenants do have to move on, they’ll likely be willing to recommend you to anyone as a result.
All of these mistakes give landlords a justifiably bad name. So, turn the tides of the industry by avoiding them and instead being the change that you want to see!
