There’s a difference between your stereotypical landlord who does little other than collect the rent at the end of the month and those landlords who are essentially entrepreneurs at the helm of a successful business. That difference comes down to clever management techniques and a healthy dose of hard work. That’s the key to being a landlord and a successful entrepreneur at the same time.
Of course, you might say that this is all easier said than done. Creating a property or properties in which people actually want to live costs a lot of money, and maintaining those properties eats into any earnings you make from tenants. What’s the key to success then? Well, the tips throughout this article might just help to put you back on track and turn your property empire into a money-making machine. Here’s the key to being a landlord and entrepreneur rolled into one.
Organize your empire.
Above all else, a successful landlord is one who remains organized. You wouldn’t get any other business owner letting tasks or finances slip through the cracks; they’d become bankrupt very quickly. And it’s the same with your property empire; you need to keep on top of which tenants have paid you, which flats or houses have maintenance problems to which you need to attend, and how you’re going to balance all of this in the budget. You might want to find property management experts in your area. You probably need assistance with regards to running your property or properties smoothly.
If you’re a one-person operation then it can become very difficult to keep on top of an apartment complex, for example, so hiring a team to help you with that might be the answer. The key thing to prioritize is organization. Whatever your property situation, you need to ensure you’re running a thorough and coordinated operation as the landlord. If there’s an issue, your tenants need to know that you can resolve it as quickly as possible. Bad reviews can lead to a bad reputation and you might struggle to get tenants in the future.
Keep an eye on rates.
It’s always tricky to price properties. The market is always fluctuating upwards and downwards; you want to remain competitive with other landlords offering great properties in the area but you also don’t want to lose out of money from long-term tenants. As mentioned above, it’s all about organization. If you’ve got a strong budgetary plan then you’ll be able to weigh up costs and revenue. You just need to ensure that your revenue is high enough to cover all the costs of running your empire; of course, you need a profit margin too because breaking even won’t be enough. If you want to be able to keep prices as high as possible (without scaring off potential tenants) then you need to work hard to keep your property modern, clean, and high-quality. You need to spend money to make money; every entrepreneur knows that.
Encourage tenants to stay.
Your goal is to keep tenants for as long as possible. The cost in terms of both time and money with regards to finding new tenants is something that you should be striving to avoid if you want to increase the profit margins for your business. That’s why you need to work as hard as possible to encourage tenants to renew their contracts so as to save time and minimize costs. Plus, you’re avoiding the risk of inviting new tenants into the property who won’t be as respectful or timely on the payments as your current tenants. It’s better to stick with a good “client” (in a sense) once you’ve found one. That’s why you should strive to be a friendly and human landlord (not a business owner) towards your tenants so as to foster a good relationship with them.
