If you own a rental property, chances are you’re looking for ways to maximize your income, improve the quality of your tenants, and turn this into a passive side job.
To do that, you’ll have to improve your skillset and duplicate what some of the best landlords in the industry are doing.
Here are seven essential traits you’ll want to work on if you want to be a more effective landlord.
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1. Organization
You’ll enjoy managing properties more and earn greater profits if you’re well organized. It may take time and resources to buckle down and organize your landlord procedures, but it will be worth it.
According to a blog post by the property management firm Green Residential, being organized is crucial because it’s more cost-efficient, legally safer, and easier to operate. The piece recommends working with a property manager, using digital tools, separating property files, documenting everything, organizing financials, utilizing automation, and communicating daily.
According to Green Residential, these organizational tools “will eventually become an ingrained habit, and you won’t have to think about taking action; instead, you’ll do it intuitively, out of habit.”
2. Delegation
You don’t have to do everything yourself as a landlord. If you’re striving to make your rental properties more of a source of passive income, you’ll prioritize delegation.
You can turn the entire investment over to a property management company if you want to make things easier, or you could delegate just a few tasks. At the very least, consider handing maintenance responsibilities to a handyman, assign an accountant to do your taxes, and allow a legal organization to handle your contracts.
Such experts will do a great job and free up more of your time.
3. Leadership
It might surprise you to learn that leadership is a landlord quality since most small-time landlords don’t have employees who work under them. But such skills will go a long way toward building confidence in your tenants, getting things done at your properties, and pushing your goals forward.
A leader is often better able to handle tenant disputes, difficult tenants, or rent problems. Leaders can act as a voice of reason that gets to the heart of the matter and resolves it before it gets out of hand.
4. Transparency
Tenants don’t like to be left in the dark, nor do they like a landlord who won’t answer questions directly. This makes them fear something shady is going on, even if you’ve simply neglected to keep them informed because you’re overly busy.
Try to be more transparent with your tenants. Keep them in the loop about what’s happening around the property, such as scheduled maintenance, snow removal, renovations in the building, and other items that might interrupt your tenants’ day-to-day routines.
5. Reliability
Tenants prefer landlords who will be available when they say they will. They want landlords who fix things in a timely fashion and observe the details of the lease agreement.
Renters would like to be able to trust their landlord to be reliable and willing to maintain their side of the property agreement. If you can’t keep up these basic functions, you’ll likely damage your reputation and have to struggle to keep your units filled.
6. Availability
Along with being able to trust you, your tenants want you to be available, so set regular office hours. You don’t actually have to sit in an office space during that time, but you should be available by phone or email to answer tenant concerns, address maintenance issues, and respond to questions during this block of time.
You should also be available after hours for emergencies, and commit to responding quickly if one occurs. Again, a property management company can handle this on your behalf, so you don’t have to take calls when you’re with your family.
In all, being available is in your best interest as well as that of the tenants, and it will help you to minimize vacancies.
7. Resourceful
A great landlord knows there are plenty of available tools and resources. Resources range from helpful blogs and YouTube channels on rental properties to apps and software that make the clerical side of the job a cinch.
Every good landlord knows how to utilize the resources around her or him to create the best experience for everyone.
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