Tips for New Landlords
Being a landlord comes with its own responsibilities. It can be difficult, tedious, time-consuming, infuriating and rewarding at the same time. Whether you are renting the property for the first time or you are seasoned landlord, there are a few things that every landlord must know. Following are the six things which you must certainly know, in order to become a successful landlord.
- Renting isn’t as easy as it seems
If you think that renting is easy and being a landlord all you have to do is sit around as the cash flows in, you might want to reconsider yourself. Being a landlord takes a lot of planning, hard work, and patience above all. You need to be flexible and must be able to accommodate schedule as per prospective tenants. You must possess the ability to deal effectively with different personalities and must be ready to embrace confrontations whenever necessary.
Performing repairs at the drop of a hat and solving disputes is a quite essential quality that every landlord must possess. And above all eviction. It simply isn’t as easy as it sounds. With strict guidelines to follow, eviction can be a long and tedious process if you end up with a bad tenant.
- Have a secured property
A number of different security issues need to be addressed before you can legally rent out your property. The property must have working smoke detectors which should be connected to the main power supply along with a battery backup. And in case if your property has a swimming pool inside it, you are bound to know the strict regulatory requirements for it, like perimeter fencing. Some of these laws keep changing from state to state, so getting it referenced by local residential authority is important.
- Lease Agreement
The lease agreement is a very important document for any landlord and tenants, for that matter. Thus, as a landlord, you should always contact your local residency authority to know what you must include inside the lease agreement. Once you prepare the lease agreement, getting it checked from the lawyer is also important. Lease agreement protects your rights and thus needs to be watertight, in cases when the tenants violated the terms and conditions.
- Document the condition of property accurately
It is of paramount importance to get the property inspected properly before any tenants move in. Get any damages and or any other findings documented, with respect to your property. At the same time, get all the repairs works done which are necessary to get the property up to code. In addition, also ask your tenants to do their own inspection and note anything that they find. Once this process is done, both the parties, landlord and tenant must sign an agreement regarding the condition of the property when the tenants moved in. Thus, when the tenant vacates the property, you can know what, if any damages occurred during the renting period.
- Don’t believe what tenants say
Trust and believe is a good thing to have. Though not so, when you are a landlord. Performing a complete background check on potential tenants goes long way. Contact references and do a complete credit check. Don’t simply rush through the chance of renting out the property to the first potential tenant you come across. Renting out the property is an investment. If the tenant is not paying rent on time and damaging your property, the investment is not worth making. Choose your investment properly to get a satisfied return.
- Maintenance
As said above, being a landlord comes with its own set of responsibilities and you have absolutely done everything in your power to fulfill them. Make sure that any maintenance and repair activities are completed within a timely manner. As a landlord, you must always be available when your tenants need you. It is important to treat your tenants well and chances are they will rent your property again.
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