What Separates A Great Landlord From A Mediocre One?
As a landlord, it’s important to know that we’re not only managing property and tenants, but making sure that our brand propagates and expands to the degree that we wish it to. You’re running a business after all, and this means that developing competent client relationships and making sure that you feel comfortable and confident in that space is important. But to what degree can you plan for this in the long run?
And what separates a great landlord from a mediocre one?
After all, great landlords tend to attract great tenants that cause fewer problems, pay their rent on time, and have no need to report you to the housing authority or to complain about their treatment. Even if they do, you will have all of the accounts, messages, and proof of your fulfillment of the terms to hand, so you can protect your own interests through this process too.
These lessons are essential to learn as a first time landlord especially; because the risk you take is often greater than you may have expected – and foresight teaches gently:
Reachability & Organization
It’s important to make sure that we remain relatively reachable as a landlord, or at least work in alliance with a repairs and maintenance rental property service that can help the intensity of planning as a landlord become a little less harmful. In the long run, this can make a major difference in how you structure your management of your daily working schedule, how complaints and maintenance requests are handled, and how you can easily keep on top of your tenant requirements from day to day.
Excellent Vetting
A landlord can only be as healthy as their tenants – you can offer the best property with perfect maintenance for a reasonable price, but if the tenant throws parties and annoys other residents, causes property damage or holds back with payments, you’re sure to have trouble. Excellent vetting means making sure you plan for difficult events (such as asking for a couple of months rent upfront), but also ensuring that
Transparency & Pride
It’s important to make sure that you remain transparent and consistent in your contacts. When landlords gain bad reviews and negative impressions, it’s because they add hidden fees, don’t attend to maintenance, don’t make their terms clear, or try to nickel and dime tenants such as charging their deposit for repair work they would have undertaken anyway. For this reason, landlords that take pride in their properties, develop the relationship, are present, and can be contacted are those that enjoy tenants which last for years. If we hope our tenants to be up front and capable, even if that means this month they might have to wait a week to pay the rent (and accept the surcharge because of it), then we need to make sure we’re present and contributing to the relationship in kind. It really does make a difference.
With this advice, you’re sure to retain your place as an excellent landlord with lucky tenants.
