1. Top Quality Tenants Want Top Quality Homes
The first thing to do when deciding to list your property for rent is to do a thorough walk through and determine what items need to be fixed, updated, or otherwise addressed before showing the property to perspective tenants. You should get someone not familiar with the property to look at it with you so you get a new perspective of anything that may stand out as a negative to a perspective tenant. Based on the available budget to get the property in top shape, we can help you determine where to focus your funds on the most important items. Focus on cleaning, fresh paint, clean or new carpet, lighting and safety.
2. Know Who You Are Renting To
Obtain necessary background reports including criminal and financial reports. We use providers such as Tenant Verification Services or The Cedalius Group to provide reports that give us reliable information we can use as a basis for a rental decision. Avoid social media sites as a way to screen tenants since these sites and the data that may be presented is unreliable and shouldn’t be used to approve or decline a perspective renter.
3. Respond to Tenant Needs
A top quality tenant expects problems and concerns to be handled promptly by the home owner. As soon as a complaint is filed, it should acknowledged and communication should be frequent until the problem is resolved. A happy and satisfied tenant will continue to uphold their end of the rental agreement and will generally stay in the property longer than someone who has to live with appliances or other items in disrepair.
4. Make it Easy to Rent Your Property
Moving is a pain and can be expensive. The easier you make it for the tenant to stay in your rental property, the longer they will stay. We make things easy for our tenants by offering online payment and a tenant portal to report property issues.
Make sure to give your tenant a copy of any community rules and regulations documents so they are aware of community rules above and beyond the lease agreement. Don’t leave your tenant vulnerable to breaking community rules and inadvertently getting fined or possibly developing bad relationships with neighbors.
5. Develop a Lease Agreement That Protects
A good lease agreement will clearly spell out the responsibilities of the land lord and tenant. There should be no room for ambiguity to reduce the possibility of confusion and frustration. A few important issues or policies that are sometimes neglected in a lease agreement are: pets, smoking, subleasing, move in/ move out inspections, and room mates.
