With mortgage rates soaring with no real sign of stopping, those who secured lower rates are becoming accidental landlords.
This is a trend sweeping the nation, but it's not the only reason homeowners become accidental landlords. Whether you're trying to hang on to your low mortgage rates or you've inherited a house from a deceased loved one, there are right and wrong ways to be an accidental landlord.
Today, we'll show you how to navigate life as an accident landlord with a few property management tips. Keep reading and you'll be able to put strategies in place to maximize your rental income while managing landlord stress.
Tenant Screening
The two biggest sources of landlord stress are delinquent tenants and long rental vacancies. You can mitigate the risk of both by investing in rental property marketing and performing thorough tenant screening.
Property marketing will help put your rental listing in front of the largest number of qualified renters. Write a detailed description of the property with lots of professional-quality real estate photos, then post the listing on the platforms of your choosing. You can even use SEO or paid ads to boost the listing even more.
Once you have applicants, look into their criminal and financial history to determine whether or not they'll be a good fit in your unit. It's also good practice to contact character references to find out more about a tenant.
Preventative Maintenance
A tertiary source of landlord stress is paying for repairs on the rental. Rental properties go through a lot more wear and tear than owner-occupied ones. You need to make sure you're doing regular preventative maintenance so that you don't have expensive repairs later on.
Tenant Management
Finding a good tenant is important. Once you've got one you like, however, you need to do everything possible to keep them happy. Happy tenants are more likely to stick around, lowering vacancy rates and bringing in stable rental income.
A big part of this will be taking care of the aforementioned preventative maintenance. Always respond promptly to tenant maintenance requests and consider being lenient about extra tenants and pets. The easier you can make it for them to communicate with you, the smoother things will go.
When you know your tenant is satisfied, you can secure lease renewals earlier on. Always try to do this a few months before their lease expires.
Hire a Property Manager
One thing that can help is hiring a property manager. These services can tackle all of your landlord responsibilities, so you just sit back and collect your rent check.
They'll take care of everything from tenant screening and eviction protection to maintenance and rent collection.
Terra Can Help Accidental Landlords
At Terra Residential Services, we've helped countless accidental landlords get a handle on property management. We were founded in 1990 and since then, we've become one of the top property managers in the Houston area, offering comprehensive services to our clients.
To learn more about how we can help you run your property, contact us today.
