Being a landlord can be quite lucrative, but it also has the potential to bring about certain complications. This is why you need to take this role seriously, and define a proper way to do business with your clients. In other words, treat your house as your place of work, so, investments, maintenance and improvements are always necessary if you are to increase your income as a landlord. Go through the following articles and you may find some useful advice on this subject.
Get to Work
Your house should be in a tip top condition. It needs to ooze with cleanliness, beauty, and it should look like it is brand new. If the house is not in an urban area, in other words, if it is at a remote location, you will have a hard time getting a good rent fee for it without making the whole experience as great as possible. Furthermore, people who come there need to know that everything is in top shape, that way, if something goes wrong, nobody can put the blame on age, poor wiring or plumbing. So, it is your duty to make sure all of these aspects are covered, if you don’t take care about it, you can be certain that your tenants won’t bother too much either, so make it abundantly clear just how maintenance is important to you. This way, once tenants move out, you will have less trouble finding new ones, and thus the cycle of good house care continues. It is implied here that your walls need to be mold free, you need to have a good quality air conditioner, capable of regulating air humidity and preventing the mold from taking root. Make sure you call exterminators and prevent any possible infestations, and if there are some vermin in your house afterwards, tell your tenants to improve the way they take care of the house. Buy air fresheners to make their stay more pleasant, and ensure there aren’t any cracks in the bathroom tiles or pipes. If there are any, it is your duty to fix those things, but once they move in, they should be aware that this is their responsibility from then on.
Treat Your Tenants with Respect
You should be polite and pleasant with your tenants and treat them with respect, in terms that you are not grumpy or bossy. Make sure both of you understand each other’s role perfectly. You can do this with residential lease agreements - simply state the terms of use of the house, what is your and what is their duty. If the agreement is fair, it shouldn’t be a problem, and it is a great way to show how professional you are. Of course, in a case of some unforeseen circumstances, feel free to show compassion if your tenants were good and paid their bills on time, but being too soft may only cause them to take advantage of you. Tell them about the neighbourhood, if the tenants are young, they will be prone to throwing parties at your place, and you may face some complaints regarding loud music. This is why agreements need to be thorough, so that everyone is fully aware of their obligations. Do not forget to fulfil your part as well, if something breaks or malfunctions, you will need to make repairs, but if you do as instructed in the previous paragraph, the chances of that happening are significantly lowered. All things considered, this is a perfect way to filter out all the potentially problematic clients, even though it requires for you to go an extra mile, but remember, fortune favours the prepared.
Your Price
A lot of things need to be taken into an account, such as your location, location of the nearest school ( for families),the condition of the house, quality of neighbourhood, your potential involvement and responsibility, your previous investments etc. Finally, when you are to determine the price, ask yourself, would you pay that amount for such conditions and such arrangement. Also, always ask for money in advance, if someone is capable of affording the place, he or she should have the finances immediately, if not, it could imply that the person is not very reliable in terms of resources, which may cause problems with your relationship in the future.
