HOW TO MAINTAIN YOUR INVESTMENT PROPERTY LIKE A PRO
Maintaining your real estate investment property doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By following some simple tips and tricks, you can keep your property in top condition and protect your investment. At MY SMART COUSIN, we help aspiring homeowners and investors, with a special focus on Black and Brown folks and women, find Real Estate Investment opportunities that will allow them quick access to buy a house for the price of our car, our personal favorite way of investing, and maintain their investment property like a pro, no matter the investment price point. In this blog post, we’ll share some easy ways to maintain your property and make sure it stays rent-ready and in great shape. Read on for more information! · KEEP THE PROPERTY CLEAN AND WELL-MAINTAINED When it comes to maintaining your rental property, first impressions are everything. A potential tenant driving by should see trim bushes and low-cut grass. Elaborate landscaping or a veritable botanical garden’s worth of flowers is not necessary, the key is a house that looks neat and well-kept from the outside. Beyond their visual appeal, another benefit of well-trimmed bushes and trees is that it lowers the risk of storm damage, should a large branch fall onto your roof or hit a window. Bushes that are cut a ways back from your property also create fewer pathways for insects and other critters to climb straight from a branch onto the side of your property. Once a potential tenant steps inside the property, they should be greeted with a clean, well-lit, and pleasant-smelling space that exudes comfort and warmth. As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to make sure that your property is always in top condition, meaning regular cleaning, preventative maintenance, and prompt repairs when issues arise. Of course, this can be a time-consuming and expensive task, but it’s a great habit to start and an essential step in keeping your tenants happy and your property value high. Luckily, there are some easy ways to stay on top of maintenance without breaking the bank. · One way is to hire a professional cleaning company to do a deep cleaning of the property between tenant move-ins. Likewise, while keeping the garden trim may be a responsibility of the tenant in the lease, hiring a company to perform annual landscaping and vigorously cutting back bushes and trees that may be out of reach for renters, pays dividends in avoiding citations and keeping Mother Nature firmly outside. · Alternatively, if your tenant is handy with small tools and yard work, you can pay them to perform handyman tasks and do annual landscaping. Whatever approach you choose, make sure that you develop and follow a schedule to ensure that major items don’t fall off your radar— your investment will thank you for it in the long run. · REGULARLY INSPECT THE PROPERTY FOR DAMAGE OR NEEDED REPAIRS As a landlord, one of your most important responsibilities is to regularly inspect your rental property for damage or needed repairs. By staying on top of small issues early, you can prevent them from turning into larger, more expensive problems down the road. Ideally, you should inspect your property every few months, or at least once a year. · During your inspection, take the time to walk around the outside of the building and check for any signs of damage, such as cracks in the foundation or missing shingles. · Then, go inside and check all of the rooms, paying close attention to the condition of the floors, walls, and ceilings. · Be sure to also test all of the appliances and fixtures to make sure they are in good working order. · If you notice any problems, make the necessary repairs as soon as possible. By following these tips, you can help ensure that your rental property remains in good condition for years to come. · RESPOND QUICKLY TO ANY TENANT REQUESTS OR COMPLAINTS So how can you make sure you’re responding quickly to tenant needs? · First, it’s important to have a good system in place for tracking requests and complaints. There are numerous online options for tracking everything from rent to new and closed maintenance tickets to photos of completed repairs— making use of one of these tools can save you valuable time. · Once you have a system in place, it’s important to be responsive to every request or complaint. By being responsive to tenant needs, you show concern and respect for your customer and help prevent small problems from becoming big ones. That will go a long way towards keeping your customers happy and rental property in tip-top shape. · MAINTAIN A POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR TENANTS As any experienced investor knows, one of the most important keys to successful real estate investing is maintaining positive relationships with your tenants. After all, without happy tenants, it would be very difficult to keep your properties rented and generate income. There are a few simple things you can do to keep your tenants happy and make sure they keep renewing their leases. · First, promptly address any maintenance issues that arise. No one wants to live in a property that is in disrepair, so by keeping up with repairs, you’ll show your tenants that you care about their comfort and well-being. · Second, where possible, work with your tenant to accommodate requests such as a financial payment plan if your tenant is having difficulty paying the rent. Being proactive and coming up with an arrangement that works for both of you and that your renter can stick with, can build goodwill, help your tenant stay afloat until they’re back on their feet, and meet your income objectives. · Lastly, take the time to get to know your tenants and build relationships with them. Just as you would with any other business, get to know what other business needs your customers to have and how you might