Posted in Real Estate
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Well, doing the habits of bloggers inspired me to try to figure out seven habits of effective landlords. I guess we can qualify as effective landlords as we have now been fulltime in real estate for 3 years. The statistics are such that most landlords give up after 2 years because of bad experiences and lack of preparation for the job. So to encourage those of you starting out (Homeschooling6 and ReneeM)here is my list. Please anyone else with experience (cyndiegirl72) post a list too and link it over to mine.
1. Screen tenants carefully, beginning with the phone. Have a list of questions available to ask to avoid people coming who won't really be good candidates. Let them know there will be a credit check and they will have to pay for it. Figure out your pet policy and communicate it. (If you do take pets charge them more for that; pets do damage!!!) Have a written list of your criteria so you can tell a person if don't meet it. It must be within the confines of the law, but can include things like pet policy, income qualifications (we use 1/3 of income going toward rent as a rule of thumb), smoking policy, credit score. 2. Have them fill out a rental application and charge them $25 or so for the credit check/application fee. These can be downloaded from a credit screening company or a real estate site online such as The Landlord Protection Agency. Make sure you do at least a credit check as a result of the application but don't do it until you have gotten their application fee. (Many people never find the money for this-you don't want to rent to them). You may want to also check an eviction history and employment history as well. 3. Call the previous landlord and ask some questions (you got this info on your application). Ask what the tenant paid per month and how long they were there to see if info matches up and to help filter out if this is a real landlord or just a friend masquerading as the landlord. 4.. Set your appointments to do showings but have the prospective tenant call before they leave their home to come over. In the beginning we wasted much time with no-shows who didn't have the courtesy to call. Common courtesy is no longer common. 5. Use a comprehensive landlord friendly lease. You don't have to enforce everything in the lease but then you are making the choice about what you enforce not them. Most states have a standard lease available through a realtor. If you have a real estate group in your state sometimes folks there can direct you to a good lease. That is how we got ours, through a landlord many years in the business in PA. 6. Get a copy of the landlord tenant act for your state and read it though. This can be found on the internet. He who knows the rules wins. 7. Treat your tenants with respect but set firm boundaries from the beginning. If you can't say no, this is probably not the business for you. If a tenant is late on rent, charge a late fee. If there is no payment by the 10th day of the month begin to pursue eviction. Don't let empty words drain you dry and suck you under. |
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