How to Increase the Rental Price of your Investment Property

How to Increase the Rental Price of your Investment Property

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At Advanced Solutions Property Management, we manage rental properties in the Salt Lake City area.
 
Today, we’re talking about refurbing rental units. All rental properties get to a point where it’s time to put a little love and care (and a little money) into them to get them back up to where they need to be.
 
When is the best time do this, and and how do you refurbish a property?
 

 
Some people have rental properties where they don’t ever put anything into them, and pretty soon rent slides and you’ve got the lowest rents in the neighborhood.
 
So we need to understand where the rental market is, and what you should be getting for that unit.
 
You can do a little comparison shopping in your neighborhood, or wherever your rental units are, and you’ll look at number of bedrooms and square feet, and then see what your neighbors are renting their property for.
 
If you start seeing that you’re below the average, or you’re at the low end and you’re having a hard time renting out your property, it might be time for you to put some money into it.
 
Obviously, you shouldn’t just dump money into it, because that’s not the name of the game. You should be going for a return on investment.
 
Start by prioritizing what needs to be done, and then put a cost estimate on it.
 
If your kitchen is dated, with an old stove and fridge, then nice stainless steel appliances and slate flooring can make a world of difference.
 
Once you have a list of updates to make, the next decision to make is to find a contractor that you can trust to make these updates.
 
At Advanced Solutions Property Management, we have a list of trusted contractors that we use time and time again.
 
They are accountable to the work quality, and they do a great job because they know we’ll call them back for future projects.
 
Once you have the project completed, that’s when it’s time to get the rent up!
 
Start identifying what similar properties in your community are renting for.
How to streamline the tenant move-out process

How To Streamline The Tenant Move-Out Process

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Let’s discuss the move-out process, so tenants can avoid some of the most costly mistakes that we at Advanced Solutions Property Management in Salt Lake City often see.

Tenants obviously want to get their security deposit back. Having repair work and clean-up during turnover costs time and money associated with having vacant units, and this is compounded by having unhappy tenants who were not sure what was expected of them at move-out.

The best case scenario is to have a unit ready for rent when we do the exit inspection.

This is less work, less cost and less headaches for everyone involved.

We highly advise you to get your move-in inspection report that you conducted at lease up.

This will tell you what you are responsible for, and not responsible for at move-out.

Remember that the owner requires we subtract any costs associated with cleanup and repair, and during move-out I think we can all agree that the owner should not pay for cleaning or repair of the rental unit.

We have put together this video to help you, the tenant, avoid costly mistakes that we see time after time.

Make sure you return any keys and all garage remotes to the property.

Remotes can run anywhere from $100-$200 a piece.

Yards are always forgotten by tenants. If you live in a rental unit where you were responsible for yard care, the yard must be in good shape at move-out.

You will not be charged for a few weeds or less than perfect lawn care, but what we are not able to overlook is dead or very overgrown grass, heavy weeds or pet waste being present in the yard.

Inside the rental, the most common issues we find in the kitchen are grease still on the range hood, items left in the cupboards, and greasy or dirty baseboards.

In the living and sleeping areas easily the most common mistake tenants make is not hiring a professional carpet cleaning company.

Just vacuuming and running a rented carpet cleaner over the carpet is not enough! We require a receipt from a legitimate carpet cleaning company.

Turning in a handwritten receipt with carpet cleaning written on it will not be accepted.

The bathroom is another area where we see many issues.

We understand that nobody wants to really clean a bathroom, but bathroom cleanliness is paramount for the next tenant.

You will not be charged for wear and tear issues.

Wear and tear is the normal use of a property, but what you could be charged for is damage.

Examples of damage are tears in the carpet, burns on a vinyl floor, and nail holes in a wall.

These will need to be repaired and possibly replaced, which may be very expensive.

Another issue we see quite a bit is tenants not reporting a maintenance issue that has caused more damage.

This can be considered tenant cause, and may come out of the security deposit.

Changing the physical character of a property is another problem, and the largest example of this is painting.

Your favorite color will not be the favorite color of the tenant moving in, and you will be responsible for the repainting of the affected area, and that includes supplies and labor.

State law requires that we process and send out security deposits within 30 days of move-out.

The more work we have to do in a turnover, the longer this process will take.

We want you to receive your deposit as quickly as possible, so if you have not received your deposit by the 20th of the month after you moved out please contact us to find out the status of your security deposit.

If you’re a residential property owner, and would like to discuss having Advanced Solutions Property Management manage your rental property, click here to get in touch with us.

Property Management How To Reduce Tenant Turnover

How To Reduce Tenant Turnover

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Our conversation today is about how to reduce tenant turnover, and one of the most important things you can do (and the easiest) when working with tenants is to show up when you are needed.

If a tenant calls with a maintenance issue, do whatever is needed to take care of it.

Responding in a timely manner to tenant requests is key to keeping a tenant happy and in place.

We like to use a software system so that when a tenant puts in a maintenance request, a text message goes out immediately to the people who need to know and respond.

Property Management How To Reduce Tenant Turnover

Another thing you can do to keep your tenants around is to answer their questions right away.

If tenants ask you something or need information, provide a response as quickly as possible.

Some questions might require a bit of digging and you won’t be able to turn it around immediately, but you can assure them that you will find their answer as soon as possible.

If there is a question about rent or yard work or the neighborhood, give them an answer so they feel like they are important and heard.

You want your tenants to take pride in the property, so treat them with respect and be responsive.

Make sure you handle any security concerns.

If one of our tenants has their home broken into or there are issues at the property and a request for security lighting or door locks are made, we take those requests seriously.

We make it a top priority because we don’t want our tenants to feel unsafe in the property.

There are easy things you can do to improve security such as lighting and new deadbolts.

According to the lease, we could probably ask tenants to pay for these things, but as owners we believe in keeping our renters safe, so we think paying for these security upgrades is the responsible thing to do.

Finally, treat your tenants professionally.

We like to treat tenants the same way we treat our property owners; as business associates.

They are paying rent, we are providing a place to live and there is an agreement in place.

Make sure it’s a business relationship.

Treat all of your tenants professionally, even if you have tricky situations, such as tenants who are late rent payers.

When this happens, communicate what is expected and what your contract states.

There is no need to yell, threaten or berate anyone.

When tenants feel like they are being listened to, treated fairly and respected, they will stick around and you will not have to worry too much about frequent tenant turnover.

If you’re looking for the best property management company in Salt Lake City, contact us today!

How Do Property Managers Communicate With Owners

How Do Property Managers Communicate? What To Expect With Your Property Management Company

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Communication between owners and property managers is essential.

Different property managers will have different ways of communicating with their clients, so make sure you know what to expect.

Back in the day, we would send letters and notes and since then, we have improved our communication abilities thanks to technology.

Now we use emails and cell phones to get in touch.

There are lots of ways to contact people.

Make sure you are effectively using those tools when it comes to managing your Salt Lake area property.

At Advanced Solutions Property Management, we use technology to our benefit and the benefit of our owners.

We have an online system that allows property owners to log onto their accounts and see everything we are doing.

Not only can they see what is happening, they can comment on it.

This is helpful because if a property owner has a question on a work order, it is easy to leave a comment on that work order and then the comment is immediately shared with the property manager working on that particular property.

They can respond right away.

All of us are available to answer any questions or hear any comments, including myself and the other owner of the company.

But on the day to day operational issues, we make it very easy for owners and property managers to communicate.

The software we use helps you to reach us anytime you want.

Your property manager should also make sure all of your documents are available to you.

You should be able to see applications, walk through and inspection reports, deposit forms, leases and all the other paperwork required with a rental property.

We post those documents to your portal so you can download and view them any time you want.

Our owners see every work order and how much the work costs.

Everything is viewable in our system and with a few clicks you can access the status of each work order.

This is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

As I mentioned, if you have a specific issue that you do not think can be addressed by our online system, you are always welcome to get in touch with anyone here to discuss the problem.

We have found that this system has worked well in keeping our owners and property managers connected.

If you have any questions about communication or what is involved in residential property management in Salt Lake, please contact us at Advanced Solutions Property Management.

How To Advertise Your Rental Property In Salt Lake

How To Advertise Your Rental Property In Salt Lake

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Are you a property owner in Salt Lake City, and want to know how to effectively advertise your rental unit?

The goal is to minimize vacancy and increase your overall tenant quality, and there are four ways to market and advertise your rental property effectively to achieve this.

1. Clean Units Attract Clean Tenants

The first thing I tell people is when you are getting ready to market a unit, you need to really clean it well.

As we say in the industry, “Clean units attract clean tenants!”

It’s going to look better for the pictures, and also look better for showing.

It might seem obvious, but a lot of times we see less than clean units when we take over.

2. Professional Photography

The next thing is an added expense, but we think it’s well worth it– hiring a professional photographer.

For the cost of a professional to come in, and when you reduce your vacancy by just two days, you can usually pay that off immediately. Plus, you can use the photos over and over again each time the unit is vacant.

So hire a professional, have them take some good pictures and you’ll be a lot happier!

3. Base Rents vs. Full Price

The next thing is how to advertise the rent level. What we generally say to folks is make sure you are advertising base rents, and that means to not include the cost of utilities or HOA expenses in your rent.

You want the tenant to be able to compare units “apples to apples”.

If the unit next door is advertising base rent, but you are advertising rent + utilities, the tenant will think they’re getting a worse deal. Then they may go with the neighbor’s property.

4. Online vs. Yard Signs

A lot of times people want signs in the in the yard, and really push to just have your advertising online.

There a few types of neighborhoods where a yard sign might work, like near universities and such, but really what we have found is that yard signs can lead to other issues like vandalism, breaking and entering the vacant property, and other situations.

The people that we’re looking for to rent these places have a smartphone, and that’s how they’re looking for their next rental.

If you would like to discuss advertising your rental, or managing your property in Salt Lake City, tap here to contact Advanced Solutions Property Management.

Salt Lake Property Owners Why Work With Advanced Solutions Property Management

Property Owners In Salt Lake: Here’s Why You Should Work With Advanced Solutions Property Management

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The thing we are most proud of is our experience with managing Salt Lake area rental properties, and working with owners renting out a lot of different types of properties.

When it comes to understanding the rental market in various areas, we have a pretty good idea of what is going on in each part of the valley.

Salt Lake Property Owners Why Work With Advanced Solutions Property Management

For example, if you’re wondering how to rent your house, we know what works for rentals on the east side of the valley versus the west side.

We also understand what range of rental prices will work in different parts of the Salt Lake City area, because since the rental market varies, this will help you set your rental price.

We utilize technology in ways that other property management companies do not.

We have software that allows us to work with multiple clients and all of their properties.

This helps us to efficiently manage the day to day business of taking care of your property, and it also helps us to communicate with tenants as well as property owners.

Every property we manage is treated as if it was our own, as all of us here at Advanced Solutions Property Management own rental property ourselves.

I have my own properties, so whenever I make a decision on a property I manage I am basically making the same decision for my own rental homes.

Every action and decision is based on how we feel as property owners, and we take pride in treating your property like we treat our own.

Finally, we have the professionalism required to interact and build relationships with both our tenants and our clients.

Obviously, we aim to deal with our tenants in a way that is professional and respectful, and we find that when we are able to establish a good relationship with tenants, it is easier to keep the best tenants in place, which reduces turnover and vacancies.

We know you will be happy with the way you and the people living in your home are treated by us.

These are important things to consider when you are choosing a property management company in the Salt Lake valley.

If you have any questions about how we manage our properties, or you’d like to talk to us about your specific needs, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.