7 Property Management Tips That Will Make You A Better Landlord

7 Property Management Tips That Will Make You A Better Landlord

If you’re a landlord in Salt Lake, then you know what it’s like to manage an investment. It’s not easy, especially if you’re new to the game. You have to find good tenants and make sure they stay in your property, while making sure they pay on time and don’t damage anything. But don’t worry: there are some things that can make this process easier for both you and your tenants.

7 Property Management Tips That Will Make You A Better Landlord

1. Screen Tenants

Screening tenants is one of the most important things you can do as a landlord. It helps you find a tenant who will pay their rent on time every month, keep your property in good condition, and won’t cause problems with your other tenants. And it helps you avoid losing money to bad renters who skip out on paying their rent or damage property beyond repair during their stay.

Screening tenants also tells you what kind of person they are—whether they’re responsible, respectful and trustworthy—and gives an idea of whether or not they will be compatible with your other residents. You don’t want to risk putting someone who doesn’t get along well with others in close quarters with another tenant!

2. Hire A Property Manager

A property manager is a vital resource for any landlord. They’re responsible for collecting rent, managing maintenance issues and coordinating repairs with contractors, and ensuring that the unit is being occupied by only authorized tenants. They can also be helpful in screening applicants and making sure that the people moving into your property are up to snuff—they’ll run credit checks, collect references from past landlords or employers, and even check their social media pages to make sure they’re not posting inappropriate photos online or engaging in illegal activities (like selling drugs).

If you’re not comfortable doing all these things yourself, consider hiring a rental management company in Salt Lake. It may seem like an unnecessary expense at first glance but they’ll save you time while providing peace of mind: after all they have experience collecting rent checks and keeping tabs on tenants!

3. Create A Preventive Maintenance Plan

A preventive maintenance plan is exactly what it sounds like: a strategy for keeping your rental property in good condition. It’s also a great way to keep your tenants happy and reduce the risk of costly repairs on account of neglect or improper maintenance.

The first step in creating a preventive maintenance plan is to create an inventory of all the major components at your rental property. The most important ones include:

  • Appliances (refrigerators, stoves, etc.)
  • Electrical systems (fans/lights/switches)
  • Plumbing systems (shower heads and faucets)

Once you have this list of important items, add up their costs and write them down next to each item’s name on a piece of paper or spreadsheet. This will help you determine whether replacing any parts would be cost-effective at all—and if so which ones are worth replacing first! Some landlords choose to replace appliances every five years while others prefer doing it every ten years depending upon how old they are as well as other factors such as age-related wear & tear over time.

4. Business Plan

A business plan is a written document that describes the operation of your property and lays out your goals. It’s important to have a business plan in place before you get started with property management, because it will help you define what success looks like for your company and give you an idea of the steps needed to reach these goals. Your business plan should include a marketing plan, so that you can create an actionable strategy for attracting new tenants by reaching out online or through word-of-mouth referrals from current tenants.

5. Use Online Tools

Online tools can be a great way to manage your property and tenants. With online tools, you can organize your business and keep track of everything that’s going on. You also don’t have to worry about storing paperwork or writing things down like you would if you weren’t using an online tool for property management.

Here are some features that some of these tools offer:

  • Calendar view where you can see all of your tenants’ leases, notices from them, maintenance requests, etc., in one place
  • Software integration so that emails can be sent automatically when certain things happen (e.g., rent is due)

6. Use Rental Agreements and Leases

If you are a landlord or property manager, there’s no arguing that rental agreements and leases are an essential part of your business. They provide tenants with clear expectations about what is expected during their time in the property, as well as how long they will stay.

A rental agreement or lease can include terms that protect both landlords and tenants by ensuring everyone involved understands their rights and responsibilities. A good rental agreement:

  • Includes all details about rent payments, late fees and other costs associated with living at the property
  • States when rent is due each month (and what happens if it isn’t paid)
  • Gives notice if either party wants out of the relationship early

7. Inspect the Property Regularly

Inspect the property regularly. Inspections should be regular, thorough and include all areas of the property. The frequency of inspections depends on factors like your rental agreement and local laws; most landlords do them once per month or every three months.

It’s important to have a professional inspect your rental property because it’s difficult for an amateur landlord to catch everything that needs attention (especially in older houses). A professional will check everything from appliances to plumbing fixtures to electrical wiring—all things that could potentially cause major problems down the line if they’re not functioning properly.

Your inspection report should include photos showing any damage found during the inspection so you can reference it later when making repairs or discussing damages with a tenant who may have caused them accidentally by using something improperly (for example, leaving an iron plugged in).

Being a landlord is a serious job. Being prepared will make it easier.

Being a landlord is a serious job. Being prepared for the day-to-day tasks of property management and keeping your tenants happy will make it easier to handle when things get busy and stressful.

A few of the most important things you’ll need:

  • A good property manager who knows what they’re doing, is up-to-date on their skills, and can do the job well. If you don’t have time to manage your own properties but have other employees, consider hiring a professional property manager in Salt Lake who can take care of everything for you so that you don’t have worry about anything but making sure everyone’s getting paid on time.
  • The right tools for the job—like an app designed specifically for managing rentals, or even just Microsoft Excel spreadsheets organized by tenant name so that none of them get lost track of what needs done next!
  • A plan in place before any problems come up so that nothing catches any landlords off guard!

These are just some of the best tips for being a landlord. We hope that you find them helpful and informative. If you have any other questions about how to manage your property, don’t hesitate to reach out!

Is Hiring A Property Management Company Worth The Money?

Is Hiring A Property Management Company Worth The Money?

Many people venture into rental properties unaware of the amount of time and effort it takes to actually manage them.

The truth is that sometimes, we just don’t know what we don’t know.

The larger a property is, or the more properties involved, the more complex, difficult and expensive it becomes to run them.

The main question for most property owners, “Is hiring a Salt Lake City property management company really going to be worth my money?”

Is Hiring A Property Management Company Worth The Money?

There are specific situations where having a property management company overseeing your properties can be a huge advantage for you. This will save you countless amounts of both time and money.

Here are 5 reasons why hiring a property management company makes sense:

1. Decrease Your Vacancies

A property management company can help you by advertising your property, screening prospective tenants, and placing them. But, this is not all.

A property management company makes your property more desirable in other ways, too.

Hands-on care and maintenance management along with positive tenant relations will dramatically help your property’s curb appeal and reputation.

2. Collect Rent and Process Evictions

Collections and evictions can be two of the more uncomfortable and time-consuming responsibilities of owning a property.

Hiring good property management will take those responsibilities off your plate.

Having a streamlined process for making payments and clear and open communication will make collections more successful.

In the case that rent can not be willingly collected from tenants a management company can actually process an eviction for you, saving you the time and hassle of going to court yourself.

If you are a new property owner and not familiar with all of the legalities of the rental and eviction processes, a residential property manager could literally end up saving you a fortune! 

3. Maintenance Management

Depending on the company that you choose and the agreement you make, you may find that some or all aspects of maintenance management can be handled by your property management company.

This saves you, again, both time and money.

Hiring a full-time maintenance person is costly, and that is only after a long search and screening process to find the best-qualified individual.

Hiring a private contractor for each job would not only become tedious, but the cost would certainly add up, too. 

4. Tenant Management

People are not perfect, and not too often predictable, so tenant management is a major component of having a rental property.

If you only showed up once a month to collect rent, you would have no idea what was actually happening to your property.

To be legally and fully aware of what is going on inside your property, it is necessary to have professional move-in and move-out inspections.

The outside maintenance of the property should be checked regularly as well to be sure it is properly maintained. 

If you own several units or an entire complex, tenants will interact with each other.

As much as we would hope it would never happen, tenant disputes do occur.

This is where having a property manager who is familiar with both the property and the tenants makes navigating these types of situations significantly easier. 

5. Retirement

When the time comes that you want to retire or relocate, but you want to maintain your investment property, a property management company is a perfect choice.

Yes, you may need to pay out a little more in expenses, but hiring a management company means that your property will truly become a passive investment.

How To Set The Right Rent Price

To set the right rent price, we recommend researching your market to learn what the fair market rent price is in your area. Pricing your rental at the rent price that makes sense in your location can mean the difference between vacancies and attracting good tenants so you can rent your property quickly. You can also use online applications such as Rentometer to help guide your rental rates.

As you set your rent price, you should keep in mind how it affects your financials. After all, rent payments are your main source of income on your rental property. To compare your rental income to your rental expenses, you should list your fixed and estimated expenses. Fixed expenses are your mortgage payment, property taxes, insurance fee, and HOA fees. Your variable expenses are utilities, repairs, and property improvements. By comparing income to expenses, it’s easier to see how rent price affects your monthly revenue.

There’s no point in setting the right rent price if you have tenants who don’t pay on time, which is why the next tip is critical.