(This post is part of our “Landlord Basics” series, which seeks to help the new landlord / investor understand some of the basics of tenant relations and property management. Click here to view the entire Landlord Basics archive.)
Tenant screening is an important, but often overlooked, responsibility of the investor. Prospective tenants are not always truthful on their rental applications (assuming one was filled out to begin with!). Because of this, it is important to check prospective tenant references. This is a quick and dirty guide to the questions you should ask.
Continue reading ‘Landlord Basics: Checking Tenant References’
This is a guest post from the team at RentingYourHome. RentingYourHome provides quality information to landlords about prospective tenants, and helps landlords screen potential tenants.
Get ready for this spring by tuning up your rental properties! Completing preventative maintenance helps limit surprises and keeps overall operating expenses (and tenant complaints) lower.
Continue reading ‘Spring Maintenance Checklist’
Many investors take pride in having a strong sense of “do it yourself” when it comes to maintenance tasks that pop up in their investment property. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but when does the amount of time required of the investor outweigh the cost of having a contractor come in and do the work for them?
First and foremost, there are some tasks that should be tackled by a contractor without hesitation, either due to job difficulty, licensing requirements, permit requirements, or hazardous nature of the work. A good example of this would be upgrading an electrical service. In many areas, a certified electrical contractor has to pull a permit from the municipality, and the work can not be completed by the investor or just a handyman.
Continue reading ‘Time Value of Money for the Investor’
(This post is part of our “Landlord Basics” series, which seeks to help the new landlord / investor understand some of the basics of tenant relations and property management. Click here to view the entire Landlord Basics archive.)
Showing apartments can be a headache if you don’t have a system down for scheduling showings and preparing yourself for the showing. Not being prepared can have a negative impact on your showing, and potentially lose a renter. Take these steps to get ready for a showing, starting with scheduling appointments!
Continue reading ‘Landlord Basics: Setting Up For A Showing’
