Property and Location
You’ve got to have a proper marriage between property and location for the greatest success when it comes to renting. Whether you’re renting out a home, an apartment complex, a duplex, an RV, or a prefabricated modular home, who you can sign a lease with will depend on these two factors.
Firstly, the quality of your property is a very important consideration. If for example, a fine neighborhood included a home whose insides were not in agreement with its outsides, you may lose some of the price negotiation power you might otherwise have. You’ll likely lose discriminating tenants as well; which are who you’re aiming to work with.
Still, neighborhoods which don’t include a substantial HOA, a neighborhood watch, or the best maintenance might be desirable to renters if they are near sought amenities, like businesses which employ large numbers of people, or renown entertainment districts.
Typically, the kind of location a renter will prefer will be something central, and in a part of town that hasn’t fallen into disrepair. The property will likely be in very good shape, though not luxurious, and be among other similar properties that are similarly well-maintained. Schools, corporations, shopping, entertainment, and amenities will likewise be nearby.
Enhancing Property
If you’re in a good neighborhood, but your property requires refurbishment, you might look at innovative refurbishments to get the job done. Home improvements which adopt “green” energy solutions increase property value and make it more desirable for many potential tenants who are progressively minded.
Something else which can make your property exceptionally amenable to the right kind of renters is a security system. This can also help you to sell better tenants should you be managing a property in a neighborhood whose worth is in decline.
The Other Half of the Battle
Of course, when it comes to property management, having the property is only half the battle. The other half involves your tenants. Some are good, some aren’t. Your ideal tenant will leave the property looking as well as he or she found it, minus wear and tear. They’ll pay on time, or earlier, they won’t be loud, and they won’t smoke.
But you can’t get all those things. Sometimes you’re going to be forced to settle, and you’ll get a real piece of work renting from you. This scenario can be difficult, and hopefully, you don’t have to serve an eviction. But, if it’s getting to that point, one way you might be able to get rid of problem tenants is to catch them breaking the law.
Human Characteristics
Oftentimes an underhanded tenant will have financial issues which force…shall we say…creative ways of income supplementation. One of the more popular ways this manifests today is subletting. Without personal resources, the next choice is to pool wealth with others in a similar situation.
Characters on the sketchy side of adulthood are more likely to exchange services for goods and cash, continually develop new ways to make money, and generally, avoid gainful employment. A great scam is subletting. An individual rents, say, an apartment for $500 a month, then let’s two friends move in for $300 a month.
His rent is taken care of, and the extra $100 covers utilities. His friends are ostensibly getting a deal at $300. Now those three deadbeats can just float, diminish your property’s value by refraining from fixing things they’ve broken, having all manner of parties, smoking, carrying on, and sneaking pets in on the sly.
Catching Them Red-Handed
If you suspect your tenants are illegally subletting your property, a good way to determine as much is to use a site like SubletAlert.com, which will notify you: “…when tenants sublet on Airbnb and other sites.” Friends don’t last in the subletting game; it’s too noticeable, and relationships become strained.
Eventually, an individual playing that kind of game turns to better ways of accomplishing the same. Six days at $100 a night comes to $600, and can be done through Airbnb if you’re located in the right spot—which you’ll want to be, as a landlord; thus you’ll get the better renters.
This is too convenient for an underhanded individual to pass up. To get around it by monitoring the path of least resistance: online room-share sites. Armed with the right information, you can serve an eviction should that become necessary and find better tenants.
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