Are You Performing The Right Yearly Property Management Tasks?

Real Estate Blog

It can be difficult maintaining and managing rental property. In fact, because there can be so many things for a landlord to do, it's easy to forget something. Unfortunately, some of the things that you may be forgetting to do each year may actually be hurting you and your business. Here are four of those things:

1. Renewing The Lease

While you might think this is common sense, you would be surprised at how many landlords do not renew leases. Unfortunately, this is a bad step on their part. In a lot of states, a yearly lease will turn into a month-to-month lease after the initial lease is up. Therefore, you want to make sure that you have your tenants sign a new 12-month (or whatever length) lease before the first one is up.

2. Staying Current With Market Rent

Many tenants pay the same monthly rent year after year. However, this is a huge mistake. The market rent is going to change, and your monthly rent that you charge needs to change as well. While it's fine to go a little below market value to help bring tenants in, you need to make sure that you are charging enough. Otherwise, you may find yourself in financial trouble, especially if you need to make repairs on the property.

3. Checking Your Keys/Locks.

It isn't uncommon for your tenants to change their locks. Whether this is to keep you out or to keep an ex-boyfriend or ex-girlfriend out, you need to have a key that works. You never know when you may need to enter their apartment when they're not home due to an emergency, such as a burst pipe or broken hot water heater.

4. Performing Annual Inspections.

A yearly inspection of all rental homes and/or apartments is necessary to ensure that there are no major maintenance issues that your tenants are not reporting. For example, your tenant could have a leaking faucet. Since it is not a big deal to them, they don't report it. However, it is costing you a lot of money on your water bill, if the tenant is not responsible for water costs. In addition, many tenants will take down their smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. This is especially true when the batteries start beeping and need replacing.

If you have been handling your own property for a while and are now feeling as if you are overwhelmed, it may be time to consider hiring a property management company, like MGR Property Management Inc. They will make sure that all of the aforementioned tasks are performed as they should, while also ensuring that your property is kept in good condition and as full as possible in terms of vacancy. It may be nice to get a load off your shoulders, yet still have the money rolling in.  

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23 December 2014

Apartment Frightmares: How You Can Live Happy Again

Apartment living can be a trial sometimes. Even the best apartment complexes can have problems, such as noisy neighbors. I experienced this firsthand with my newest neighbors. Between their partying and trashy existence, I was ready to go crazy. Late one night when they were being particularly noisy, I started researching my rights as a tenant. I found out I did not have to live with their inconsiderate behavior. As a public service, I decided to help others through this blog with their neighbor problems. Whether you are dealing with a landlord that will not do any repairs or bad neighbors, I can help.