But, in my experience, I have come across some definitive areas to shell out the bucks for now, but will save you mucho dinero in the long term.
Let's work our way up from landscaping to the lease agreement and beyond, shall we?
Witness:
1. Landscaping
It pays to landscape!
That includes paying for the property water bill and for a landscaper. Trust me, your tenant is thrilled to enjoy the benefits of a well-manicured yard, but they ain't lifting a finger to take care of it... and this includes watering it. You would be smart to install an inexpensive set of sprinklers and let the gardeners handle it.
The "curb appeal" of your property is the first thing that will intrigue them enough to want them to rent, but one of the reasons they are renting is so they DON'T have to take care of things like yard work!
2. Advertising
Where would we be without this little ditty? How are you going to get someone to sign your lease agreement if they don't know your property is available? They won't.
You definitely have to put a sign in your yard that your place is available for renting, but depending on how much traffic passes by, you are usually going to need to do more than that.
Nowadays, the Internet is where it's at! Newspapers are expensive to take ads out in and guess what?? Fewer and fewer people are reading them.
Look online and find some places to list your property. Craigslist is an incredible resource and did I mention... it's FREE!?
3. Property Management Company Image
Who wants to sign a lease agreement with someone that may or may not know what they are doing?
It is a small investment to give yourself an alternate phone number (800 numbers are cheap now too) and a P.O. Box. You don't want tenants knowing where you live and that your phone is your cell.
Tenants can begin to feel incredibly entitled and if you don't set clear boundaries with them you are going to inadvertently become their slave.
4. Lease Agreement
Spend the money required to have a rock solid, air-tight, state compliant lease agreement.
Yes, you can buy a lease agreement from an office supply store, but what kind of lease agreement is that? I will tell you... generic and it will not have the legal clauses needed to cover your behind. Every state has different laws and if you don't know what they are, why wouldn't you make sure you found a place where you could have them filled in for you?
$25 or so spent now will save you thousands down the road.
5. 3-Day Notices
Do not drag your feet when it comes to taking action on a tenant that pays rent late. Trust me, the first time your tenant is late and receives a certified letter with a 3-Day Notice to Pay or Quit in his mailbox, he won't be behind again.
And if he is and you find yourself in the unfortunate position of actually having to evict someone, you will be right on time with the process and won't lose the days because those days add up quickly... the sooner you get a deadbeat you, the sooner you are to finding another tenant that can pay.
Don't be a shy... you can be polite and firm. Serve the notice the day it is necessary... this is another reason for having the notice come from your Management Company rather than you. You can play 'good cop' while the management company plays 'bad cop'!
So, invest in your landscaping, advertising, your image, your lease agreement and being speedy with late notices and you'd save yourself literally thousands of dollars in the long run.
Stirling_Gardner
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