As a landlord, you'd want to protect your investment at all times by being very selective when selecting tenants. However, you wouldn't want your rental property to stay vacant for an extended period. This will damage your profit potential. While you may be tempted to rent out the property without conducting a background check, renting your property to an unqualified individual can cause costly and time-consuming issues down the road.
Fortunately, there are ways to minimize risk. Here's what you need to do to rent out your property.
1. Do Your Research
First thing first: research!
Since several jurisdictions regulate the tenant selection process and the advertisements you put out, you must familiarize yourself with state and federal tenancy and housing laws that can be applied. A good source you can refer to can be your local attorney.
But remember: to find a great tenant, you must have a stellar property. According to these New York property managers if you’re regular with upkeep, you're going to have an easy time finding a good tenant for your property. Keeping the property in good shape can also help set the standards for the person who occupies your house after one tenant leaves.
2. Promote Your Property
Once you've polished the property to ensure it has great curb appeal, you're ready to start advertising your home. These days, we recommend that you ignore the conventional flyers and brochures and go online.
Online advertising is gradually becoming critical for real estate marketers since it gives you increased potential to look for tenants who may be interested in your property. Moreover, it's relatively low cost and popular with tenants, too.
You can list your rental property on several websites, and some may also send your ad out to other websites for increased publicity. Some of these websites are:
RadPad
Trulia
Craigslist
You can also create a virtual video tour of your home to give buyers a chance to view your home without visiting.
3. Do a Tenant Screening Check
This is an important one. No matter how and where you find your tenants, it would be best to have a strong and thorough screening criterion for your tenants. If you're choosing an online screening service, you'll have the results back with you in a few hours after you've submitted the details. Send the potential tenant a link for the screening service, which will ease up the process since they'll avoid confusing paperwork.
If you've hired a professional for the job, they'll then move on to study the tenant's financial background, including any bankruptcies or evictions. You should also check the tenant's background in general too. The screening service you choose will go through several national, state, and local databases to ensure that your tenant does not have a criminal record.
4. Communication Matters
Once you've found the perfect tenant, you'll want to ensure that they do not move. Having a tenant that stays in your house for the long run will help keep your expenses down, and having a person who keeps the expenses down and pays you the rent on time is invaluable. If you communicate your problems to the tenant and keep communicating about the problems you face, your relationship with them will stay positive.
Moreover, your tenant will be happy that they can communicate their problems to you, too.
5. Lease Agreement
As the landlord, you'll have to set your expectations with a stringent lease agreement with your tenants. Clear out the terms and conditions that the tenants must abide by, such as when you expect the rent or the late penalty you intend to charge. You and your tenant need to be clear about the specifics. Are pets allowed? Where can they smoke?
It's essential to highlight the intricacies!
Wrapping Up
Whether you're renting out a vacation home, an investment asset, or your house, ensuring you follow the proper procedure to safeguard your asset is essential. Remember, while there are several tenants in the market, not every person will care for your house as dearly as you do!
If you haven’t hired a property manager already, click here to learn more about our services and how an experienced property manager can share some of your burdens.