Rental Property Maintenance Tips for New Landlords

So, you have decided to enter the lucrative and exciting world of renting your property. Congrats. 

Being a landlord is a rewarding venture, but it is not without its challenges and tribulations. This is especially true if you are a newbie in the world of renting your property. 

Here are the essential rental property maintenance tips for new landlords. Follow these tips and start reaping the fruits of your labor in no time. 

Renting a property is a business 

In theory, being a landlord might seem like a dream come true. Many people think that all a landlord has to do is rent their property and collect the rent every once in a while. But, renting a property is a business. 

Running a business means that you must act following local and national laws. So even before you start renting your property, there is a set of rules and regulations that you must follow. 

And once you find tenants and start running your business, you are the one responsible for a myriad of liability claims and potential accidents that might occur on your property and to your residents. 

According to SCK Property, you must also meet the minimum standards for rental property (such as keeping all the appliances and amenities in good shape) before you even consider becoming a landlord. 

That is why your rental place must be in good shape. So here is what to do. 

Check everything before a tenancy begins

Disputes about the state of the property are relatively frequent occurrences when your tenants are moving out. To avoid this, do an inspection before you let anyone inhabit your property.

Ensure to check your property thoroughly, especially if you already had someone staying there. Document everything and take a lot of photos. 

This type of proactive behavior can save you from potentially drawn out, cumbersome, and expensive arguments once your newest tenants leave your place. It is better to prevent a disagreement than to deal with it later onl. 

Educate tenants 

Renting a property is a two-way relationship. It is not enough that you do your part. Your tenants should be willing to cooperate with you to make that relationship a successful one. 

The best thing to do is to provide your new renters with an information package that lists out all the basis of property maintenance and care that would be their responsibility. 

For instance, make sure that they know to air the property regularly and ensure that it is kept adequately heated in colder months to minimize mold.

Many tenants, particularly younger and inexperienced ones, are not aware of their duties and things that they can do to keep the property running smoothly. 

Because of that, it is better to educate them beforehand. This small initial step can save you from a lot of headaches down the line.

Ensure to keep the lines of communication between you and your renters open even after they have moved in. The better the communication, the better your relationship will be. 

If you make it easy for your tenants to report any issues on the property, they will be able to do it quickly and before they become serious problems that will demand a lot of your time and money. 

Try to keep good tenants 

Good tenants are hard to come by. Because of this, once you find someone who is your ideal renter, offer them incentives to keep them as tenants. 

Offering incentives doesn't mean that you should lower the rent to keep them. Quite the contrary, you can keep raising the rent in accordance with the current state of the rental market. 

But, offer some perks to make it appealing for your current tenants to keep staying at your property. For instance, every year, you could offer to replace or upgrade one thing on the property up to a particular value. 

Upgrade the AC system, change the flooring, or do something else that will simultaneously make living easier for your current tenants and raise the value of your property overall. That way, everybody benefits from this agreement.

Small gestures like this make it less likely for your residents to find a loophole and break an apartment lease without a penalty.

Do not ignore property problems 

If a tenant reports a problem on your property, or you notice one during an inspection, do not hesitate to fix it. Problems do not go away. They can only get bigger. 

Early intervention can only save you money. For example, a dripping faucet can become a leaking one, a small crack in the wall can become a hole, and so on. 

It is better to spend a bit of money right away and fix a minor issue than wait and let that small issue develop into a big and expensive one. 

Pay especially close attention to your property during colder winter months since that is when most issues become apparent.