Summary: Success doesn’t come easy as a landlord. Passive income might sound promising but there’s always a substantial amount of work put in beforehand.
In today’s property ownership, there are plenty of good landlords but few great ones.
This guide will showcase how you can elevate your success to new heights.
Making the Right “Business” Decisions
Many landlords tend to flop because they don’t treat their business like a business. Meaning, they don’t make the right decisions and tend to treat their investment like a hobby. This is the ultimate no-no. When you take the time to coordinate the proper system and organization, great things can happen. Do you have the correct systems in place to minimize maintenance concerns without being directly involved? What if you’re out of town and a water supply line suddenly breaks? Are you going to cut your trip short to fix it or do you have an emergency system in place to care for the mess?
Shift your perspective from a hobby to a business owner – it tends to work out much better this way.
Screening
Running criminal background checks for every applicant is a waste of money. Prospects that might be interested could suddenly change their mind and leave you for another apartment leaving you wasting your money.
Don’t run your property on emotion. Screen the applicants and weed out the bad apples. It’s one thing to trust them based on instinct, but it’s another to have tangible proof that they’re financially responsible and won’t give you any problems during their tenure. And you’d best believe that you’d have some tenants that’ll try and get you to cut them some slack due to a “financial emergency”. Draw the line between being friendly and professional. You’ll never find true business success without implementing a specific and strict system for your applicants.
Respect
You might not like your tenants, but that’s no excuse to not show them the respect they deserve. Like a business, they’re your clients, and they’re essentially supplying your passive income. Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way of a business relationship. This is a common rule of thumb. Tenants expect to be treated fairly no matter what type of relationship you have with them. Many landlords feel superior because they own property. Here’s a tip for you: get off your high horse. Owning property doesn’t make you more important than the person next to you – so don’t act like it. Always treat each tenant with respect and dignity and it will pay dividends in the long run.