If you’re a landlord looking collect rent
online and to increase your return on your property, why not consider
managing the property yourself? Yes, it involves additional time, but you can
make substantially more on your investment with do-it-yourself property
management. Now, if you’re okay with hiring a management company, and giving a
portion of your profits for this service – by all means, go ahead. But, we’re
here to share a few key ways you can make more money as a landlord by being
handy, and using a few simple and inexpensive tools.
Okay, you’ve made the decision to try managing your rental
property on your own, what’s next?
1.
Finding and screening tenants. Don’t
you need a broad-spectrum software tool to do this? Isn’t this costly? Not
necessarily. It’s easy and free to upload high-quality photos of your property
to Zillow Rental Manager
or Craigslist.Add an enticing description, including important details about
the location, size, features, and expenses. This saves you time in taking calls
or emails from potential renters who don’t have enough details from your
on-line advertisement.
2.
Tenant Applications.When a potential
tenant applies to rent your property, screening the application is also
something you can do yourself. Some sites offer pay per applicant criminal history
checks. With a variety of options, you can pay for the level of screening you
need. Many landlords charge an application fee to cover the cost of screening
their tenants, making the cost transferrable to the applicant. To reduce the expense involved for potential
applicants, you can ask them to provide their own credit report, versus paying
for this service. This saves the tenant money, and saves you time.
3.
Rent Payments. By far, the easiest
and quickest way for you to manage tenant payments is to use landlord software to collect rent
online. This is a huge time saver for do-it-yourself landlords. By using
landlord software, such as Schedule My Rent, for electronic rent collection,
you save time in receiving, depositing, and tracking paper checks. No driving
to the PO box to pick up mail, then to the bank to deposit checks or money
orders. Rent payments are automatically deposited into your account on the date
of your choice. Tenants also love this! They feel confident that their payments
are on time, and they even receive a confirmation of payment. Schedule My Rent
provides other time saving options, such as splitting rent between roommates,
rent payment reminders and fees for late rent payments. With Schedule My Rent, you are able to easily
and automatically communicate with your tenants for all payment transactions.https://www.schedulemyrent.com
4.
Do-It-Yourself Repairs. Many home or
apartment repairs are minor. These include unclogging a toilet, sealing a
bathtub or repairing a window screen. When you get a call from a tenant to
repair something at your property, consider fixing it yourself. Especially as
some service calls for just coming to your property, may set you back $75 or
more. If it turns out the repair is minor, you may wish you had tried to fix it
yourself. Many online sources exist to
show you how to make minor repairs, such as HomeRepairTutor.com or YouTube. However, if you find the repair is
substantial, it may be time to call in the experts.
5.
Showing Optimally. With most leases,
tenants are required to provide 30 days notice prior to vacating their house or
apartment. In order to minimize the time the apartment is vacant, and
therefore, not making you money, build a clause into your lease to allow you to
show the apartment before the current tenant has moved out. With this agreement in place, and with prior
notice to your current tenant, showing the property while occupied can work in
your favor.
While employing a property
management company can save you time, this will eat into your profit margin.
Property managers typically charge up to 10% monthly fees for their services.
Alternatively, by managing your property yourself, you can save money in
several areas – allowing you to pocket the additional income. You can also save
money with do-it-yourself repairs and with time saving tools such as Schedule
My Rent.
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