In Part 3 of this series, I shared some wisdom about tenants. Good tenants are treasures. They keep your real estate business running profitably.Now I’d like to talk about your profits and your property.
While investing in real estate is a proven method of building wealth, it’s not a free ride. You don’t just buy a property, make it rent ready, and place tenants in it. Nope. If it were that easy, more people might do it. Properties deteriorate over time. Things break. Styles change.
As the property owner, you are responsible for ongoing maintenance, repairs, and upgrades. And, if you (or we) placed tenants worth treasuring in your property, they will expect prompt responses to necessary requests.
So, you must be prepared to do your duty to maintain the property.
I’m guessing you want to delegate the detail work of this to a competent property management company. That’s why you contacted us. However, your hands won’t be completely washed of responsibility.
Here’s how YOU can be prepared:
- Put money in a separate bank account every month that is earmarked for repairs and upgrades. Upgrades can usually be planned; repairs are generally unexpected. If you have multiple properties, the amount you set aside should be fairly substantial in case more than one unit needs attention. We can make specific recommendations about financial planning during a personal consultation.
- Consider the tenant’s perspective. We understand that your property might not be a high-end, executive rental. However, it’s easier to get and retain top-quality tenants when we acknowledge and approve reasonable requests. We ALWAYS need to respond quickly to any request that impacts habitability. Legally, tenants must have a safe and healthy place to live.
- Understand that short term pain can lead to long term gain. It is never fun or convenient to invest in repairs, maintenance, and upgrades. They can be costly and consume your time and energy. However, properties that are not maintained incrementally deteriorate, meaning you must reduce rent, settle for lower quality tenants, or take a lower price at the time of sale.
