The Best New Years Resolutions for Landlords
We’re already halfway through the first month of 2023! This is often when a lot of people fall off the wagon with all of their ambitious New Year’s resolutions they made only a few weeks ago. There’s no better time to decide what you really want out of the coming year, and do everything in your power to make it happen.
Being a landlord can be a tough business, but there’s no reason why you shouldn’t find success. The trick to finding resolutions you can stick to year-long is to make sure you set intentions that are reasonable and within your budget, time, and personal constraints. Here are a few reasonable suggestions — feel free to use and modify them to suit your needs in the coming year!
Resolution #1: Up Your Advertising Game
There are a variety of ways to improve the quality of the tenants applying for your property, as well as the number of applicants, and quality advertising is a major one. Try to avoid anonymous listing sites such as Craigslist. While the huge audience can be a draw, you may be inundated with applications from people who aren’t a good fit for your property. Try Zillow or even targeted Facebook ads.
You can also improve your advertising by using high-quality photos of your property, showcasing the best features and amenities first. Finally, make sure to include all important information up front or in the title of your ad. Infomation such as, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, lease duration, etc.
Resolution #2: Build Your Community
If you’re renting out several units in the same building, such as apartments or condos, take extra steps this year to improve the community through events or improvements. You don’t have to break the bank and put in any major upgrades, but something small like the addition of a children’s play area or special pet waste receptacles can go a long way toward making residents feel more invested in their community. Try to plan one or two events this year, such as a community BBQ or movie night, or a holiday party.
Resolution #3: Improve Your Screening Process
Finding qualified tenants isn’t easy, so improve your odds by reviewing your current search process and figuring out how to improve the quality of your applicants. One of the best ways to do this is by doing a background and credit check with the fee paid by the applicant. This not only saves you time and money, it saves you the headaches that come from offering a lease to a less than ideal renter who could damage your property or force you to evict them. A thorough tenant screening will show you everything you need to know before renting to an individual.
Resolution #4: Bring Your Business to the Modern Age
This year might be the year to consider becoming a landlord of the future! There are tons of ways to improve your business and your life with technology these days. Consider incorporating an online rent payment system like CreditLink, and digitally sending tenants reminders via text. Install some central free wi-fi for the common areas. Consider installing security cameras to make your tenants feel safer. There are so many ways to give your property a modern makeover, and it goes a long way toward making current tenants happy and appealing to prospective ones!
We recommend CreditLink's Property Management Software as an added tool to help you not only select the right tenants for your property, but to ease the day to day stress of managing your property as well. CreditLink offers property managers and landlords full tenant screening paid by the applicant in addition to rent collection, maintenance control, and much more. CreditLink is fast, easy, secure, and delivers reports needed to make an informed decision, including a credit report, a national criminal search, and a national eviction search.