How to Make Managing Tenants Easier: Why delegating important landlord responsibilities with a property manager might be your best idea yet.
If you own rental property, you’ve got a lot on your plate. You’re responsible for handling various repairs, regular maintenance tasks, keeping up with property taxes, and more. On top of that, you also have a duty to collect rent, serve applicable notices to tenants, and handle any tenant concerns that arise which are all part of tenant management concerns.
It can be a full-time job to manage just one property, but the following tips can make it a bit easier.
1. Work with a property manager
Do your tenants call you at 3:00 a.m. to report a busted pipe or leak in the roof? Do you get calls when you’re in the middle of dinner about random issues that aren’t truly an emergency? Do you get frustrated with chasing down late rent and imposing late fees you aren’t sure you’ll receive?
No matter what you’re dealing with, you don’t have to be the landlord when you hire a property manager. For instance, the Fort Worth property management team from Green Residential handles all of their clients’ needs, from tenant screening and rent collection to repairs and serving eviction notices. When you work with a property manager, they’ll handle all your landlord duties, so you don’t have to get involved in the day-to-day shuffle.
When you have a property manager handling your investment properties and tenants, you’ll have someone with industry expertise on your side. They’ll know and adhere to federal and state landlord-tenant laws, so you won’t need to worry about legal mistakes. In some cases, they’ll have a partnership with local contractors that give them better deals on repair jobs, which amounts to saving money.
2. Be direct and don’t give chances
It would be nice if tenants didn’t take advantage of their landlords, but it happens, and there’s no way to know ahead of time when it might happen. You have no way of knowing if your tenant is going to appreciate your one-time favor or continue expecting deals and breaks. When tenants come to expect special treatment, there’s a chance they might get mad if you don’t continue doing them favors. For example, if you let someone slide on late fees this month, they might expect that grace again next month. When you tell them you’re serious next month, they could argue with you or just flat out not pay the late fee.
The best way to avoid arguments with tenants over things like this is to be as direct as possible regarding your expectations. For instance, let them know from the beginning that if they incur late fees for paying rent late, they will be expected to pay it with next month’s rent or sooner.
From the beginning, make it clear that you’re not going to do them any favors. There will be no exceptions made to the lease and late rent will not be tolerated. That way, if you want to cut them a break under special circumstances, you can make it clear that you’re somewhat reluctant and do it in a way that makes it clear it’s only that one time.
3. Write routine maintenance into the lease
Tenants are usually understanding when a landlord needs to perform an inspection or routine preventive maintenance, but it can be a big disruption when it feels too frequent. For example, say you just randomly give your tenant notice a week before you need to perform routine maintenance four times a year. They might feel disrupted if they don’t realize it’s going to be happening on a schedule like that. While not all maintenance can be predicted, if you know you’re going to perform certain maintenance tasks throughout the year, put it in the lease so they aren’t surprised.
As long as you give the legally required notice, it doesn’t matter if your tenant dislikes the fact that you’re going to be performing maintenance, but if you tell them about predictable needs, it will make your tenants feel better when they know beforehand. Putting your routine maintenance tasks in the lease also helps if you end up in court because your tenant claims you’re breaching their right to quiet enjoyment.
Get help from an experienced attorney
Last, but not least, don’t forget to consult with an attorney regarding landlord-tenant management matters, especially for creating strong lease agreements and serving tenants notice for lease changes and evictions. An attorney will make sure you stay within the bounds of the law so if your tenant decides to sue, you can avoid legal consequences.
