Tenant Tips

 

The number one mistake owners make with tenants is disrespecting them. There is a significant difference between being firm with rules and respect. Respect includes proper use of the English language and calling them at a reasonable hour. When you treat tenants with respect, you will save THOUSANDS of dollars in repairs. Yelling and screaming at a tenant who is late is equivalent to writing a check for $1000.

A full service property manager will do your evictions for you. I charge $300 unless I placed your tenant. There is an art to an eviction and this art will save your thousands of dollars in the long run. Unless you have experience, this is better left to professionals. The majority of my evictions are "elegant departures" which leave your property in nearly the same condition that they moved in with.

The second biggest mistake owners make with tenants is that they let a late payment slide. The first payment late needs to be addressed immediately. DO NOT IGNORE A LATE PAYMENT. If my new tenant is late, I usually call and leave a polite message to the effect "Hi Nancy, I noticed that your payment is late. Perhaps we didn't cover late payments so I will let just this one slide. The next late payment will be $30 for each day that it's late. Please call me if we need to discuss this." I'm not rude - just short and factual.

This will eliminate the whole "my dog ate the deposit" story. I can verify payments online and I don't have to deal with making deposits myself. A bonus would be to make your tenant puts the property address on the deposit slip as most banks scan the deposit slip. If you have multiple tenants with the same dollar amount, ask each one to deposit a unique dollar amount like "$1499" so that you know who the payment belongs to.

Driving by your property is ok. Showing up at dinner time unannounced is a major no no. The only time you need to visit your tenant is if they are late. If your tenant is late and you are local, it's ok to call and say, "I'm a little concerned that you are late. I will be dropping by tomorrow at 5pm to make sure everything is in order." This reminds them that you are on them and being late will be painful to them.

If you are not local, contact me immediately if your tenant is late. I am in the field all the time and it doesn't take me very much effort to slap a 5-Day notice on their door and check the outside conditions. This also gives me a heads up. If you get consistent problems with a tenant, I start marketing the property for future tenants. Next.