Do-It-Yourself Landlords

by Mary Anne Ragragio


Posted on 2019-10-04 09:17:01


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If you want to invest in becoming a DIY Landlord you need to have the necessary tool and system to support yourself because this is not one to be taken lightly; it is a self-managing kind of work. You need to ensure that you are accessible to manage this process professionally in a timely manner and take care of your own rental by yourself and perform maintenance duty when necessary to maintain a beautiful and habitable environment.

When managing your own property rental you might find it difficult and time-consuming to look after your own property. But being a do-it-yourself landlord can be a cost-effective way to manage your property if you have the skill level to do so and may consider some important things such as screening tenants, creating a rental agreement, collecting rent, attending to maintenance issues, and etc.

Before you start your journey as a DIY landlord, you may need to consider a few important things first. Here are some suggestions to help the do-it-yourself landlord's life easier.

 

Screening your potential tenants is important. 

By screening your potential tenants for important factors like:

  • Criminal history.
  • Eviction records.
  • Credit report.
  • Specially designated national search or most of the time referred to as OFAC search.
  • Employment verification.
  • Rental references.

It will help protect you as the property owner, your property, and the community. These will provide you essential information to help you learn what type of renter they were in their previous tenancy. And will help you determine if they are financially capable enough to rent your property.

You are going to spend a lot of money expecting to gain good income from your rental property, so why not run a tenant screening to help protect your investment.

 

Ensure you have all the necessary documents. 

Ensure that you have all the correct forms and necessary documents to support the tenancy to avoid being exposed to too many risky situations and protect your investment. It is important that all your tenant agreement is documented in the form of a lease agreement; this will help to avoid DIY landlords in a bad situation for not having enough documentation to support the tenancy or by simply not having a lease agreement at all.

No matter how well you know your future tenant; proper documentation is very necessary to protect and keep your rental property business.

 

Conduct regular property inspection.

How often do landlords have to inspect their rental property depends on what specified in the lease. Some landlords do quarterly, twice a year or for some, yearly. Regardless of the case, landlords usually provide a 24 to 48-hour notice

Inspecting your property on a regular basis is a must for a DIY landlord, who most of the time fall victim to some tenants who cause costly damage to properties.

Many landlords choose this kind of business because they can resolve maintenance issues themselves. Maintenance might include cleaning, painting and routine maintenance. There will be times though, that landlords would seek professional help when some issues arise.

 

Make sure you understand all the legalities around being a landlord.

DIY landlords should be aware of and understand about residential tenancy and rights of your tenants. It is very important to be aware of the related laws to avoid yourselves in breach of one or more of the laws.

 

And...

Due to modern technology, there are now some advanced agencies that help especially DIY landlords the ability to register and log-in on the internet to view updated details of their investment rented apartment. For example, at Smart Housing, landlords can view everything to do with their property such as tenant details, payments, schedule of request for maintenance, tenant screening, and many more. Smart Housing links landlord/tenant and accepts payment online to help both parties make life easier.

 

 

 

 


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