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Twelve Practical Steps to Protect Your Investment
Our newsletters cover many issues but as the New Year approaches, we want to review twelve practices that we, as your management company, continually use to protect your investment.
1 - Support Fair Housing
This is crucial to successful property management. This covers a vast area such as advertising, showings, tenant selection, equal opportunity practices for the handicapped, and much more. We always work to avoid Fair Housing complaints but should they occur, we move to settle them swiftly and efficiently.
2 - Select good tenancy
We continually strive to improve screening practices. Choosing the right tenant is more cost effective than quickly renting to someone who will become a problem tenant, even if it means a longer vacancy.
3 - Provide reliable documentation
Another key area to reduce risk and keep tenant problems at bay is by using comprehensive documents. This encompasses leases, addendums, property notices, communications, etc. Setting up the right agreements in the beginning can help prevent future disputes.
4 - Maintain the physical property
We continually work to use competent vendors to maintain your property. We probably sound like a broken record on this subject but preventative maintenance is a big key for reducing many maintenance issues. Whether small or large, it always pays to address a problem as soon as possible and resolve them before they escalate.
5 - Tackle mold issues
Ignoring mold issues has produced some of the largest settlements against investors in the United States. We may discover that it is not toxic mold but it is better to clean up any mold before it can become a legal battle.
6 - Take tenant safety seriously
Addressing anything that could endanger tenant safety is an absolute necessity. The courts have zero tolerance for a property owner who ignores maintenance that endangers a resident. This can include unsafe electrical, flooring, plumbing, door locks, walkways, lighting, landscape, and more.
7 - Respect your tenant’s privacy
The Uniform Residential Landlord Tenant Act (URLTA) provides for a tenant’s right to privacy. Therefore, we contact tenants in advance and serve the proper notices when necessary if we want to enter their residence. You may own the property but it is the tenant’s home and most states have specific laws to address the “right to enter.”
8 - Encourage tenant retention
For obvious reasons, it can increase the return on investment (ROI) to keep a good tenant. There are many ways to encourage tenant retention and it pays to show residents that we appreciate them.
9 - Address security deposit issues
Tenants do move and when they do, the security deposit can become a battleground. Although we try to avoid this, a dispute can arise. We endeavor to settle any deposit issue as quickly as possible.
10 - Provide accurate bookkeeping records
It is important to provide you with an accurate accounting of funds for your property at all times. When you have questions on bookkeeping, we strive to provide the answers.
11 - Update on new or pending legislation
We cannot provide the best service if we do not keep up with legislation or rulings that affect management of your property. There are many ways to do this throughout the year, such as reading publications, attending seminars, workshops, and conferences.
12 - Continue to keep our clients informed
Keeping you informed on what is happening with your investment is always important. We use various means to do this such as email, telephone calls, letters, bookkeeping reports, website, etc. This newsletter is a vehicle for sharing our property management knowledge and we hope you find this information useful.
Call us if you have any questions. As your management company, we are here to protect your investment and help you when you need assistance.
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