5 Successful Processes Every Landlord Should Know

If you are a successful and growing property management company, you are more than likely practicing some of these without even realizing it.

If you are a landlord and growing your portfolio, these processes will be extremely helpful to you as well.

Why Is It Important to Be a Good Landlord?

It’s no secret that finding a good resident is the ideal situation as a landlord, but why is it essential to be a good landlord? It’s simple. Your property will reach its full potential with a quality landlord. When you add a good landlord to the mix with a good property and good residents, you’ll find that your potential is nearly limitless.

Rental properties today are a combination of two primary factors: a highly sought-after property and a good landlord.

How to Be a Good Landlord

A good landlord should always bring out the best in a property, but what exactly does that entail? Generally speaking, you can follow these top five successful landlord processes to ensure you are doing all that you can to be a good landlord to your residents.

1. Be Available

If you have decided to run your rental property on your own, you must understand that with that comes the responsibility of being available to your residents as needed. One of the quickest ways to disrupt the dynamic of the renter-tenant relationship is by being difficult to reach in times of need.

It doesn’t matter what shape your property was in when you turned over the keys, nor does it matter how good your residents are; problems will inevitably come up. Luckily, if you have done an excellent job of managing your property, most of these concerns will be minimal. However small, though, problems brought up by your residents should never be ignored.

As a general rule of thumb, you should always return calls, texts, or emails from your residents with a maximum of 36 hours. If you don’t have a solution at that time, don’t worry. Just be sure to communicate that you have received the message and are working on it.

2. Be Able to Anticipate Issues

Minor concerns are sometimes just that, but other times they can eventually accumulate into more significant problems. As a good landlord, it’s crucial to anticipate these issues and have an idea of when they will turn into something more significant.

Issues can be anything from concerns with your residents that might eventually lead to them being evicted or physical issues with your property. For example, something seemingly simple such as a leaky faucet or backed-up drain might have a quick fix, but you might know that there could be underlying issues.

A good landlord will invest the time and money needed to perform routine preventative maintenance around their property to help avoid long-term issues. Avoid band-aid solutions to problems that pop up in your rental property. Handle problems head-on and early on to be a good landlord.

3. Be Firm but Fair

The renter-tenant relationship is delicate and relies heavily on balance between being firm and fair. Certain circumstances will arise that may require you to loosen up on a stance you might have historically been more firm on and vice versa.

While being flexible is an important quality, you need to know when to stand firm, especially when it crosses the line over core values. If your residents know they can get away with breaking your rules, you’ll find that they will shamelessly continue doing so.

An excellent way to help maintain this firm but fair mentality is by taking the time to have everything carefully drafted in your lease agreement. In addition to your rules, you want to consider penalties for breaking the rules and have that written out. That way, whenever in a sticky situation, you and your resident can refer back to the lease without question.

4. Be Ready to Act

If you are handy and able to fix simple things around the home yourself, that’s a huge plus. Thankfully, you don’t have to stress if that isn’t the case. Rather than prioritizing knowing how to fix things, what’s most important is having the proper resources readily available when needed. For example, if your resident tells you they have a leaky faucet, you know that you cannot handle that yourself, have a quality plumber on speed dial ready to help out.

As a landlord, you will likely develop working relationships with professionals across all different industries. Foster these relationships and keep your contact list updated always. That way, when an emergency strikes, you’ve got someone to call, and they can handle it right away.

5. Have Good Residents

Last but not least, it’s essential to give credit where credit is due. Remember that everything begins with your residents as a landlord, and finding good residents relies on more than plain old-fashioned luck. Do your homework and take the extra time needed to mitigate your risk by finding quality residents.

The fastest way to turn yourself from a good landlord into a bad landlord is by having bad residents. Rather than putting yourself and your property through that, take the time to complete thorough background checks. While it might initially take more time and effort, it will undoubtedly pay off in the long run.

In Closing

By following these top five successful landlord processes, you can easily figure out how to be a good landlord for your rental property.

Remember that not only do your residents benefit from these qualities but the value of your property will as well, which ultimately means more money for you in the long run.

Want to learn more investor and landlord tips? 

Whether you are an investment property owner, someone trying to sell your house, or looking to grow your portfolio, we have the information you need. Check out the Evernest YouTube channel today to learn the ins and outs of buying and managing your rental property. 

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Spencer Sutton

Spencer is the VP of Marketing at Evernest. He wakes up with Google and Facebook on his mind. Having bought and sold over 150 homes in Birmingham, Spencer gets a kick out of helping new and seasoned investors navigate the mistakes he made as an investor. Spencer is also passionate about his love for Michael Jordan and does his best to explain to the Millennials (who never saw him play live) how much better he was than LeBron. He loves to hang out with his wife, kids, and the world’s best black lab, Jett.