Buying a home is stressful, given the paperwork, collating the finances, and ensuring that you are buying the right property. However, there is something more stressful than this. It is the task of managing your property. You need to take care of numerous aspects, from finding the right tenants to ensuring that the bills are paid.
All this can get tedious and too much to handle while managing your full-time work and life. So, is there a way to make property management less stressful? The answer is yes! Read on to find out how you can make property management seamless and stress-free.
Automate the Process
Technological advancement makes it possible to automate all the tedious and redundant chores. A good rental property management software will help you automate processes like rent collection, renters insurance, renewals, lease documentation, etc. This will reduce the time you spend on managing the property and eliminate the scope for human error and save you from missed deadlines.
Property management software can also be automated to send you reminders and alerts on maintenance and repairs that are due. Besides that, you could also use it to screen your prospective tenants to make sure you are renting your property to the right person.
Screen Your Tenants
A lot of people do not give it much thought when they rent their property. But it is important to be meticulous in the process of finding the right tenant. It will help if you see this in the same lines as recruiting someone for a job, as your tenant would be the person taking care of your property on your behalf. Advertise your property on the right platforms based on the tenant profile that you are targeting. If you are looking for college students or young families, you can find them on Craigslist or Facebook.
Whereas if you wish to rent your property to high-profile clients, you might have to find a paid website to find the right tenants. Irrespective of where you advertise, make it a habit to run a verification on your prospective tenants. You can take the assistance of one of the many tenant management software for this process. It lets you screen the tenant’s profile to make sure you find the right tenant. This ensures that you do not rent your property to someone with a criminal offense history, vandalism, etc. In other words, you can reduce your liabilities significantly by automating the tenant screening process.
Hire a Property Manager
Hiring someone to handle your property can be a smart way to reduce stress. There are professionals with the experience and qualifications to handle properties of different scales, including residential, commercial, and community spaces.
Job posting platforms are a great way to find a property manager. Besides that, you could also hire one from outsourcing agencies who will provide you with the background verification and other details of the manager you are hiring. But the best and the most trusted way to recruit a reliable property manager continues to be through peer references. As your friends and relatives know the kind of person you are, the property you need to be managed, and the community, it would help if you get references from them and hire the manager based on the references and recommendations you receive.
Get the Lease Right
You want your property to be maintained and taken care of just the way you do. And to ensure this, you might want to add a lot of rules, regulations, and restrictions on your tenants. However, this could be illegal in your jurisdiction. So, make sure you sit with a lawyer to understand what can be legally and practically covered in a lease agreement.
Similarly, make sure you cover clauses on rent payments, rights, and responsibilities of your tenant, the renovation and repair rules, eviction clauses, etc., clearly in the lease document. This will save both parties a lot of time and effort. It would also help you avoid a lot of stress and conflicts.
These are just a handful of tips that would reduce the hassle of managing your property. While it could seem cumbersome and expensive to invest in tenant verification, hiring a resource, buying property software, etc., they would save you a lot of time, energy, and resources in the long run. Were these tips helpful? Do you have any more tips for managing a property seamlessly? Mention them in the comments section.