Tag Archives: tenant file

New User Questions

What are YOU doing to make sure your tenant is taken care of?

As a property manager, you have a lot of different things to deal with on a daily basis. Because of this, it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of your tenants and their homes, and they may not be being taken care of as they should be. It’s your responsibility to ensure that your tenant is receiving the proper treatment and that any issues they have are taken care of. What can you do to ensure this?

work orderWell, one of the basic things you need to do is make sure that all of their maintenance and repairs are taken care. If your tenant comes to you with something that’s your responsibility to fix, don’t wait around for the problem to get bad and then handle it; take care of things as soon as they are brought to your attention. It may seem hard to keep track of so many things that you need to take care of, but we’ve got you covered. With Tenant File, we offer an optional Work Order Form feature (check it out here) that lets you keep track of work orders that your tenants have requested.

You can also send out a newsletter to your tenants! This may seem like a lot, but it’s not difficult to do and can save you tons of time in the long run. If you plan on being out of town, mention this in the newsletter so your tenants know to come to you before you leave. If a cold front is coming and there is a risk of pipes freezing, tell your tenants what precautions they should be taking. These kinds of things make all the difference and make your tenant feel that they’re truly being taken care of.

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Harnessing the Power of Social Media for Real Estate

It’s no secret that social media has come to be extremely embraced in many different facets of our lives. Because of social media, we hear news seconds after it happens, communicate with people from all over the world, and have endless ways to spread ideas. With all of this in mind, doesn’t it seem like you should be using social media to boost your real estate or property management business?

Social media is an awesome tool to get the word out about something to a lot of people at once. Social media is typically also free, so using it to your advantage has virtually no cost to you.  Another great thing about using social media is the variety and flexibility that you have available. There are all kinds of social media websites and applications, that allow you to share and spread loads of different content.

As a property manager or real estate agent, you can use social media in tons of ways. For starters, you should have social media accounts for your business and post from them regularly to generate traffic and have a follower base. If you have a property for sale osocial mediar for rent, post it on a social media site! Not only is this incredibly easy, but you also have the power to share it and have others share it as well. Maybe you’re trying to find a way to bring all your tenants together but you’re not really sure how…social media! You can create a post or event that will reach out to everyone at once.

Do some research about your target market and what the preferred form of social media is within that market, you’d be surprised at how far it’ll take you!

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It’s all about the listing!

The listing of your property is one of the most important factors in getting people interested and drawing them in. Whether you’re a real estate agent, property manager, or just someone looking to rent out your home, you need to make sure you have a good listing that accurately represents your property.

Be sure to mention things that will draw people in, like a swimming pool or fireplace; these are things that aren’t common among all homes, so they make yours stand out. It’s also very important to use good language when writing up your listing. Writing “beautiful kitchen with granite counter tops and island perfect for entertaining” sounds significantly more appealing than just writing “granite counter tops and island in kitchen”. 

 

Be specific in your listing! Putting all the necessary information saves you the hassle of dealing with tons of phone calls from people who have to ask you things about your listing, and also makes it easier for potential tenants to know what to expect when they look at your property. Be clear about the number of rooms and bathrooms, as well as things like the square footage of your home; make sure you have the details that you know people will want to know.

Pictures are also a huge part of the listing, don’t think that because your wrote a detailed description you can omit the visuals. Make sure you have pictures that look good and “flatter” your property. The pictures shouldn’t be too edited otherwise they don’t really give an accurate image of your property and can be misleading to people once they go see it.

You want your listing to make people say “WOW! Now this is something I need to check out!”, so be sure that you this is what you’re conveying!
New User Questions

Does your tenant have a secret roommate?

When you’re going through the process of making a lease agreement with a new tenant, it’s imperative to be clear on who will be living in your property. Many times people will sign a lease without telling their new landlord that their family member or significant other will also be living with them, which can later cause problems. When writing up your lease, make it known whether or not your tenant is allowed to have roommates, and what rules they have to follow  as well as any additional financial obligations that may come up.

roommate, shared space, property management

If you’re okay with more than one person living in the property (which is typically the case), make sure you’re aware of how many people it’ll be so the lease can be based off of that. You may also want to make the lease so that all of the tenants sign it, so that you know that they’re aware of the rules and guidelines they need to follow while living in your property.

In the event that your tenant doesn’t tell you about their secret roommate, it’s up to you to reach out to them and tell them that they’re going against the terms stated in the lease, and what the next steps are to better the situation. If you’re okay with your tenants roommate, you have the opportunity to add more to the lease as well as increase the price of rent. This may seem unfair to your tenant, but it’s the best way to guarantee any problems arising in the future.

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Negligence is Never Okay – The importance of maintenance

We recently talked about the importance of maintaining your property even when it’s vacant (check it out here); but before you start planning that maintenance, it’s important to make sure you’re not neglecting maintenance that needs to be done while your tenant is in the property.

Neglecting maintenance and repairs can not only end up being very costly, but it can also pose a big safety risk. If you notice some wiring that looks slightly frayed, change it! Waiting for the problem to worsen is never a good idea; in a case like this a fire could start and be extremely dangerous. Neglecting any sort of repair automatically creates a problem that’s just waiting to worsen. If you start to notice the flooring on one side of your attic going bad, you shouldn’t wait for it to collapse to change it.

It’s also important to constantly be checking up on things like alarm systems and fire/carbon monoxide detectors, and making sure the property has a working fire extinguisher at easy access to the tenants. By checking up on small ‘repairs’ like these, you’re potentially saving the lives of the your tenants. negligence

Neglecting maintenance isn’t entirely always the fault of the landlord; as a tenant you should inform your landlord whenever you think something needs to be repaired. If your landlord doesn’t know about a problem, they’re not going to be able to fix it.

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Maintenance Matters

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So, your tenant just moved out and you still haven’t found a new one and your property is vacant…sounds like the perfect time to stop maintaining your property, right? Wrong!

In fact, you should take advantage of your property being empty and do maintenance that can’t be done when it is being rented out. Use this time to paint walls, steam carpets and wax tiles, and perform more prolonged repairs, like fixing a staircase. These are things that you can’t do on any given day because people and furniture will get in the way. You should also continue checking that your smoke detectors and alarm system (if you have one) are in working order since they won’t be put to use as much as they normally would be.

Maintaining your property when it’s vacant is essential in finding a new tenant; if your property looks nice, people will be more inclined to rent it from you than if it looks unkempt. Consistencyis key in maintaining your property, you should always keep up the regular maintenance even if no one is living in it. Little things, like mowing the lawn and raking leaves, really impact the appearance of your house and can affect how they feel about. Consistent maintenance also shows potential tenants that you’re a good landlord. Consider someone is interested in your property and views it on multiple separate occasions and notices that the garden always looks nice and the bathrooms are always clean; they’ll feel that you’re a good landlord and will take care of problems that may arise.

 

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Security Deposits: Securing yourself from debt

Yesterday, on the Tenant File blog we talked about pricing tactics for choosing the right amount to charge your tenant for rent. When you’ve set the perfect cost of rent, you need to also think about how much you want to charge for the security deposit.

Some may think the security deposit isn’t necessary in cases where your tenant is someone you know from before, or if the lease is only for a short period of time, but the security deposit is something you should always require of your tenant. Just because it’s your friend or family member living in your property doesn’t mean that it’ll stay completely intact the entire time; life happensyour property for six months doesn’t mean that things won’t need to be repaired once they move out.

 

The point at which you decide that you’re not requiring a security deposit from your tenant is the point where you’re making yourself accountable for the cost of repairs that may be incurred when they move out. The security deposit covers (at least some of ) the repairs and maintenance that need to be done once your tenant leaves, so in requiring it you’re removing some of the financial burden from yourself.

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Pricing: It’s All Relative

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So, you’ve fixed up your property and now it’s time to put in on the market and find a tenant to rent it out to, the only question is: what pricing strategy should you use to maximize your income?

Pricing is relative, meaning that you should set your rental price according to the area, type of property, and the cost of investment. It’s important to do research on what similar properties in your area are being rented out for to make sure that the price you have in mind isn’t too high or too low based on what you have to offer. You also need to consider the income level of the people living in the area where your property it; you can’t set a crazy high price if most people in the area have low incomes, because you won’t find tenants. The cost of investment you incurred is also an important factor in determining how much to charge for rent because you want to make sure that you’re not selling yourself short and that you’re actually maximizing the income potential for the property.

Once you’ve done the research and have a general idea about how much you want to charge for rent you can employ a few other tactics to ensure that you’re getting the most out of your property. You should always make sure to set the price a bit higher than the desired amount you want to leave a little wiggle room for negotiation (people will always want to go lower, not higher). You should also consider ending the price with with an odd number instead of with ‘.00’. People would rather pay $3,995 instead of $4,000 even though the difference is tiny. This also helps when people are searching for properties and want to search for a property under ‘X’ amount because it’ll allow your property to fall under that window.

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Springtime is the Best Time

…to fix up your property!

This is the time of the year that we always associate with blooming flowers, green grass, and spring cleaning, making it the perfect time to beautify your property for the coming summer months.

If you’re a homeowner thinking of renting your home for summer, you can take this time to make sure that your home is ready for the upcoming months. If you have a pool, make sure the maintenance is up to date so it looks crystal clear when potential tenants see it. People love flowers! Do a bit of research about what flowers and plants work best in your region and add some foliage to make your home brighter and more inviting to those who are thinking of renting it out.

If you’re a property manager with multiple properties or units, take advantage of the fact that we haven’t entered the rainy season yet and do maintenance on bigger things for your properties. It’s not safe to be toying with electrical power and wiring when there’s a storm going, so use this time to do electrical inspections of your properties and fix what needs to be fixed. Painting the outside of your property definitely can’t be done when it’s rainy out; make it a point to use springtime to your best interest and do any exterior work that you need to do now, before it gets too rainy and hot to enjoy being outside.

Spring is one the best seasons to spend time outside,  don’t let it pass you by!