subject: Common Mistakes Made By New Landlords [print this page] Having a property and planning on renting it out calls for lot of responsibility as a landlord. In most cases, a new landlord that doesn't have any background in property management may fail within the first year. Being a property owner is definitely not a stress-free job, and the work can be quite challenging at times. It requires lot of coordinating skills and management skills for the whole system to run smoothly.
Some landlords take it as a full time profession and completely focus upon renting properties, while for others it can be a extra duty other than doing a regular 40 hours job. As a new landlord in the business of renting property, you need to know the many legal terms and handle issues which can call for legal actions. Defining leasing terms and conditions, handling service needs, checking work of contractors, etc. are just a few basic things that a landlord has to perform.
Here are two of the most common mistakes a new landlord makes. A newbie landlord often gives in to the first prospective renter. This is because they fear they won't make their loan payments. Jumping in on the very first offer could cost financial loss in the future. To avoid this kind of situation, some owners acquire the services of a management company. You can assign them to a particular job such as renter's queries, evictions and remittance of cash. The fee for this kind of service will depend on what job you gave them and may range from 5-10% of the gross income.
You can also think of hiring a professional apartment management team to help you with closing the best deals for your property. Depending on what duties you plan to outsource to a property management company, the fee will vary. It will usually range from 5 to 10%. Duties can include handling renter's queries, handling evictions, and even dealing with receiving back money.
Even though a 5%-10% fee might sound quite high for the services, you'll be thankful you used it - then, you'll be sure that everything is taken care of properly and you'll have peace of mind.
Make sure you have terms and conditions clearly laid out for the renter in order to avoid any ambiguous situation in the future. If you take care of every little detail you can have a carefree experience of being a landlord.
Being a landlord and owing rental property is a good business but just like any other business even this one has challenges to face. Keeping in mind the above principles can help you be more successful along the way.
