Investing in rental properties can be an extremely lucrative business venture. However, if you want to make the most of your investment and protect your assets, you must take the right steps to safeguard your property.
Tip #1: Obtain the Appropriate Insurance for Your Rental Property
When your house becomes a business, it needs more than just homeowners insurance to effectively safeguard your investment. Homeowners’ insurance is intended to cover owner-occupied residences alone, not non-owned or holiday rental properties. Rental property insurance is designed to handle the unique risks you experience as a landlord, protecting the property, your financial investment, your income, and your company.
Tip #2: Make Home Security Features a Priority
Landlords must make efforts to provide their renters with a secure and safe property, free of harmful circumstances on the inside and intruders on the outside. While state standards and regulations differ, property owners are obligated to take precautions to safeguard renters from catastrophes such as fire, falls, and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Tip #3: Be Prepared in Case of Emergencies
When a calamity hits, it generally comes with little to no notice. In the aftermath of a major hurricane, earthquake, wildfire, or other unanticipated calamity, sometimes all you can do is prepare. In the case of an emergency, take precautions to safeguard your property, renters, and company.
- Make a plan for evacuation and emergency procedures and go through it with your renters.
- Prepare for power outages by having generators, battery-powered flashlights, and radios to keep renters safe and healthy in the case of a power outage.
- Record the position of utility shut-off valves, which can help to reduce damage from a fire or other calamity.
- Keep a fire extinguisher on hand with clear instructions for usage.
- Back up your computer data and crucial papers, such as mortgage paperwork, notes, and rental contracts, and store them in a safe, off-site facility.
Tip #4: Select Only Dependable Tenants
Every landlord is afraid of the renter who pays late or not at all, continually requests repairs around the property, and makes disruptions in the neighborhood. Finding the appropriate renter isn’t rocket science, but careful vetting and a consistent methodology may help landlords avoid the nightmare tenant.
Almost every landlord has at least one horror story about a renter—a lesson we should all learn. When choosing a tenant for your property, you need to make sure they are reliable enough to pay rent on time and take care of the property while living in it. You may certainly achieve this by conducting a rental tenant screening.
Tenant screening is an important aspect of the leasing process since it protects the property, the property owner, and the local community while also ensuring that Fair Housing Guidelines are followed. With legislation in the last year challenging the use of criminal and eviction records in tenant screening, it’s more vital than ever for landlords and real estate agents to come together to advocate for the need for screening. If you are unsure whether or not to use tenant screening on your rental property, consider the advantages of background screening.
Why Is Tenant Screening More Important Than Ever Before?
- Tenant screening safeguards your property. You may significantly decrease your liability and better safeguard the community by screening candidates for any criminal history of property damage, violent acts, or other major crimes that could represent a larger danger to your property. Incorporating eviction records into your candidates’ background checks is another critical piece of information for determining what sort of tenant they’ve been in the past. You’ve put in a lot of time, and money into your rental property; why not employ rental tenant screening to preserve your financial investment?
- Tenant screening protects you. You want to rent to someone you can trust, but how can you tell if the person you’re interviewing is trustworthy while abiding by the Fair Housing Act (FHA)? Tenant screening in Utah can help you identify a trustworthy applicant while avoiding costly FHA claims. You may also use the credit report in your tenant screening to establish whether or not they are financially responsible enough to give you monthly payments. Nothing is worse than renting to someone who does not pay their rent or pays it late.
- Tenant screening protects your other tenants if you own numerous flats, as well as the local community. Whether or not you have other renters on the same property, tenant screening, such as tenant screening in Utah, may help keep your community secure. With a tenant screening business that thoroughly analyzes databases, you can ensure that your renters do not harm your name in the neighborhood. Furthermore, if you want to conduct your own yard maintenance or property repairs, screening your applications may provide you with a little more peace of mind.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are many aspects to consider when running a rental property business. The above tips should help you manage your business more effectively. If you need any further assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us today!
