Becoming a landlord can be a great way to make some extra income. Whether you are turning your home into a rental and purchasing a new one, renting out a room or ADU, or are purchasing an additional property for a rental, there are some do’s and don’ts of becoming a landlord.
Do’s:
Understand Fair Housing Laws
Understanding landlord-tenant laws is vital for landlords and ignorance of the law is not legally defensible when it comes to discriminatory practices. New landlords should be sure they understand all the federal and state fair housing laws before committing to become a landlord. Not sure if you want to keep up-to-date on ever-evolving landlord-tenant laws? Consider hiring a property manager instead.
Get in Touch With Peers
Meeting with industry peers is key to ensuring you are on top of the most pressing real estate news, local laws, and have good resources to turn to whenever you have questions. Understanding key issues financially, legally and within the market as a whole is significantly easier when you have connections in the rental market to compare with while you are a landlord.
Don’ts:
Skip Tenant Screening
Finding a great tenant is key to a good ROI. A rule-abiding tenant that pays on-time is the only way to find success as a landlord. Don’t skip tenant screening or do it halfway. Be sure to use a written screening process along with a trusted screening check.
Ignore Online Tools
From landlord software options to banking auto-pay options, there are a lot of online options to help you organize your financial info, taxes and maintenance needs. Keeping track of all of that plus tenant computation on your own puts way too much stress on you as a landlord. Instead, do your research to find the best online tools you can find that will save you time and automate important management tasks.
Delay Maintenance
Keeping up with maintenance is vital to ensure you are protecting your property and your tenants. It can be all too easy to wait to address maintenance issues until it’s an emergency or an obvious problem, but taking the time to annually and seasonally inspect your property is key to mitigating costly damage. It also will ensure that your tenants have a comfortable living space, free of annoying issues. To prevent costly damage and to keep your tenants happy, landlords need to create a maintenance schedule that includes annual upkeep and seasonal preparations.
