Land Lord Hacks to 3x Your Time

Time is a valuable commodity for both landlords and tenants. Neither wants to waste time on a property that isn’t a good fit.

Whether it’s showing your listings or completing paperwork, finding the right tenant and keeping them can be time-consuming.

From a property owner perspective, it’s essential to filter potential tenants as quickly as possible. Get to the answer of whether or not they’re a good fit or not.

This, in short, is why many owners rely on property management companies.

If a tenant is not a good fit, it’s best to eliminate them as a prospect as quickly as possible. As a property owner, this will help you avoid wasting time. Similarly, from the tenants perspective, they aren’t kept waiting on a listing that they aren’t qualified for.

Rent Fax echoes this rationale in their article, “8 Ways to Save Time in 2019 for busy landlords”:

1. Pr-Qualify Renters
2. Don’t Waste Time With Unreliable People
3. Upgrade Rental Appliances
4. Outsource Your Laundry
5. Digitally Manage Your Tenants
6. Do a Pre-Move Out Walk-Through
7. Use an App to Track Spending
8. Learn Better Time Management Skills

Click here to read the full article.

To further assist you in qualifying tenants, it might be worthwhile to have answers to some necessary information about your property. In a study by Andrea Collatz from TransUnion, here are 11 things features that renters want in a property:

1. Location
2. Security
3. Schools
4. Parking
   
5. Move-in ready conditions
6. Appliances included
7. Upgrades and renovations
8. Age of property
   
9. Open floor plan and storage
10. Outdoor space
11. A cooperative landlord

While many of the items on this list are dependent on the property itself, being attentive to the needs of your tenants can have a substantial impact on the overall relationship.

Managing the unexpected

Preparing for the unexpected is common when it comes to rental properties.

While at times it can be a headache, here are 4 apps from Quicken to help you manage your properties and make them as appealing to future tenants as possible

Property Buddy - with this app, property owners can manage both income and expenses for each property. Even if you’re working with a property management company, this app may help you stay on top of how much each of your properties is bringing in or costing you.

Zillow Rental Manager - let’s face it, listing a property can be a pain. With the Zillow Rental Manager, you can get your property listed on Zillow and leverage the power of their platform.

Homestyler - if an image can speak a thousand words, then homestyler can you rent it for more. The whole purpose of Homestyler is to take the guesswork out of renovation. If you’re curious what your property would look like with tile or hardwood, snap a photo of your property, and you can visualize what this might look like.

Thumbtack - while less of a property management tool and more of a resource, thumbtack allows property owners to connect with contractors in the event of property repairs.

If you’re a property owner and you use other apps to manage your listings, we’d love to hear about them!