When you’re ready to invest in a rental property, you want to make sure you’re successful. Evaluating the property, finding the right tenant, and making sure you can navigate the common issues can certainly help you become successful when owning a rental property.
Let’s look at these three keys in detail and shed some light on rental property ownership success.
1. Property Evaluation
Before you jump in with any rental property, you should know your numbers. When you evaluate the property, you want to look at the physical structure, along with the actual numbers for the property. If the numbers don’t work, it will be hard to achieve rental property ownership success.
Make sure you understand the potential rental income and the expenses that come with the property. Calculate in maintenance, insurance, taxes, and any other expenses before you sign the paperwork and buy the property.
It’s also important when evaluating a property, to remember, real estate is a long-term investment. You might not make a huge profit early on, but the property could still be a good choice due to the long-term ability to own it debt-free.
2. Finding Good Tenants
Another huge key to success with owning rental properties is finding good tenants. If you don’t find good tenants, you will end up in a dangerous circle of collecting rent for a few months, and then having to evict tenants that don’t pay. You could also end up with tenants that cause damage to your property.
Make sure you use a property management company to screen your tenants. When tenants are properly screened, you’ll end up with people willing to stay in the property longer and pay rent on time.
3. Navigating Common Issues
There are several common issues you may need to navigate over the life of a rental property. From financing with an ARM to collecting rent to dealing with maintenance issues, it’s important to make sure you understand how to navigate some of the most common issues rental properties present.
The most common thing you will run into is unexpected maintenance. Whether it’s an appliance that stops working or a more serious issue, you should be ready to pay for the repairs. Tenant complaints come from slow maintenance more often than anything else.
You might also run into some common issues when buying a property to rent. Sometimes, you end up dealing with an unethical real estate agent, which can be an issue. Make sure you understand how to find a good agent and what you should expect from an agent, even if they aren’t representing you.
There are many common issues you can run into from financing the property to tenant issues. Take the time to understand what’s possible so you can navigate these issues easily.
One of the best ways to make sure you achieve rental property ownership success is to hire a good property management company. With a good partner, you’ll take plenty of the harder parts about rental properties off your plate. Your property management company will handle tenant screening and help with maintenance issues.
Use these three keys and hire a good property management team to help you achieve the success you desire.
