Better Properties Usually Equal Better Tenants
By JD Esajian on October 4, 2013
Dealing with bad tenants is one of the worst parts of being a landlord. You can potentially spend most of your day worrying about tenant issues or dealing with them. After a while, landlords need to decide if they want their time monopolized by bad tenants or if it is just easier to sell the property and move on. Fortunately, there are other ways to go about dealing with bad tenants. The best way is to avoid them all together, if at all possible. However, this is unlikely to happen in the career of a landlord. The key to finding good tenants is to have appealing properties.
Many investors never consider the potential benefits that may coincide with an exceptional property. By spending the time and money to get the place looking as good as possible, you attract a better quality tenant. This tenant wants to take care of the property because they actually want to live there. They know they are in a place that they can see themselves living in for the foreseeable future. They will most likely value you as a landlord and want to maintain the high quality of work that was done on the house.
This leads to less maintenance calls and an increased likelihood of receiving payments on time. You may actually enjoying being a landlord, and since your tenant is paying on time every month, you are willing to go the extra mile for them if need be. This strengthens your relationship, and when your tenant does leave, they will surely recommend your place to another tenant who is similar to them.
This frees up more of your time to spend looking for other properties or to focus on other aspects of your business. You may make a higher profit margin renting in worse neighborhoods, but in the end, it will cost you more money and more aggravation than they are worth. If your goal is to rent, your biggest asset is not your tenant, but your property. If your tenant sees that the bathroom is falling apart or the kitchen floor is old and dated, they will feel that it is ok to not keep up with maintenance. On the flip-side, if everything is new and looking great, they know they have to keep it in that condition if they want their deposit back or to continue living in the house.
Most tenants do not need gold faucets or stainless steel appliances. They just want to know that everything is in working order and they are safe. Landlords have a tendency of trying to squeeze every last dollar out of their property instead of trying to make the lives of their tenants easier. Think about how much better life would be if they weren’t getting calls at all hours of the night regarding a leaky faucet, a toilet that won’t stop running or a furnace that won’t turn on. These are the items that lead to landlord burnout and frustration.
Your property is the asset that makes you money. If you take care of it and conduct the preventative maintenance when needed, your asset should make you money in the long run. The better condition your property is in, the better tenants you will have and the easier your life will be.