The 5 Essential Qualities of a Great Landlord

With so much information online nowadays no one that is looking to get into the rental property business should go in alone in the dark. Besides the 5 essential qualities that make a great landlord, you must also be able to keep up with current events and trends, read up on new laws and study the ways you can beat your competition to keep your vacancy rate low and profits high.

It doesn’t matter if you own one rental property or if you own multiple complexes and use property managers, these qualities can still apply no matter the scale to which you do your business.

Strong Willed Mentality

Having a strong willed mentality to enforce rules, regulations and most importantly your lease agreement is on the top of the essential qualities great landlords possess.

It is no secret that tenants are known to push boundaries and it is up to you to be strong and become a softie or a push over.

It all starts with your tenant asking for a couple extra days for rent. Stay firm and remind your tenant that the rent due date is clearly stated on the rental agreement and you will proceed as needed to enforce it.

Failing to enforce the rules will permit your tenant to stretch those boundaries further and further rendering your lease agreement useless before you know it.

So no matter how hard the tenant tries to get you to cut them some slack, remember that your relationships should strictly stick to business.

Remain Disciplined

Something that most seasoned landlords will admit at one point or another is the fact that they will often find themselves in a routine rut.

Landlords have a responsibility to do routine tasks whether it’s weekly, monthly or annually. One task for example is sending out rent reminders. Although this might be an easy task for the majority of landlords, imagine self-managing over 50 rentals!

The good thing about technology is the fact that you can create different calendars on your smart phone to help you keep on top of important duties such as yearly rent raise reminders, smoke alarm checks, rental inspections and more.

Some landlords find it easier to include these important scheduled dates right in the lease which also helps with tenant/landlord relationships. However you wish to do it, it is very important to use tools to help you remain disciplined throughout some of the most routine and tedious tasks.

The Ability to Budget

This may be a no brainer but it’s worth mentioning just in case. At the end of the day, you are operating a small business and your rental property should be treated as such.

Managing a rental property for the most part could be smooth sailing with very little expenses. The down side is the fact that huge repair bills are often hidden and come out of nowhere! If you don’t want to be caught off guard, it’s smart to set aside money every month to have an emergency fund.

By doing this, you will avoid staring at a massive repair bill wondering how you’re going to cover it! It is an essential skill all successful landlords dominate well.

Think in the Bigger Picture

A rookie mistake some landlords make is they try to fill their vacancy as quickly as possible by setting low standards for a qualifying tenant.

The truth is the majority of the expenses involved in owning rental property come when you have a vacancy. It takes up your time and economic recourses to get your rental back off the market. You have to do move out inspection, deal with small details in wear and tear, sometimes major upgrades or repairs, replace appliances and or carpet.

Everything adds up quickly if you include mortgage and the fact you’re out of rent money for at least 1 month!

So, what do expert successful landlords do?

They invest quality time to find high quality tenants that will pay their rent on time, take care of their rental property, be very low maintenance and stick around for a very long time. Sounds impossible? It’s not. The key is not getting desperate and digging deep to find gold.

Amazing Organization Skills

This may be on the bottom of the list but it is just as or more important as having a strong willed mind. Great landlords keep track of EVERYTHING. Receipts, documentation, quotes, move in and out walkthrough evidence, important notes and more.

The meticulous landlord never knows when any of these important documents or pieces of evidence may come in handy.

If paying attention to detail is not one of your strong suites then may we suggest you hire a property management company who will scrutinize every detail of your business.

Great landlords can be summed up using one word: Professional. They create good habits for themselves that trickle down to their business. They keep professional relationships with their tenants, the learn how to budget, they are disciplined to keep calendars of important dates, they handle small issues today and think for long term success and they learn how to keep track of every detail.