I call it my “Hell Month.”
I’ve just had the worst month as a landlord since I began leasing property almost seven years ago. I can’t explain exactly why – but I suppose it was due. After almost a year of minimal vacancies, no trouble, and no major repairs, I was suddenly hit with my first big eviction, 5 vacancies, 3 full unit turnovers, and a partridge in a pear tree.
So this list of five easy landlord tips is based on the lesson’s I’ve learned over this past month. The first four I feel I did a good job at, and it made the last few months not as bad as they could have been. However, the 5th tip, I failed miserably at.
Be sure to leave me a comment at the bottom and let me know which tip you haven’t been doing – or any other tips you can add to help others!
Alright, here we go…
5.) Hire Someone to Help You
If you are trying to do everything yourself – give yourself a small break. This doesn’t necessarily mean you need to go out and hire a full time property manager, but perhaps simply start hiring people to do small tasks for you that you really don’t want to do. It’s not that you are too good for the work, and it’s not that you can’t do it… it’s because someday you won’t want to do it all, and by that time, it might be too late.
For example, if you never hire a maintenance guy because you can do all your own work – what happens when you are driving to the airport for that trip to Europe you’ve been dreaming about and suddenly your tenant calls with a problem that needs immediate attention? By …read more