As a landlord, there may be times when it’s hard to pay the mortgage. Here are some things you can do to avoid facing difficulty in paying your mortgage each month.
Keep your properties full. While it may sound simple, this is the most obvious method for ensuring you’ve got rent money coming in each month to cover your property mortgage payments. Don’t allow yourself to get slack on advertising for new tenants. And don’t put off screening applicants because you get busy or overworked. Filling your vacancies is a major aspect of your REI business success. Deal with it quickly and efficiently.
Do your best to find quality tenants. Yes, you want to keep your properties full, but you need good quality tenants. They should be the kind of people that will pay their rent on time, keep the property clean and don’t abuse the lease. Use background and credit checks every single time. Do this and you can find the good tenants that will pay on time which will help you pay the mortgage when it comes due.
Look for long term tenants. Don’t assume that the tenants will necessarily be long term. Some good renters may know they can’t stay but a month or two… They may be students or working a temporary job. They may just be living in an area waiting to move or retire somewhere else. Whatever the situation, opt for long term renters when the choice is available. Doing so will cut down on the number of times you have to fill the vacancy.
Keep the property well maintained. If you want good tenants who pay their rent on time, do your part to keep them. Deal with maintenance issues quickly. Make repairs as necessary. Upgrade appliances or at least ensure the ones you provide are in good working order. Respond to your tenants’ calls quickly, or if you can’t be sure you have a backup plan so their needs are met.
Being a good landlord will go a long in way in developing lasting relationships with your tenants, which will in turn, help you keep them in your property longer. Often a tenant and landlord relationship can turn an average tenant into a great one simply because they want to keep that relationship intact.
In a tough economy, it’s important that you as the landlord do your part can to avoid not having the money to pay the mortgage. These simple tips can help as you work to develop lasting, longterm, rent paying tenants to keep your properties bringing in the income you need every month.