As we discussed in the first two sections of this series on top landlord troubles, being a landlord is a great way to earn income while simultaneously building equity in real estate. Don’t go into a career as a landlord expecting nothing but piles of cash, though. Experienced landlords know that there are a few downsides. We’re not here to scare you; we’re here to prepare you. All you need is some preparation and advice from the experts, and you will be able to handle these issues easily. Read on to learn more about the top landlord troubles in part three of this series.
Impact on Personal Life
When you become a landlord, you are always on-call for your tenants. You may get calls at all hours of the day and night from tenants reporting problems. This is exhausting for you, and it is frustrating for your family. Just as you don’t want your down time to be constantly interrupted, your family doesn’t want your time together to be dominated by calls from tenants, either.
There are a few ways that you can manage this. First, get a second phone number strictly for tenants, and inform your tenants of your “office hours” – the time frame during which you will accept non-emergency calls. This allows you to screen calls from tenants. If there is an emergency, they can leave a message, and you can get back to them right away. You can also ask tenants to communicate with you via text or email. These methods are less intrusive and allow you to address the issue quickly with minimal interruption to your family.
Another personal issue that landlords encounter is that their significant other worries about the financial aspect of being a landlord. You can put those fears to rest by keeping a three to six month vacancy fund for your property. If a tenant moves out (or you have to evict), you won’t have to stress out about immediately finding a new tenant.
Tenant Turnover
In the same vein, there’s the issue of tenant turnover. When a tenant moves out, the landlord has to clean up the property, get rid of any personal belongings that were left behind, advertise and show the property, and ultimately find a new tenant. On top of that, there is the pressure to accomplish all of this quickly to minimize lost rental income.
The best way to minimize this stress is to start advertising the unit early. List the unit for rental 60 days before the lease will expire. This will give you plenty of time to find a new tenant and screen them before the current tenant moves out. As soon as the current tenant moves out, bring in a maid service to clean out the unit. You can save a little money by doing the clean-up yourself, but it probably isn’t worth the time and hassle. You can deduct the cost of the clean-up from the security deposit, aside from normal wear and tear.
In order to minimize how much time you must spend showing the unit, schedule showings carefully. Try to fill a Saturday with back-to-back showings so that you aren’t running back and forth to the property every night of the week.
Being a landlord can be demanding of your time and attention. If you don’t want that hassle, get in touch with McMath Realty. We offer property management services in Phoenix and all of Maricopa County of Arizona, which means that we can take care of every detail, from advertising and showing the unit to screening tenants to dealing with repairs and maintenance. Call McMath Realty for more information.