As a landlord, you will never want your rental property to be vacant. A vacant property will make you worry about a loss of income, theft, and property damage, you may have a lot of sleepless nights. Fortunately, there are many ways you can take to reduce the potential of a vacant property. Here are some of them:
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Take Your Time to Understand the Investment Property Market
Without a good understanding of the market, you may end up pricing your rental property too high or too low. A very high rental rate can lead to a high turnover and a longer vacancy period while a low rental rate can leave you with a negative cash flow.
What you can do is to calculate the perfect balance to offer a fair and competitive rate. When you offer tenants a good deal, they like to stay in your property. Also, a property with a competitive price will sit vacant only for a short period.
Have Experts Market your Property
Hiring marketers may be an extra cost for you but this increases your chances of getting good tenants sooner than later. And if you don’t want to hire a marketing expert, why not hire professionals who specialize in property management in Thousand Oaks, CA? Professional property managers have extensive experience in real estate marketing. They make sure your property will be seen by the right group of tenants. They understand where to best advertise your property. They use search engines, MLS, direct mail, online classifieds, and other avenues to make sure possible tenants are aware of the availability of your property. Also, property managers know exactly how to make your property appealing to prospects.
Take your Tenant Screen Process to the Next Level
Your property management company can also carry out comprehensive tenant screening to find quality tenants. Every possible tenant will go through a strict and thorough screening process. The process includes a full background check for things such as income, bankruptcies, previous evictions, and credit-worthiness. Choosing the right tenant is important to alleviate your concerns about vacancies every time a lease term ends.
Reward Existing Tenants
To keep your tenants, consider not raising the rent. While you may have to increase rent over time, avoiding it for as long as you can encourages your tenants not to leave. Sometimes, it is better to get paid monthly at a slightly lower price than nothing at all.
Make Timely Repairs and Perform Regular Maintenance
If you partner with a reputable property management company, repairs and maintenance should be the least of your worries. The company will handle these aspects of property management. They make themselves available for tenants round-the-clock to ensure any repair or maintenance issues are addressed on time. Also, they perform routine property inspections to ensure your tenants don’t have any issues with your property and they are fulfilling their obligations. Property managers value your property like theirs and keep it in top shape to ensure it’s always ready for the next move-in.
