It’s not always easy investing in rental properties. You need to have enough money saved for a down payment on a property, closing costs, and pay for any improvements to the property. In a perfect world, you would find great tenants, and collect rent that’s higher than the total monthly costs on the property.

This can be very worthwhile when done right and allows tenants to pay off the loan balance over time. But in real-life issues are bound to arise. Sometimes your experience with tenants can be challenging. And most of the time you’ll reach a point where your property needs updating. So how do you deal with issues while being fair to tenants and looking after our own interests? 

Five Tips on How to be a Great Landlord

1. Be the boss or find someone who can.

Being the landlord of a rental property is similar in many ways to managing a small business. All business owners know that you need a certain amount of decision-making skills and assertiveness to be an effective business owner. If tenants haven’t paid the rent you’ll need to be comfortable enough calling and sometimes having tough conversations with people. If you aren’t comfortable in this boss role, there are actually companies that will take care of handling many issues for a fee.

2. Create a system for all aspects of your rental property.

Systems ensure that you aren’t winging it. You should have systems in place for things like finding tenants, marketing your property, maintenance, and paying the bills. You’ll want systems in place in case of emergencies. Having a contingency fund is always needed in case things break down, or more accurately when things break down. A good system will relieve your stress and help you find the right tenants.

3. Only accept high-quality tenets.

All landlords universally agree that good quality tenants are of utmost importance. The best tenant is one that is satisfied with the home and you don’t hear from all that often. Without high-quality tenants you may feel trapped, dreading what could happen next. Maybe they refuse to pay the rent or are loud and obnoxious to the neighbours. In order to get a higher quality tenant screening needs to be a priority. The likelihood of your tenants being more serious and professional is much higher when you do a thorough screening. Don’t go through a sketchy route to find a tenant and certainly don’t jump on the first tenant who is willing to rent. Put in your due diligence, or else you may find yourself stressing.

4. Understand your lease and policies.

Any rules or policies that you want your tenants to follow should be clearly stated in your lease. Establishing these things early on firmly will make sure that down the road you're not trampled over. Many landlords use generic leases, but we recommend using much more detailed leases that specify more than just what the rent payment is and the duration of the tenancy.

5. Use a Realtor to fill your rental.

Realtors help tenants find the right rental properties all the time and help landlords fill their rentals. At the Blue Coast Team, we are experienced landlords and are willing to provide you will many templates for your rental systems. If you find tenants through a realtor, they can help you write a strong lease agreement. Having a local attorney draw up a lease agreement is also a very smart idea.  Using a Realtor to help fill your rental property is actually a great way to ensure tenants are screened and also pre-qualified. As Realtors, we also have tenants fill out forms including references and previous landlords, allowing you to get a better perspective on what they will be like as your tenants.

Being clear about what is and isn’t acceptable is empowering both for landlords and tenants, helping to keep things smooth between both parties. Tenants will understand the penalties or fines of breaching the lease agreement before moving in. And landlords will have some additional ability to make changes in cases where tenants are ignoring the rules.