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Three Situations That Landlords Never Want To Deal With
As a landlord, it’s your responsibility to listen to tenants, tackle any issues they might face, and generally provide them with good service. After all, a happy tenant means a happy landlord. At the end of the day, neither party should treat the other poorly since it’s a relationship that you both benefit from.
However, there are certain situations that landlords really want to avoid facing. In this post, we’ll be taking a look at some of the nightmare scenarios that you might encounter as a new landlord and give you some solutions to help you cope with it.
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Dealing with annoying tenants
The perfect tenant is someone that communicates well with you and sticks to your rules. They treat the home with respect, they talk to you if there’s a problem and they’re generally quite friendly. Unfortunately, some tenants know how to push a landlord’s buttons until they snap and lose it. Whether they continuously damage your property or always pay their rent late, there are a few ways to deal with problematic tenants. This can involve setting rigid policies that they have to follow or conducting routine inspections and property inventory to ensure nothing is damaged or stolen.
If your tenants are doing something illegal or against your terms, then you have every right to evict them if you have proof. For example, if you don’t allow subletting of your property, then you’ll need to gather evidence that proves the person isn’t just a guest staying for a few days or a family member. If you can prove they’re receiving money for lodging, then you can evict them on the spot since you have proof.
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A fire or other catastrophic damage to the property
No landlord wants to get a call at 8 am in the morning telling them that their property has been torched to the ground. Your immediate reaction should be to call your tenant and ensure that they’re alright. Once you’ve confirmed that the tenants are alright, you should contact emergency disaster cleanup services and your insurance company so you can rebuild as soon as possible or claim back your money. It’s a messy situation either way and it’s going to take a long time for you to recuperate your losses.
In some cases, you may even be blamed for certain building practices if you neglected the safety of your tenants. This will require you to defend yourself with a lawyer if possible. If you are found to be guilty because you openly neglected safety concerns, then you’ll likely be fined an incredible amount of money. If someone was injured or harmed by the disaster, you’ll find yourself in a tough position to get out of, even if you have lawyers. The best way to avoid this is to prevent it in the first place. Make absolutely sure that your property adheres to safety codes and make sure you address any concerns that your tenants have raised. Record all of this information so that you can prove you’ve taken the correct steps to provide your tenants with a safe property to live in.
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Empty properties
An empty property means no income for you. In fact, it means negative income since you’re going to be paying for utilities and other fees each month. Dealing with an empty property can be challenging as the solutions will depend on your area and the resources available to you. While you’re waiting for tenants, you could take the opportunity to fix anything that’s broken, carry out some light renovations, and improve the property to make it more appealing. This can help attract more tenants in the future, but be careful not to overdo it or start long projects that might be unfinished by the time you find a new tenant.
In terms of finding new tenants, you’ll want to get your property on as many listings as possible. If possible, get your property online so that you’re more likely to find a tenant quickly. You’ll also want to check your rental prices and ensure you’re staying competitive. Quality photographs and videos of your property will also help draw tenants to your property. Make sure all of your listings are updated as well. Finally, you could consider appealing to smaller audiences. For example, pet-friendly properties aren’t as common but are surprisingly important for some tenants. If it’s a filter option on the website you’ve listed, you may want to take advantage of this.
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Kaya Wittenburg
Kaya Wittenburg is the Founder and CEO of Sky Five Properties. Since the age of 10, real estate has been deeply ingrained into his thoughts. With world-class negotiation and deal-making skills, he brings a highly impactful presence into every transaction that he touches.
He is here to help you use real estate as a vehicle to develop your own personal empire and feel deeply satisfied along the way. If you have an interest in buying, selling or renting property in South Florida, contact Kaya today.