A lot of time and focus goes into finding the right real estate investment. But when it comes to rental properties, making a purchase is just the beginning. For the long-term success of your investment, deciding how you manage your Greater Phoenix rental property is just as important.
Of course, the goal of any residential rental property investor is to maximize their ROI. That starts with finding a great opportunity. However, the numbers and market can only set you up for success. You must also focus on the optimized day-to-day management of your property.
Maintenance and Repairs
As with any residential property, whether it’s your own home or an investment, ongoing maintenance and repairs are part of the responsibilities of ownership. Whether it’s something major like fixing a crack in the foundation or simply fixing a running toilet, staying on top of rental property repairs is essential to the long-term value and viability of your real estate investment.
1. Preventative Maintenance
Beyond identifying and repairing maintenance issues as they arise, it’s also very important to be proactive about preventative rental property maintenance. This includes things like getting your HVAC system checked out once or twice a year, cleaning out the gutters, and checking for leaks or water damage.
2. Routine Property Inspections
For any type of investment, especially one as valuable as a rental property, it’s important to check in on it regularly. That’s where routine rental property inspections come in. Thorough inspections are vital to protect your investment by identifying any potential issues before they become expensive problems.
3. Efficient & High-Quality Repairs
The long-term success of your rental property will depend on the quality of the maintenance and repairs performed. If something isn’t fixed right the first time, you’ll keep dealing with the same issue and spend even more of your time and money “fixing” it once again. Plus, a bad repair job can lead to much bigger, more expensive problems down the road.
At Brewer & Stratton Property Management, we only work with trusted and approved vendors so you’ll always be able to count on high-quality rental property maintenance. We also perform preventative maintenance and routine rental home inspections to detect any issues early and solve them before they can affect the long-term success of your investment property.
Tenant Management
One of the most complex aspects of owning a successful rental property is tenant management. Taking care of the condition of your investment property is one thing, but taking care of your tenants requires an even more nuanced and skillful approach.
4. Thorough Tenant Screening
Conducting a thorough tenant screening process when filling a vacancy is essential to the long-term success of your rental property. Asking the right questions and examining important information about the applicant will minimize your risk of eviction, save you from a lot of headaches, and protect the long-term value of your investment.
In the long run, finding high-quality tenants and verifying their information through an effective tenant screening process will save you time, money, and stress.
5. Enforce the Lease
When you catch a tenant breaching the lease, whether big or small, you must point out the violation to them and ensure it gets resolved. Letting little violations slide can lead to tenants not respecting your property or the contract you both agreed upon. It’s also very important to keep a written (or digital) record of any communications with your tenants.
6. Prepare for Vacancies
Every landlord should have a plan for when they experience a vacancy. A smart idea is to have some money set aside to pay the mortgage and other expenses for at least a month and a half while you aren’t earning a rental income.
Being prepared for a rental property vacancy can protect your finances and cash flow and give you the luxury of choosing the right person to live in your valuable investment, not just the first minimally-qualified tenant to come along.
Brewer & Stratton Property Management has perfected tenant management and can help you expertly screen potential tenants, fill vacancies faster, and handle the day-to-day interactions with tenants, including enforcing late fees and lease violations.
Analyze the Numbers
Owning a rental property is like owning a small business. There’s a constant flow of cash in and cash out and you must track it meticulously to make sure your investment is paying off. You also need to analyze the real estate market to keep up with trends and make data-driven decisions about your rental.
7. Conduct Market Analyses
When it’s time to put your property on the rental market to find a new tenant, you should conduct a thorough rental market analysis. This will help you determine the optimal rental rate for the current market conditions.
Depending on the time of year, developments in the neighborhood, inflation, and other key factors, you may be able to increase your rent when you place a new tenant (or a lease comes up for renewal). Not staying in tune with the fluctuations of the rental market can mean losing out on a lot of potential revenue.
8. Detailed Financial Reports
Property maintenance and tenant management are vitally important, but you’re in the rental property business to make money and increase your overall wealth. Monitoring the state of your investment through detailed financial reports is critical to the long-term success of your property. This is your time to review costs and expenses, calculate cash flow and profit margins, and take a closer look at factors affecting your ROI.
With our 24/7 Online Owner’s Portal, Brewer & Stratton Property Management makes it simple to track and monitor your valuable investment. You will always have access to important documents and detailed financial reports, along with transparent communication and data about the day-to-day operations of your rental property business.
Ensure Long-Term Rental Property Success with Brewer & Stratton
Perhaps you’ve heard otherwise, but being an effective and profitable landlord is a full-time job. You have to monitor your Greater Phoenix rental property's condition and finances on a regular basis and be ready to jump into action at any time for urgent situations. At times, it can be a 24/7 job.
However, if you’d actually like to make being a landlord as easy as you had hoped, you can hire a great property management company to manage your rental properties.
For over a decade, Brewer & Stratton Property Management has helped thousands of Phoenix area property owners just like you expertly manage tenants and maintain their residential rental properties. Even more, with our experience and know-how, you won’t miss out on valuable opportunities to maximize your ROI and increase the long-term success of your rental property.
If you’d like to know more about Brewer & Stratton’s property management services, we’d love to hear from you!
Call us today at 480-219-2111 or send us a message and we’ll get back to you right away.
