Alain Guillot

Life, Leadership, and Money Matters

Landlord putting a For sale sign

3 Tips For Beginning Your First Experience As A Landlord

If you’re about to start with your first experience as a landlord, you might be both excited about the idea of making some money off of renting out your property while also worrying that this business venture could prove to be a lot for you to handle. And while both of these are likely true, there are things that you can do to help you find success even at your first time being a landlord.

To help you see how this can be done, here are three tips for beginning your first experience as a landlord. 

Choose Your Tenants Wisely

Once you have your property ready to rent out, the first thing you need to do is find tenants to rent from you. However, you don’t just want any tenants living in your property. Ideally, you’ll want to find tenants who can afford to live there, who have reliable income, and who you can trust to take care of the property you’re renting to them. 

To find tenants like this, you may want to trust the screening process to an Austin property management company who has experience finding quality tenants. But if you’re determined to do everything yourself, you’ll want to spend a decent amount of time really screening the tenants who apply to live in your rental property. Check things like their credit scores, their rental history, and their professional and personal references. This can give you a good idea for who may be a good tenant to rent to. 

Document Everything About The Property Before Move-In

Once you’ve found the tenants that you want to rent to, before they actually move in, you’ll want to document everything about the property. By doing this, you’ll be able to see what damage or wear and tear takes place while your tenants are there and what may be your sole responsibility to take care of. 

Along with writing down things that you notice about the property, you should also take photos of everything so that you can compare them to the property after your renters move out and know how much to charge for damages or how much of their deposit to return to them. 

Determine Where You Stand On Pets

Something that you’ll likely have to deal with a lot as a property manager or landlord is pets. 

While many people have pets and you might want to be accommodating to them, it’s wise to remember that not everyone cares for their pets in the same way. And when pets aren’t cared for well, they can cause a lot of damage to a property. So if you are going to allow pets in your rentals, make sure you protect yourself both physically and financially. 

If you’re about to start your first experience as a landlord, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you be the best property manager you can be.