With rental properties you will be responsible for all the normal costs of owning your property including mortgage payments, taxes and insurance. On top of the normal payments you will also be required to pay for repairs that are not the fault of the tenant. Even if you aren’t obligated to fix something, it’s better to appease the tenant; angry tenants lead to delayed payments and a poor renter relationship. It’s important to find a tenant that will be on time with payments and can afford the rent. Make sure that an application is completed which should detail the prospective tenant’s rental history, work information and other necessary information. Perform a credit check and rental history check. Verify their employment and contact previous rental agencies and landlords to see if they were on time with payments.
Once you have your property rented, keep accurate and detailed records of payments. If there is a late payment contact the tenant and ask for a reason so you can document it. A late payment may be justified but if payments are regularly late then there is a cause for concern. Enforce your late payment fees so it will encourage the renter to pay their rent on time. You should also make occasional visits to neighbors to ask if there are any problems. Your tenant could be irritating your neighbors by leaving garbage lying around, being noisy, etc. This is not only bad for neighborhood relations but it can bring down the value of your property. Future renters can also be discouraged by the neighbors so it can be more difficult to rent out your property in the future.