There is a considerable difference between owning a rental property and being a landlord. In the technicalities, a rental owner is a landlord, but it takes a specific skill set to be a good landlord. There is a whole lot more to be done than simply for waiting for rent money to appear. The best landlords are able to:

Communicate effectively with tenants

Be proactive and recognise issues before they arise

Understand what a property needs and where to find professional maintenance services. For Property Maintenance Gloucester, visit https://redbridgeandsons.co.uk

Tenants

A good landlord story starts with the choice of tenants. The type of tenants you have won’t come about through luck alone, you must have solid screening. Take the time before a lease starts and don’t jump at the first interested party. A bad tenant can become a financial and mental nightmare for landlords, so screen every potential tenant in the same way with an application and following up on references.

Availability

If you intend to take care of the property management yourself, you’ll need to be available at any time for issues that arise. All properties can expect the occasional problem, from a blocked drain to a broken washing machine. You’ll need to be available for returning text messages, phone calls and emails within a couple of days. Even if you deem the problem to be small, nothing agers a tenant more than being ignored by their landlord. It could lead to them not telling you about future problems that arise.

Sense problems early

A small problem can soon become a major one if left unresolved. The best landlords have the ability to spot issues early on, whether that’s with maintenance or late rent payments. Sensible landlords are also prepared to pay for preventative maintenance to help avoid future expensive problems occurring.

Fair

Sometimes it’s important to be firm but fair. There will be occasions when you will need to be flexible in your approach, loosening up from a hard-held belief, but still sticking to your core values. Things like no-smoking rules cannot be broken, or the tenant will keep doing it. However, you might loosen up on allowing pets for example. Take the time to consider what you want on the lease and what the penalties will be for breaking those terms.

Ready to respond

Being able to fix small problems yourself is useful, but not many landlords will be able to do this. Great landlords are constantly updating their contact lists with tradespeople and maintenance services, so they have several people they can call at any time. This way, a landlord can be ready to act straightaway and not waste time and money when an issue arises.