When it comes to looking after a rental property, landlords have many options. If you are a landlord and you want to make sure your property is protected then you can look after this yourself or you could hire a management company. Below are a few tips for landlords about how to look after their property themselves:
Protecting Your Property:
The first thing to do is to buy landlord insurance. This will provide protection to the building and to any contents you have provided. It should also cover you in the event of any financial loss due to non payment of rent etc.
It is very important to make sure that the property is properly secured. That will mean installing proper deadbolts on all windows and doors.
Any potential fire hazards should be removed from both the interior and exterior of the house with particular attention paid to the kitchen.
Installing an alarm system in the house is a good idea. This should also ensure that your landlord insurance premium is reduced. Insurers will see this alarm system as a way to make your home more secure so there will be less of a risk of your home being burgled.
Smoke and fire detectors must be installed in the home. You should also make sure that the home has a fire extinguisher. Tenants should know where this fire extinguisher is and they should also know how to use it.
Insuring your Contents
You may be renting out a fully furnished home and if this is the case your landlord insurance should take this into consideration. Many landlords are confused about how much to insure the contents for but a good idea would be to do an inventory of the contents room by room. You can then speak to the insurance company about the level of cover you require.
Minimising Repairs
Another thing that landlords might want to think about is how they can minimise the cost of maintenance and repairs. The best way to do this is to ensure the property is kept in great condition. However this is something that may not always be possible when another person is living in the home. Landlords should make sure they have a written record of the state of the property before a tenant moves in. They should then use this checklist when carrying out an inspection of the property during the tenancy. The best thing to do is to ask tenants to contact you if there are any problems in the house. If anything should break or if there are any heating or plumbing problems then the tenant should be able to contact you immediately.
If the tenant does contact you with any problems that need repairing, then you need to make sure that you deal with these as soon as possible. Make sure you keep a record of any problems and how you dealt with them.