As a property investor, it’s important to ensure that you see a fair profit from your rental properties.
91 out of the 100 largest cities in the US have seen significant rent hikes over the last year. Could you raise the rent at your properties?
Are you hoping to learn how to increase your rental property income? Then, read on to learn tips and tricks that will help you to land more money in your pockets in no time.
Tip #1: Do Some Research
Before you make any other moves, it’s essential to do your research. Take the time to see what similar properties in your area are renting for. It’s possible that you’ve underpriced your property without realizing it.
If this is the case, you should be able to justify increasing the rent, which should up your rental income as a result.
Tip #2: Don’t Skip Screening Tenants
The importance of screening tenants cannot be underestimated.
Don’t let the excitement over interest in your property prevent you from taking the necessary steps to ensure your future tenants are financially stable and have a good renting history.
Run a credit report and ask for proof of income if possible. Consider contacting their previous landlords. Overall, work on getting as much information as you can while taking into account local legalities.
Why is this so important? If you skip these steps and eventually find yourself needing to evict them, this can cost you thousands of dollars.
Plus, if they’re irresponsible and damage the property, it’s possible that even a deposit won’t cover these costs.
Tip #3: Think About Allowing Pets
Allowing pets at your rental property might seem risky, but it’s an excellent way to increase your rental property income.
Think about it this way: if you require a special pet deposit at the beginning of the lease, this should cover any potential damages the animals might cause.
Also, you can charge an extra pet fee every month that ups your income compared to a tenant without any animals.
To alleviate any concerns about major damages, you can look into different pet breeds and have a list of species that aren’t allowed based on size or temperament.
Tip #4: Consider Allowing Monthly Leases
For many people, finding month-to-month leases is extremely difficult.
Some people need greater flexibility in their living situation due to various reasons. Signing a 12-month lease isn’t a valid option in this case.
You can charge more each month in rent due to the greater flexibility. Making this small change can have a large impact on your rental income. This is especially true if you have any properties that are currently vacant. Making this adjustment should help fill vacancies as soon as possible.
Tip #5: Focus On Laundry
Nobody particularly likes going to a laundromat to take care of their laundry. It takes time, requires travel, and is an inconvenient activity to do every week or more.
If your property has laundry facilities on-premise, people will be much more drawn to your property than ones that don’t.
Whether they’re coin-operated or require the usage of a special funds card, you will quickly make back the money you spent on the machines in no time. From here you will end up profiting each month.
Another perk is that if you ever decide to sell the property making this move will add to the resale value.
Tip #6: Don’t Underestimate Curb Appeal
It only takes about 15 seconds for someone to make up their mind about something when they first see it.
If you think about it, you could be gaining or losing a new tenant within 15 seconds of them getting out of their car to view the unit. Of course, you want to make a good impression in these precious seconds so that you can make some money.
To do this, consider investing in some landscaping to beautify the front of the property and make it seem more welcoming.
If the building is older and has some dirt caked on it, you might try pressure washing it to make it look better. These two simple changes could potentially lead you to book new tenants much more quickly than you ever have before.
Tip #7: Hire a Property Manager
Hiring a property manager will cost you money upfront, but they can end up saving you time and money in the long run.
They should handle the marketing for your properties, and their knowledge and expertise will undoubtedly lead to lower vacancy rates and potentially increased rent rates.
They will also take care of screening tenants for you and handle any legal action that needs to be taken.
Imagine having all of these processes taken care of. This will leave you more time to take care of other equally important aspects of managing rental properties and help you to create the best possible experience for your tenants that you can.
Before you hire any property management company, check out reviews and ensure that they will be a good fit for you.
Boost Your Rental Property Income Today
If you’re a real estate investor, looking for ways to boost your rental property income is part of your job because this directly impacts your success.
Increasing your rental income doesn’t need to require investing large amounts of money into your properties. This article brought out seven simple ways to increase your profit and make your properties more appealing to people.
If you follow the tips in this article, your properties should be filled and bringing in more money in no time!
If you think that you could benefit from the help of a property management company, please reach out to us for more information.