You may have heard that you should treat your residential rental like you would a business. This makes sense because it is a business. You’re earning money by providing something. It may look different from a typical business that sells a service or product, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t one.
The reason it’s important to look at your rental as a business is because when you’re a business owner, you take things more seriously. A business is handled with care. It’s not treated like a hobby or just another way to bring in a little extra money. Business owners know the importance of staying in compliance with the law, keeping their customers happy, and making sure their finances are accurately accounted for. Residential landlords need to do the same.
You may not necessarily have customers, but you do have tenants. One of the ways to manage your rental like you would a business is to ensure you always act professionally. Current and prospective tenants should be treated with a friendly demeanor. When a tenant comes to you with an issue, you need to address it quickly and with care (like you would a customer who had a question or a complaint).
Your finances need to be kept up to date. This means keeping a good reserve fund. It means keeping records of payments and receipts. It means knowing where all of your money is coming and going. You need to know about all of the laws that apply to your business. If you don’t stay in compliance, it can hurt you and your bottom line.
Beyond that, you need to stay competitive. Businesses often look to see what their competition is doing. They want to ensure they’re continuing to attract new customers and maintain their current ones. They try to keep their prices and offerings competitive. Residential landlords need to do the same (except trade the word customers for tenants). You need to ensure the tenants you’re trying to appeal to are wowed by your rental enough to choose it over other options. You need to ensure your rental is priced right which you can do by looking at what similar competing properties in your area are being rented for.
There are many ways a residential investment is like owning a business. Make sure to treat it like one. When you partner with PMI, we’ll be happy to assist you in keeping tenants happy, pricing your rental, handling your accounting, and much more. Please visit our website to learn more about how we can assist you. http://www.virginiabeachpropertymanagementinc.net.
