Now I am a landlord.... Now what do I do?

Question

Aside from the obvious, make sure payments are in on time and property is taken care of (which is in lower tenants lease as his responsibility)

How often do you guys and gals check up on your properties both inside and out? My property is about 60 minutes from my house.

What else should I be doing?  I feel like I have everything down for the analyzing and buying side and now I am completely in the dark as to being a landlord....

We do plan on buying another property this year and then 3 more next year so I am sure it will be a steep learning curve.

Thanks,

Jeff

Marcia Maynard · Answer

To learn about common sense landlording, I recommend the book "Landlording" by Leigh Robinson. It is quite comprehensive. It's now in it's 11th edition, but the 9th edition will serve you well, because it hasn't changed that much. You can find it online for quite a reasonable price. I have a shelf full of landlording books and if I only had one book on the topic I would choose that one... it lays out almost everything... good strategies for working with tenants... a good reference book that you can go back to time and again.

Travis Sperr · Answer

Firm but fair, remember investing is a business and stick to your polices - don't have policies? Create some.

With your property being an hour from you, try to do some networking to find good vendors now rather than when you really need them, in a hurry, on a Sunday morning.

Best of luck growing your empire!

Nathan Emmert · Answer

Someone posted a blog yesterday suggesting that you inspect your properties every 8 months versus every 6... the reason, season changes.  The property might do things a bit differently in summer and winter versus spring and fall... every 6 months locks you into a recurring cycle where every 8 months you'll rotate over the years (and your portfolio).

It made sense to me...

Stephen E. · Answer

I second @Marcia Maynard on the Landlording book by Leigh Robinson. It is very thorough and goes through many scenarios you may encounter as a landlord. In that sense it is the opposite of most real estate investment books. They tend to spend a lot of time explaining why real estate investing is a great idea, using tantalising calculations of returns. Then they go through how to select, finance and buy a rental property. Then when it comes to actual landlording, dealing with tenants, etc., they say nothing. It always struck me that the authors must think that the majority of their readers are tire kickers who like the idea of real estate investing but will never actually come through. Hence managing properties and tenants is at best an after thought. Robinson's book is all about landlording and as Marcia says, it really is comprehensive. Highly recommended.

Jeff G. · Answer

The existing leases we have are very strong.  Our attorney said they are the best residential leases he has ever seen, they are like 10 pages long.

I gave both tenants a letter today detailing how to communicate and explaining that their leases are still in tact and valid.

Oh and my wife made them some cookies... :)

We plan on being very firm as the lease is detailed and cut and dry with many items.

Will Barnard · Answer

You should inspect the interior at a minimum of twice over year and check the batteries in the smoke detectors and look for damage or broken items that need repair. Check the exterior as often as you feel necessary, simpledrive by  does not require any notice or permission from tenant. For your interior inspection, make sure you provide the tenant with the proper legal written notice as required by your state laws.

Are you self managing? Interview property managers in the area, get their itemized list of protocol and compare them all. You can learn a lot from asking questions "interview style" and then imitate the good stuff.

Your contract with your tenant is of most importance and having the legal verbiage in there that protects you is critical. Consult an attorney for that, using legal zoom or sone other mass produced form is not wise in my non legal opinion.

Bryan N. · Answer

Tell your tenants to communicate through email.  This way you have a written record of information in case the relationship breaks down.  I always tell them "WATER WATER EVERYWHERE" equals call me, otherwise email and I will respond quickly to address any issues.

Now I am a landlord.... Now what do I do?

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