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Landlord/Tenant Course Navigation
Setting Goals
Landlords - An important step in your journey to becoming a successful landlord is to determine your personal and financial goals. Your personal goals may include how many and what types of properties you want to own; how much time you want be involved in your landlord duties; and where the properties will be located. Financial goals should include income and expense objectives, return on investment (ROI), and short-term (3 to 5 years) and long-term (10 to 30 years) net worth calculations. The goals you set should be firm but flexible; they will become a map for you to follow. Changing circumstances over time may cause you to reconsider or alter your goals.
Experts suggest that you document your goals in writing. One technique is to make a list of all of your business, personal, and financial goals once a year or once a quarter. Be sure that your goals are realistic, detailed, and attainable. The simple act of writing down your goals, suddenly makes the goals seem more real and important.
Tenants - Be honest with yourself and your landlord about your living situation. Landlords can be flexible, but the sudden appearance of another household member, a new baby, a new spouse, or an adult child can cause discord in the landlord/ tenant relationship. In general, if you let your landlord know in advance, or as soon as you know, the two of you may be able to work something out to the benefit of all. It may be best to be let out of your rental agreement, or increase your rent, if a new household member arrives.
Residential Properties
A place to call home – the American dream involves home ownership; however, sometimes people rent, out of need or choice. Some people rent because they are young; and haven't yet thought about home ownership. Others are new to the area, and want to rent temporarily while looking for a home to purchase. Some will never qualify financially for a mortgage, and may never own their own home – lifetime renters. A landlord-tenant relationship can extend indefinitely on a month-to-month, or at-will, basis.
Residential property types:
Location is important when managing residential property. The residential tenant seeks a location that is convenient for purposes such as traveling to work, access to shopping and recreation and neighborhood design or demographics. The building layout and property appearance can be important to tenants. Tenants will quickly move out if the landlord fails to live up to his responsibilities. It is important to provide a safe, secure and attractive property in order to retain the best tenants.
Residential properties can be managed with creativity and flexibility. For instance, you can make minor modifications, such as enclosing a porch, which could attract a different set of tenants. Or you can offer incentives like tenant maintenance agreements that give the tenant the responsibility to mow the lawn and shovel walkways in exchange for lower rent. A manager's ability to maintain good rental history is limited only by his willingness to appeal to his tenants.
The types of residential tenants available can vary. Typical renters include college students, single parent families, young couples, tenants in their twenties and seniors. Some are just beginning their careers, some have encountered a life-changing event such as divorce or job loss, some choose to rent, some work in low-pay fields, and others have relocated from another state.
TYPES OF RESIDENTIAL PROPERTIES
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