Landlord Tips

Landlord Basics: Showing Your Rental Property to Potential Tenants

You’ve advertised your vacant rental property, had some calls of interest, and pre-screened the callers to weed out those that aren’t best-fit tenants for you. Now, you’re ready to show the property in person. Here are a few tips for a successful showing of your rental property: If you can, schedule an open house to [...]

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How to Deal with Cosigners on a Residential Rental Lease

Every landlord has his or her way of dealing with potential tenants who have less than stellar credit histories, or whose income is lower than the required minimum for a rental property. Many just outright reject the tenant applicant and move on until they find a better fit. Others take into consideration the tenant applicant’s [...]

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How to Collect Rent on Time, Every Month

Every landlord we know would agree with this understatement: rent is important. Actually, it’s more than just important—rent is like a fertilizer that keeps your rental business growing and healthy. Rent is as necessary to your rental property business as rain is to plants. If only collecting rent was as easy as collecting the rain [...]

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Money-Saving Hints from Landlords

Landlords are happy to share information to help out their fellow rental property owners—especially when it comes to saving money, time, and trouble. Here is a round-up of some of our favorite easy-to-implement ideas. Out with the carpeting. If you own an older rental building or home, there are probably hardwood floors lurking beneath that worn-out [...]

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5 Reasons Landlords Should Inspect Properties

Let’s say you’re a hands-off landlord, who keeps an eye on things outside your rental units; but generally, you don’t go inside until and unless you’re called upon to repair or replace something. If you’ve ever been surprised by the condition of your rental unit after a tenant moves out, perhaps you should consider inspecting your rental [...]

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A Survey of Landlords on Rent Due Dates and Charging Late Fees

Ask ten landlords about rent due dates and last charges, and you’ll probably get ten different answers—none of them wrong. The thing about running a rental property business is that you get to establish your own procedures and practices to suit your needs—within the limits of federal, state, and local laws, of course. And if [...]

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Why Invest in Rental Property?

Becoming a landlord is not for everyone. A few of the attributes one needs are patience, people skills, and good business practices—and there is still no guarantee it’ll work out. But if you’re thinking about buying your first rental property, the same factors that most landlords consider before diving into the business apply to you, too. [...]

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Is Providing Tenants with Free Internet a Smart Move?

In 2007, the U.S. Census Bureau reported 62% of U.S. households used the Internet in their home. That’s an enormous increase from 18% in 1997, the first year Internet use was tracked. 82% of those users reported having high-speed access, and 17% reported use of a dial-up connection. By October, 2009, some reports stated that [...]

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Common Landlord Mistakes

Learning by others’ mistakes is a classic move. So read on for a few errors landlords can avoid—just because others have already made them. Security deposits: Seems like security deposit issues are a top-5 cause of disputes between landlords and tenants. The problem can often be traced to miscommunications and unspoken expectations. Tenants sometimes assume they [...]

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Secrets of Successful Landlords

Like most articles about secrets, you’ll find that the ones we’re about to share with you are mostly common sense reminders—but every one needs easy-to-remember hints now and then. Landlording is about people, as well as the buildings they live in. If you’re a landlord, you probably spend much more time dealing with people than you [...]

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