Tips to improve your retention and cash flow

[Trevor Reed]

This post is designed to help people who owner manage. Typically the number one contributor to cost, both in single family and multi family, is turn cost. Mitigating the time a unit is not rented is key to establishing the strong NOI possible. Combining that with minimal repair cost from wear and tear goes a long way in managing a successful property. These are a couple tips most landlords don't do but really should.

1) Inspect the HVAC twice a year, yourself!  This means you get a step stool and check every vent inside the house...do you know what you are doing - usually not.  What you are doing is getting a solid inspection of your home without it being an "inspection."  You get access to every room and the tenant is fine with it because you are checking the HVAC and making sure they are comfortable.  You can do this easily twice a year, in the fall when the furnace starts to be used and in the spring when the A/C is starting to kick on.  Tenants think you are "spying" on them if you set up an inspection, maximize your knowledge without putting your tenant off. 

2) Give a little to your tenants.  Every year I get every tenant in my single family homes an occupied cleaning.  I have a company come in and clean their whole house.  They tell me what they saw, if I should be concerned about anything, e.g. smelly or super cluttered areas, bugs, etc...  plus the tenants absolutely love it.  I typically offer it, at the tenants choice, around Thanksgiving or Christmas.  This small gift goes a long ways in developing a relationship with your tenants.  Of course this cleaning is a tax deduction so it doesn't hurt the bank too much.

3) If you are a realtor, help your tenants break your lease.  Depending on the state you are in, and/or the type of verbiage you use in your lease, you have the power to assist your tenants in breaking their lease early.  Help your tenants find a home while marketing your rental for lease. The tenant may be responsible for the rent up until you release the home or their lease runs up.  Many times, if you manage this correctly, you can have zero vacancy loss and get commissions as well.  You should be the most knowledgeable person your tenants know when it comes to real estate, getting them as a client should be the easiest sale of your life.  If it's not ( assuming their mom isn't a realtor) you need to work on informing your tenants.  I encourage home ownership and if I must lose a tenant, that is only reason I want them to leave

These are just some tips that can help even seasoned landlords be better.  I'm new to BP so I thought I'd post something people could use right away.  Topics I'll be going into later will be insurance, mitigation, and tax advantages, which are three areas even experienced owners lack knowledge and confidence in.