Landlord hacks ( what do you do make your life easier)

[Shane Craig]

As you scroll through fackbook or other sites you see various life hacks about cooking, landscaping, etc. I want this post to be about landlord hacks( what are some simple tricks you use to make your life easier as a landlord). 

1. I only use deadbolt locks on doors ( and  non locking handle) because it prevents tenants from locking themselves out. 

2. I buy a years worth of air filter for a property because the tenant will forget to buy the air filters and change them. 

3. I only buy 2br/1ba houses to lower the chance of hoarding and stairs. 

I'm interested in what you 

[Jon Reed]

Here it goes!

1. Open a 'rent' checking account and allow tenants to deposit into it (but set up transfers so the account always has a $0 balance). This allows tenants to pay with cash or check at any of the bank locations without having them (or yourself) incur any transaction fees.
2. Use quarterly air filter changes as an excuse to inspect all of your properties. (best $4 investment possible)
3. Give tenants a standard repair cost sheet during the lease signing. This way they will not be surprised by what they get charged when they move out.
4. Don't get in a rush to rent out a unit... wait for the best qualified tenant.
5. It is cheaper, and quicker, to pay someone to leave a unit than try to evict them.
6. Get a few Google Voice numbers (they are free) to use for different tenant purposes.. emergency, general questions, general maintenance. That way you can block out all after hour calls/texts that are not to the emergency line and set up the numbers to forward depending on your schedule.