Landlords - What are all your practical Money savers?

[Ken Latchers]

I thought it would be nice to have a collecting point for day to day money/time savers for rentals. Some things I do or have seen on the forum so far:

Remove storm doors.
Advertise rentals on craigslist
Remove or lock outside spigots.
Submeter or RUBS the utilities you pay yourself.
Put in low flow showerheads and put 2 liter soda bottle in toilet tank.
Convert laundry room to pay.
Convert all bulbs to fluorescent.
Replace grass with groundcover, gravel, flowers, etc.
Buy your own pressure washer - $85 at WalMart.
Buy post 1989 buildings (lead).
Advertise & Rent entire duplex to one family (I did this).
Have tenant rents ACH or have them deposit to your account.

PLEASE keep items to one sentence and list each separately!!!

[Rob K.]

A lot of good responses.

I would like to add a few:

When I buy a property and a bedroom door has a hole in it (probably from a fist), Instead of buying a new door, I buy a $6 mirror at HD and cover the hole with it. They make a special tall and narrow mirror (36 x 12 inches?) that is made for a door. Takes two minutes and only eight screws.

I use the same locks over and over and change them from house to house. I bought a key machine off CL for $50 and buy key blanks on the web for 17 cents each. I can make a key as fast as a high school dropout at the hardware store. I keep the original keys and give copies to the tenants. If they lose one, so what? Those locks are going on a different house and I still have the original. I then charge the tenant for the missing key from their security deposit.

I have all water bills mailed to me. I check and make sure the last bill was paid and then send it to the tenant for them to pay. It's in my lease that if they don't pay the water, I will pay it, add a $25 fee, and then give the tenant seven days to reimburse me. I let them know when they move in, if they only have enough money one month to pay the water or the cable - PAY THE WATER.

Unfinished basements require all plugs to be GFCI protected. If they are not protected, I put one in for laundry and remove the rest. They don't need to be hanging out down there anyway.

Garages usually have a bunch of scary looking electrical. Remove it.

Change all plumbing valves to quarter turn ball valves. It will save you money and grief in the long run.

When a property is vacant in the hood: Install motion sensor lights and leave them there. Lock the gate to the backyard. Leave a radio playing. Light on a timer. Install deadbolts that are keyed on both sides. If someone comes in through a window, they won't be leaving out the back door with all of your copper. You can change the locks out when a new tenant moves in.