The RentApp Blog

When you’re a landlord, managing your own property or properties is a way to keep your costs low, and it allows you to turn a larger profit from your rental. However, over time you may start considering the option of hiring a property manager to take over for you – whether it’s due to time constraints, a desire to focus on other projects, or simply a feeling that you’ve taken on too many investment properties to do it all on your own. Regardless of the reasoning, you should think through your decision carefully, and part of doing that is understanding what a property manager offers you. What Do Property Managers Bring to the Table? Fast response time to prospective tenants – if you’ve got another job and maintain your rental in your spare time, you may not be able to get back to people as quickly as you need to. There are tons of rentals on the market, pretty much at all times. If you don’t contact someone quickly while they’re waiting for information, someone else might just snatch them up. A higher level of objectivity when dealing with difficult tenants – if there is an issue, it’s easier to take it personally when it’s your property. After all, you’re the one that has to come up with the cash if your tenant fails to pay their rent on time, for example. But working with a property manager means that the issue can be dealt with in a way that avoids...

There are various times throughout the course of a lease that you should conduct a fairly thorough inspection of your rental property. The goal is to ensure that everything is in working order, identify things that you need to repair, and to generally see that the property is being well cared for. If you have a tenant living in the property long-term, then once or twice a year should be sufficient for an inspection. In addition, you should do an inspection with a new tenant before they move in, and another one when they move out. It is important to know what to look for when conducting an inspection at your investment property: Check all of the big things – check that all appliances, the furnace, the air conditioning unit, etc. are in working order. These are costly things to repair if there’s an issue, so it’s better to identify them early on. Not all tenants will be familiar with the signs when one of these major household items begins to fail, so they may not notify you of a problem until it’s too late and the item needs a major repair, or even replacing. Check the plumbing – turn on all of the taps in the home, and look at the pipes underneath (where applicable) to ensure that there are no identifiable leaks. While doing this, you will also be able to check on the water pressure and see if water is effectively draining. You should also flush the toilets and be on...

In any business, time is money. Therefore, why are you forcing potential tenants to spend more time than they have to filling out a rental application? The use of a rental application pdf is not the same thing as using a purely online system of processing rental applications. Here are some reasons why you need to go with a completely online application system. Applicants Can Do Everything In One PlaceApplicants want to get their applications in as soon as possible. If it is possible to enter all of their information on a rental application pdf, why does the application then need to be printed out only to be signed and mailed to a rental office? Allowing applicants to electronically sign and send an application streamlines the entire process. All Applications Get Sent To The Same Place It makes it a lot easier to process applications when they are all in one place. If you have any questions about a particular application, it is easier to contact the applicant when you can easily call up an application for quick reference. Timely communication with an applicant can be the difference between getting that person to rent your apartment and it sitting vacant for another month. Save Money The most important reason to never force an applicant to print out an application again is to cut down on costs. You don't need as much ink, the fax machine can be dumped and there is no need to spend money on paper because there are...

By Jennifer St. James Yes, I heard your collective sigh of frustration when you read that title. Yes, I know that every day seems to bring another form of Internet marketing that you just “have to” be using. But trust me when I say that this one is different. Who hasn’t heard of Google by now? Probably even people living under rocks have used Google to find out exactly what type of rock that is overhead.  Which is my point, really. Do you remember life before Google? I know, for the younger generation, life before Google didn’t exist, and for those of us above the Millennial age, remembering what we did before Google is more than a little hard to do. And that’s why I know that Google+ is not just here to stay, it’s also going to start dominating the market. Soon. After all, you don’t see other search engine names being turned into a verb… “I’m going to go Bing that!” Said no one, ever. So, here are more specific reasons why property managers (as well as all business owners) should be on Google+ and using it as the fantastic tool it is: 1. Google+ Is GrowingI usually hear about Facebook in this department, and yes, it has seen some extraordinary growth—from its launch in 2004 to today, it has averaged about 111 million users per year, and now has about 1 billion users. Technically, Google+’s growth rate is four times that of Facebook—it launched in June of 2011,...

As a new landlord, you may not realize the importance of getting a background check on a prospective tenant. A rental property is an investment that can pay your mortgage if you rent it to a desirable and responsible person. Using tenant screening services is a reliable way to find someone who respects your property and pays the rent on time. Even if you think that you are a good judge of character based on first impressions, you can benefit from the expertise of professionals to help you make a good decision. What a Tenant May ConcealYour primary concerns as a landlord are to find a tenant who agrees to preserve your property and to pay you for the use of it. Your obligations as a responsible landlord are to present the property in good repair when you let it out for lease or rent, to make sure to repair anything that breaks down and to allow your tenants the quiet enjoyment of a rented home. In return, you expect a prospective tenant to provide factual information about personal history items such as these: previous physical and email addresses family size As a responsible landlord, you can use such information to narrow your list of potential tenants. However, there are other pieces of information that are more valuable. Negative facts that reflect poorly on a person are not likely to come forward in your tenant interview, and that is the main reason that you need to use tenant screening services to...

As property managers, we’re all aware of the multitude of issues that frequently arise with unreliable tenants. Late rental payments, disturbing the peace, illegal activity, and a general disregard for the property are all problems that typically arise in the property management industry. Many times, we’re so focused on dealing with the problems prevalent in the property management industry that we overlook the tenants that always pay on time; the tenants that take good care of their property, the tenants that are considerate of their neighbors. How do we make sure that those tenants are happy? That they feel appreciated? That they know that we want them to remain tenants as long as possible? Chances are those good tenants are feeling unappreciated right now; which means that they will have no reason to stay at your property if a better opportunity opens elsewhere. It’s so important to remember that a rental agreement is between two separate parties, and just like any of us, our tenants like to know that they’re appreciated. Here are just a few ways to show your tenants that they are appreciated: Be sure to take their concerns seriously. If your tenant calls to complain about loud music at midnight, or unauthorized vehicles in their parking spot, take prompt action and make sure that you advise them of both the action and the outcome; don’t make them complain more than once about the same issue. Fulfill the promises that you make. If you promise a tenant a new dishwasher...

The rental application is a critical part of the tenant screening process. If you choose the wrong tenant, it can cost you a lot of time and money. However, paper applications take up space on your desk, can be easy to lose and require you to use a lot of paper. Here are four reasons why you should use online applications only. 1) Save Time Processing The Applications A paper application takes time to process because it must be processed by hand. If a fee is required to process the application, there may be a delay while the check clears. When the application is done online, it can be processed instantly. Payments can be automatically taken from the applicant's checking account or from their PayPal account instantly. By saving time on the application decision process, a prospective tenant won't have time to choose another apartment before you can get back to him. 2) It's Convenient For The Applicant People love to do as much as possible online these days. More and more apartment complexes are allowing residents to pay their rent online as well as allowing applicants to schedule appointments for showings online. Why not allow the applicant to do two things at once by submitting their rental application forms online as well? It could be the difference between an applicant choosing your apartment or not choosing your apartment to live in. 3) Save Money Throughout The Process By having the application process handled online, there is no need to spend...

  With all the media hype about the so-called looming fiscal cliff, it’s a good time of the year to remember how to avoid financial disasters and to do what we can to prevent losses. Property Managers with experience know how costly the process of eviction can be, as well as the expense of repairing damaged rental units that have been “trashed” by destructive former residents. Recently I did some research about a genre of insurance for landlords to insure their rental properties against damage and lost revenue. That fact of the existence of what is often called Landlord Insurance speaks to the unique risks and perils associated with owning residential rental housing. My research indicates that the most common landlord insurance policy covers damage to the building caused by residents. It typically covers the damage whether or not it was committed intentionally. Let’s face it, some residents are thoughtless and don’t take care of the owner’s property. Others are hostile and can be destructive. Whether the problem is negligence in not reporting damage and the need for repairs or its outright vandalism, the final result can include serious property damage and expensive repair bills. Thankfully, most residents aren’t destructive or irresponsible, and to be more certain that’s why the Property Manager carefully screens applicants and performs background checks. Yet it’s hard to screen for the kind of guests that residents have at their home or the fact that other circumstances can lead to unexpected outcomes. That’s why we have insurance, for...

  With all the media hype about the so-called looming fiscal cliff, it’s a good time of the year to remember how to avoid financial disasters and to do what we can to prevent losses. Property Managers with experience know how costly the process of eviction can be, as well as the expense of repairing damaged rental units that have been “trashed” by destructive former residents. Recently I did some research about a genre of insurance for landlords to insure their rental properties against damage and lost revenue. That fact of the existence of what is often called Landlord Insurance speaks to the unique risks and perils associated with owning residential rental housing. My research indicates that the most common landlord insurance policy covers damage to the building caused by residents. It typically covers the damage whether or not it was committed intentionally. Let’s face it, some residents are thoughtless and don’t take care of the owner’s property. Others are hostile and can be destructive. Whether the problem is negligence in not reporting damage and the need for repairs or its outright vandalism, the final result can include serious property damage and expensive repair bills. Thankfully, most residents aren’t destructive or irresponsible, and to be more certain that’s why the Property Manager carefully screens applicants and performs background checks. Yet it’s hard to screen for the kind of guests that residents have at their home or the fact that other circumstances can lead to unexpected outcomes. That’s why we have insurance, for...

One of the biggest challenges of property management is dealing with vacancies. When one or several of your units are vacant, revenue is severely limited. Prevention with long-term tenants is an ideal situation. But no matter how loyal your tenants are, vacancies will happen. So the question becomes: how do you fill vacancies as quickly as possible? The answer is simple, right? Just make many people aware. But how? Paid search marketing can be a highly effective way to connect with a large number of individuals precisely at the time that they are looking for a new apartment. But done the wrong way, paid search marketing can be costly and ineffective. So, is it right for your properties? And if so, how can you make it profitable? In order to decide whether search marketing is right for you, two important things must be in place first: A Technically Sound WebsiteThis is the prospective tenant’s first impression of your property. Make sure that it is simple for them to navigate the site and find what they are looking for. And have fast load times. People are impatient. They want to easily find what they are looking for in seconds. Seconds, not minutes. If they click on your ad, but find your site clunky or slow, they will leave immediately. This leads to wasted dollars. Ways to make it easy for them to find what they want for is through a sophisticated filtering system or search capability. For example, allow your prospects to...