The ABCs of Renting Your Property to Tenants: A Beginner’s Guide

With the slowdown of home sales in the real estate market, more homeowners are stuck with homes that they thought would sell and they are now considering renting those homes to tenants.

This is to be expected because many homeowners have already moved on to bigger and better properties even though their first homes didn’t sell.

Thankfully, even though the real estate market has slowed, the good news is that homeowners work through this difficult situation by renting out their properties until the real estate market picks up again.

Keep It Simple

You might think that renting your property to tenants is risky and stressful. But if done right, it can be a source of additional income as well to filter out the right tenants without being directly responsible for maintenance and repairs.

You may not want to hear it, but being a landlord isn’t easy. It involves taking on responsibilities that you probably don’t want or expect to deal with. However, with the right preparation and management, you can do so while avoiding some of the risks inherent in renting your home to strangers. With this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about renting your home as an investor and what you need to consider before signing on the dotted line.

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Find The Right Tenants 

After deciding what type of tenant, you’re looking for, you should do some research on the local rental market.

This will help you to create a profile of the kind of tenant you want to attract and give you a better idea of what your rental property will be worth in the open market. – Where to look for information. The best way to research the rental market in your area is to get your hands dirty. This means looking at rental listings on websites like Craigslist, Zillow, and Trulia.

You should also attend local real estate investor clubs, visit rental property management companies, and talk to property managers in your area. – What to look for. When researching the rental market, you should pay special attention to the following factors: – The average rent in your area. – The average vacancy rates. – The average length of time that a unit is on the market. – The average cost of repairs. – The average rental yield in your area.

Step 2: Know Your Rights as a Landlord

When renting out your property, you are essentially putting your money into a partnership with your tenants.

But the law doesn’t treat you as a partner—instead, you get almost none of the benefits of a partnership. So, before you even sign a rental contract, you should know what your rights are as a landlord and what your tenants’ rights are as renters. – Liability for injuries and damage. As a landlord, you are liable for injuries that your tenants sustain on your property, and you are responsible for all damage. This applies whether the tenant is at fault or not. If a tenant breaks something, you are responsible for repairing or replacing it. If someone gets hurt on your property, you are responsible for their medical bills. This can lead to lawsuits, fines, and even imprisonment. – Your right to enter the property.

As a landlord, you have the right to enter your property to conduct repairs, inspect the property, and/or show it to prospective buyers. However, you must let your tenants know that you’re coming and provide them with a reasonable amount of time to get their things out of the way. You can’t enter a rental property without a legitimate reason or without the tenant’s consent.

Step 3: Advertise Your Property and Select Tenants

You have done the legwork to find a great tenant and are now ready to start looking for a place to rent. But before you sign a lease, you need to put yourself in your prospective tenant’s shoes. What kinds of questions will they have?

What do they need to know before committing to rent your property? – The right way to advertise your property. The best way to advertise your property is by posting an online listing on a site like Craigslist or Zillow, and then following up with phone calls and emails to interested parties. You should include the following in your listing: – When you’re ready to sign a lease.

When you’re ready to sign a lease, you should meet with your prospective tenants and hammer out all the important details so that everyone is on the same page. You should discuss the following: – Written rental agreement. You should sign a written rental agreement with each tenant. Your rental agreement should include:

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Step 4: Set the Right Terms for Your Contract

You’ve found the tenant of your dreams and have signed a rental agreement. But you aren’t quite done yet. You need to make sure that you have everything covered in the rental agreement so that nothing goes wrong, and your tenant is happy.

Security deposit – A security deposit serves two functions: it’s a partial payment of the final rent and its insurance for you (the landlord). A security deposit is a money that you take from a tenant at the beginning of a rental agreement. If your tenant breaks their contract (for example, they don’t pay the rent) then you can keep their security deposit. At the same time, you must deposit 10% of the security deposit in a state-approved escrow account.

The terms of the lease – The terms of the lease are especially important because they set the stage for the relationship between you and your tenant.

Your lease should also include terms for when rent is due, how it should be paid and when it’s considered to be late. This is by far one of the most important parts of your lease because tenants must know that they are expected to pay rent on time each month.

Step 5: After Finding Excellent Tenants

Congratulations! You’ve found wonderful tenants who have agreed to rent your property and you have signed the lease.

Now it’s time to kick back and relax, right? Nah. You still have a lot of work to do.

Stay in contact – While you don’t want to be a nagging landlord, you want to stay in contact with your tenants so that you can look out for their best interests and vice versa.

Send them a friendly text or email every few months to check in and let them know that you’re available if they need anything.

Be a good landlord – Being a landlord isn’t easy. But it is rewarding when you find good tenants and they treat your property with respect.

Step 6: Hire A Property Manager

If your goal is to keep living your life without the hassle of owning a rental property, then the best decision you can make is to hire a property management company like Rent Portland Homes – Professionals.

Our property management team will save you the time and money of managing your property yourself so you can continue living your life while leaving the property management to us.

To learn more about the property management services we can offer you, contact us today by calling (503) 447-735 or click here to connect with us online.

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Top Reasons Why Good Tenants Leave and How to Stop This Trend from Happening

In today’s economy, rental properties are still a great way to build wealth, and passive income, but during the process of owning rentals, every landlord must face the reality that good tenants are going to come and go.

Sadly, there are a wide variety of reasons why good tenants leave but, the reality is that there are several reasons why they leave, and there are solutions that landlords can utilize to keep those tenants for longer than 12 months at a time.

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More Affordable Rental Options Are Available For Tenants Locally

One of the first reasons why good tenants leave is because more affordable rentals are becoming available locally.

This is completely understandable because every tenant wants to save money monthly.

Landlords must regularly stay on top of what’s happening in their rental market to avoid losing their good tenants to lower-priced, competitive rentals.

This means taking the time to actively investigate comparable listings in the local area. This research will tell every landlord what other properties nearby are currently renting for and if those properties have any features or amenities that their rental properties don’t currently have.

After doing some comparable research, landlords must consider the price differentials and be willing to lower the monthly rent (if needed), or grant their tenants concessions if the tenant is willing to renew their lease for another 12 months.

Problems With Neighbors

Another common thing that stops good tenants from renewing their leases is when they have problems with neighbors in the area.

By neighbors, we mean other tenants in the same building that they live in or neighbors that may live on the same street.

When problems with neighbors occur, landlords must take their tenant’s feedback into account and work hard to resolve those issues with neighbors immediately because, if the tenant feels uncomfortable living in that rental property, they won’t hesitate to move when their lease is up for renewal.

Promises Were Not Kept

In today’s world, every tenant wants to know that their landlord sees them as more than just to rent check, the tenant wants to know that the landlord is going to keep their promises, especially when it comes to maintenance or repairs that may be needed at the rental property.

If promises are not kept, tenants won’t hesitate to move, especially if the promises that were broken directly affect the tenant’s quality of life living at the rental property.

Landlords who have problems keeping their promises should invest in a calendar-based system that will remind them of the promises that they’ve made and provide them with consistent reminders until they complete the jobs that need to be done.

The Landlord Was Hard to Reach

Besides knowing that they have a landlord who keeps their promises, tenants these days also want to know that their landlord is going to be easily accessible when they need to communicate with them.

Unfortunately, tenants who feel that their landlord is hard to reach or doesn’t respond quickly to their issues won’t think twice to move when their lease is up, especially if the lack of communication with the landlord directly affects their quality of life at the rental property.

Landlords who have difficulty communicating with their tenants should hire a property management company like Rent Portland Homes – Professionals because, our team has an in-house staff that handles everything from tenant selection to maintenance, so landlords don’t have to.

Problems BIG or SMALL Was Ignored

When problems arise, one of the first things every landlord should do is try to resolve the problem immediately, regardless of whether it’s big or small.

In 2022, many landlords often underestimate the importance of resolving problems, especially if it’s something that they consider to be minor that can wait to be resolved for 24 hours, or even over a weekend.

Tenants must know that when problems arise, and as soon as they report them, the landlord will take steps to resolve the issue immediately.

Not Enough Amenities

As more rental properties come on the market, another common reason why good tenants leave is that the property that they are currently living in doesn’t have enough amenities.

Aside from major renovation, there’s not much that a landlord can do to add new amenities to a rental property but, there are improvements that a landlord can make along the way including the following:

  • Adding smart appliances
  • Repainting the property
  • Adding new flooring
  • Adding more security features to the unit
  • Adding on-site storage
  • Adding a dog run

Landlords who are on a budget after COVID-19 can take heart that it’s entirely possible to retrofit a rental property with some of the latest high-tech amenities for under $1000.

Each landlord should make consistent improvements to their rental properties throughout the year because those improvements can often be the deciding factor that motivates a tenant to renew their lease for another 12 months or search for another rental property when their lease is up.

The Tenant Had Unexpected Life Changes

So far, we’ve offered you several common reasons why good tenants typically move out within 12 months, another common reason that good tenants leave is when they have unexpected life changes.

Some of the most common and expected life changes occur when a tenant loses their job, must relocate for a job, gets married, has children, or does something else.

Sadly, there’s not much that the landlord can do when there is an unexpected life change, but when it comes to a job loss, landlords who have good tenants who have paid on time within the last 12 months would be better served to work with the tenant until they start their new job and start earning an income once again.

Taking the time to work with the tenant will preserve that landlord-tenant relationship will be something that motivates them to renew their lease with the landlord once it’s up for renewal.

Do you have rental properties in Portland Oregon that need property management? If so, contact the Rent Portland Homes – Professionals team today by calling us at (503) 646-9664, or clicking here to connect with us online.

Our team has decades of combined property management experience and managing tenants that saves owners the time, money, and hassle of managing their properties themselves.

To get a better return on investment from your rental property reach out to us today, you’ll be glad that you did!

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Tips For Lowering Vacancy Rates and Increasing Renewals

Vacancy is something that every landlord must be ready for sooner rather than later because is comes with owning rental properties in Beaverton Oregon, and elsewhere in the United States.

Thankfully, landlords can lower vacancy rates while increasing renewals by following these tips.

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Tips For Lowering Vacancy Rates

One of the best things that every landlord can do to reduce vacancies at their rental properties while increasing renewals is to build a relationship with their tenant.

The relationship starts from day one; they should let that tenant know they’re welcome to live in their rental property by providing them with a gift basket containing the essentials that a tenant might need to get started in a new home.

Some of the most common essentials that every tenant is going to need when moving into a new home include:

  • Cleaning supplies
  • Toilet caddy
  • Broom with dustpan
  • Vacuum cleaner
  • Trash bags

Once the gift basket is given, the landlord should next show the tenant that there are multiple ways for them to connect with the landlord including calls, texts, or emails.

The tenant must know that anytime they need to reach out to the landlord, the landlord is going to be accessible to assist them with any problems that they may be experiencing at their rental property instead of having their issues left unanswered.

As a landlord invests in more rental properties in Beaverton Oregon, the calls that they receive from their tenants are only going to increase. Therefore, every landlord should consider outsourcing those calls to a live answering service so that they could keep their cell phone out of the contact loop and avoid after-hours calls.

What’s even more ideal is for a landlord to outsource the management of their rental properties to a qualified property manager like Rent Portland Homes – Professionals. Our team offers live customer service that’s available to assist tenants with all their questions, problems, or concerns that they might have.

Tip #2 – Be willing To Accept Feedback

Another simple thing that landlords can do to lower vacancies at their rental properties is to be willing to listen to feedback from their tenants.

Even though not every recommendation is going to be a good idea, if the tenant’s feedback is simple, cost-effective, and easy to implement, the landlord should be willing to act upon that feedback because this will show the tenant that the landlord is taking their feedback into consideration and values their input.

Landlords should provide their tenants with a simple method for submitting feedback either via text message, contact form on their website or by submitting written feedback to the landlord at their office.

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Tip #3 – Approach Tenants Early About Lease Renewals

Another effective thing that landlords can do to reduce vacancy rates while increasing renewals is to approach their tenants early about lease renewals.

This means that instead of waiting until 30 days before their tenants are due to renew their leases, landlords should approach their tenants at least 90 days in advance to get their feedback on renewing for another 12 months.

This is a smart thing to do because a tenant may be hesitant to renew their lease because they feel that their feedback or maintenance requests have gone unanswered by the landlord.

Approaching the tenant early about lease renewals gives the landlord time to address the tenant’s concerns, resolve issues, and show that them they’re willing to go the extra mile to continue earning that business for another year.

Tip #4 – Offer Incentives for Lease Renewals

In cases where the landlord can still not get the tenant to renew their lease for another year, the landlord should consider offering them incentives or perks for renewing.

Depending upon if it’s a single-family or multifamily unit in a rental property, landlords should consider offering their tenants incentives like:

  • Cash incentives
  • Gift cards
  • Unit upgrades or enhancements
  • Free wi-fi
  • Free gym membership
  • Amazon Prime subscription

Incentives are always something that every landlord should use to increase lease renewals while lowering vacancy rates at their rental properties.

Besides offering incentives, landlords should also consider allowing their tenants in their rental properties as well.

Even though a tenant may not currently have a pet right now, it’s possible that they could be thinking about buying one soon and are in the process of looking for a pet-friendly rental property.

Seventy percent of U.S. households, or about 90.5 million families, own a pet, according to the 2021-2022 National Pet Owners Survey conducted by the American Pet Products Association (APPA). This is up from 56 percent of U.S. households in 1988, the first year the survey was conducted, and 67 percent in 2019.

Source – https://www.iii.org/

Allowing pets will keep good tenants living in the rental property while also providing them with the convenience of being able to have a pet versus them moving out of a property that they might enjoy, in favor of searching for a pet-friendly rental in the area.

Remember, incentives that may work for tenants in other cities or states may not work for tenants in the Beaverton area so owners should also take the time to research incentives/concessions that other local landlords are offering their vacancy tenants before they decide on what they should offer.

Contact Us

At Rent Portland Homes – Professionals, our team specializes in local property management for Beaverton, Portland, and the surrounding area.

We save owners the time, money, and hassle of managing rental properties so they can continue enjoying passive income from their properties without having to get bogged down with day-to-day property management.

Besides helping owners’ lower vacancies while increasing their renewals, some of our other services include rental property marketing, evictions, customer service, maintenance, accounting, and more.

To learn more about the property management services that we can offer you, contact us today by calling (503) 646-9664 or by clicking here to connect with us online.

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tenant screening questions

Strategies That Help Landlords Avoid Eviction

Since the end of the pandemic, evictions have been on the rise in Portland, and across the entire state of Oregon.

Even though eviction is something that every landlord must deal with at some point, the reality is that it’s entirely possible for landlords to avoid evicting tenants if they use the right strategies to help avoid eviction.

In this article, we will share with you several strategies that landlords can use to help the costly eviction process.

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Steps For Avoiding Eviction

One of the best ways you can avoid the eviction process with a tenant is to make sure that your lease is very clear about rent, and the consequences for paying rent late.

Some key points that your lease should include area:

  • When rent is due
  • What your grace period is
  • When rent is considered late
  • Late fees
  • When the eviction process starts

Having clear language in the lease regarding rent is not enough, you must also be willing to enforce the rules because, if you let your tenant get by with paying the rent late, that tenant will take advantage of your generosity and be willing to do that again anytime in the future.

Worse yet, tenants who pay their rent late won’t hesitate to tell their friends, family members, or other renters that they’ve paid rent late and that those tenants can do the same should they encounter similar circumstances where they must pay late in the future if they are renting from you.

Encourage Communication When If Your Tenant Has Financial Problems

Another important thing that you can do to help avoid the eviction process with your tenant is to be willing to communicate with them when they experience financial problems.

Since the start of the pandemic, it’s not uncommon for many tenants to have lost jobs, changed jobs, or industries, so it’s best to encourage your tenants to be very upfront and communicate with you if they are experiencing financial problems.

It’s always best to be willing to work out payment arrangements with tenants, especially if you know the money is coming because good tenants are worth their weight in gold.

It’s better to work with them rather than just take that tenant through the eviction process and start all over again with finding a new tenant for your property.

Connect Tenants with Local Social Support Services

Another important thing to do once your tenant reaches out to you regarding a job loss that will cause them to be late paying their rent is for you to connect them with local social support services.

Tenants must be made aware that help is available to them if they’re unable to pay their rent on time or if there’s faced with not being able to buy food for the month, they should know that support programs are out there that they can tap into to help cover the gaps until they get back on track financially.

Offer Them Cash for Keys

Let’s be clear, the absolute last thing that a tenant wants is to have been an eviction on their rental record, the same is true for the landlord, every landlord wants to avoid eviction with their tenant, therefore offering them an arrangement like cash for keys is ideal.

Cash for keys is one of the most time-tested ways to avoid eviction because, instead of taking the delinquent tenant through the eviction process, the landlord offers them a viable cash payment for them to move out within a set period.

Even though cash for keys is an ideal way to avoid eviction, this agreement must also be in writing and the tenant must be made aware that if they violate the agreement, they will immediately face eviction.

Inform Your Tenants That You Will Report the Eviction to The Credit Bureaus

Last of all, but most important, if an eviction with a tenant is moving forward, you should also inform the tenant that you will be reporting the eviction to the credit bureaus.

This is important to mention because, in today’s world a credit score is priceless, and nobody wants to have an eviction on their Portland credit report which could hinder their ability to successfully apply for a mortgage loan.

It’s best to lay out all the consequences of the eviction to the tenant right from the very beginning so that they’re aware that there’s more than one consequence that could affect them financially in the years to come.

Contact Rent Portland Homes – Professionals

At 4RentLocal.com/Rent Portland Homes – Professionals, we specialize in local property management services for the Portland Oregon area.

Our property management team saves owners the time, money, and hassle of managing their rental properties themselves so that they could focus on earning passive income and passive cash flow from those rental properties.

If you need help with property management services, including evictions, contact us today by calling (503) 447-7735 or clicking here to connect with us online.

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