4 Ways To A Successful Tenancy

1.  Emphasize the most important lease clauses.

Carefully go over the lease and emphasize what is most important when you sign with your tenant.  You can even follow up with a welcome letter to your tenant reminding them of those key elements of the lease that are most important to you.  Some landlords will resend a copy of the lease to the tenant as well.

2.  Enforce your lease.

Be quick to resolve or correct any situations that arise as they can become headaches for the landlord down the road. Send late notices as soon as rent is late.  If you send your notices late or become inconsistent, the rent may become inconsistently late. When the landlord does not enforce the lease, the tenant becomes comfortable enough to think of the landlord as a friend, he/she often lose professional respect they had for the landlord.

3. Enforce penalties and late fees.

Dont be afraid to charge a tenant a late fee whenever rent is late.  Use a late charge notice to collect rent and late fees before too much time passes by.  Remember everyday that goes by without collecting rent is another day closer to an eviction!

4.  Perform routine inspections.

When the tenant is expecting an inspection of the premises by the landlord or manager, the property is usually kept ready to pass the inspection. Many landlords will inspect on regular intervals prearranged with the tenant. Others will do surprise inspections, and some will emphasize that they will be doing inspections, but often don't get around to it. Send the tenant a note from time to time to tell them of an upcoming inspection. The main thing is that your property is cared for properly.

Understanding and Agreeing with each other is the first step to making a professional relationship between the Landlord and the Tenant.  Be professional about communication and follow the steps above and you will have a better tenant!