As the landlord of a rental property, one of your biggest problems is managing vacancies. When your property is vacant, you’ll be losing money; you won’t have any income generated by a resident tenant, but you’ll still be responsible for paying the mortgage and any other expenses associated with the property.
If your property remains vacant for too long, it could ruin your profitability.
Fortunately, there are a number of strategies you can use to keep vacancies to a minimum – and fill them quickly when they do result.
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How to Minimize Vacancies Proactively
Some strategies can help you minimize vacancies proactively. There are many factors that could persuade a tenant to leave your property, and your job is to prevent them.
1. Find Good Tenants
Everything starts with finding the right tenants. Before letting anyone move into your property, you should screen them. Figure out their income level (and income consistency), their credit score, their past history with rental properties, and other important factors associated with their ability to pay. If you focus on tenant reliability, you’ll have far less turnover.
2. Repair and Maintain the Property
If you care about the property, you should be doing this anyway; work to repair and maintain the property routinely. Keep it in good condition by fixing things that break, landscaping (when possible), and keeping the exterior clean. A clean, functional, and inviting property will encourage tenants to stay.
3. Offer Incentives and Bonuses
If you have tenants who are always on time with their rent and who do a good job to keep your property in good repair, you can offer incentives and bonuses. For example, you could offer a discount to someone who has stayed with you for several years or avoid increasing rent. Even something small, like a holiday card, can make a tenant feel appreciated.
4. Communicate Actively
Tenants will be more likely to stay if they feel they have a landlord who cares about them. You can demonstrate this by communicating actively; respond to requests when they come in and answer tenant questions honestly. You don’t have to update them constantly, but you should work to keep them in the loop about important matters.
5. Make Accommodations
Occasionally, your tenants may find themselves in a tough position. When this happens, consider making accommodations. For example, if your tenant loses their job and has a dramatic reduction in income, consider waiving or reducing rent for the month, or helping them come up with a repayment plan.
6. Be Transparent
Transparency is the best way to build trust. If your tenants feel like you’re dishonest, or that you’re hiding things from them, they’re going to look to live someplace else. Instead, be honest about flaws and potential issues with the property. Give accurate estimates and set reasonable expectations. It goes a long way to make tenants feel more comfortable.
7. Resolve Problems
Even the best arrangements are occasionally going to come with problems. Your tenant may request a fix to a part of the property or may have an issue with a noisy neighbor. Whatever it is, go out of your way to resolve these problems in a way that both of you can accommodate.
Filling Vacancies
No matter how careful you are or how much your tenants love renting your property, eventually, you’ll have to deal with a vacancy. When your tenant leaves, there are some additional strategies you can use to fill those vacancies quickly.
8. Take Advantage of the Time to Clean, Repair, and Improve.
Vacancies are difficult and they can cut into your profitability, but they also offer an important opportunity; the property will be empty, so you’ll have free reign to do what you want with it. Use this time to commit major repairs, clean the property, or possibly even improve it with an upgrade or addition. You’ll set the stage for the next tenant and increase the property value.
9. Learn From your Mistakes
Every landlord is going to make mistakes. A delayed reaction to an important repair or a poorly timed rent increase can be enough to make a tenant leave. Pay attention to the decisions you’ve made (and their consequences) and work to improve your strategy.
10. Market Aggressively – but Screen your Tenants
Invest heavily in marketing and advertising if you want to get more attention for your property and fill it quickly. However, don’t be too eager to fill the void; it’s still important to screen your tenants and find the right fits.
If you follow these strategies, you’ll have a much easier time keeping your property occupied and filling vacancies whenever they naturally form. Remain flexible and adaptable and keep improving your strategy to increase your profitability.
