You’ve finally taken over the property, are calling yourself the landlord, are officially working in the field of commercial property management (or residential), and have begun advertising. Your primary mission is to get rid of those vacancies. Do whatever you can to get rid of those vacancies as soon as possible, right? Yes, but only under certain stipulations. You should follow a good commercial property management checklist. You need to exercise control and slow down; you don’t want to be one of those landlords who rushes into things and ends up with horrible tenants. Renting to tenants is like buying an appliance for your home, say, a stove. If you just rush in and buy a stove, you have no idea what you’re getting. You might be getting a really great stove! But, you might be getting a lousy one, which you only find out when you can’t heat up your food, as it doesn’t get hot enough. But, if you had taken some time, if you had read Consumer Reports, then you would find yourself buying a much better stove that will prove to give you little problems. So, if you exercise caution, slow down, and screen your tenants properly, you should end up with good tenants; therfore, you should end up with little problems.
So, how do you screen your tenants?
This is a good commercial property management checklist, which is borrowed from Leigh Robinson. This deals with residential property management, but it applies to commercial property management as well.
Gross income – four times rent
Income stability – at least six months with the same source of income
Assets- five times rent (bank account and automobile equity)
Credit – established, nothing negative
Credit Cards - one major credit card
Rent Punctuality - prompt, never late
Pets - none
Waterbed - one queen size OK
Vehicles – one auto, no motorcycles louder than an auto
Former landlord’s recommendations - good
Number of tenants – maximum of three
Attitude- cooperative
Smoking - no
Drinking – moderation (maximum of two drinks daily)
Illegal drug use - no
Permanence – at least six months in each of last two residences
Cleanliness - average
Interest in the dwelling – average to high (willing to pay more in rent than asked)
Here are steps during the tenant seeking process:
1 – prepare the dwelling for occupancy
2 – prequalify the prospects
3 – show the dwelling
4 – accept and scrutinize applications
5 – check references and qualify the applicants
6 – visit applicants’ current home
7 – review your rules, requirements, and policies
8 – fill out and sign the rental agreement
9 – request all monies or a hefty deposit
10 – create a record of the dwelling’s condition and contents
If you follow these steps and use the checklist above when screening tenants, you will almost always have excellent tenants. This process is not difficult, but very few landlords are willing to put in the time and energy to do it. It isn’t difficult, but it does take time and effort. However, think of it as an investment. You do like investing, don’t you? After all, you do own an investment property! The more time you put in now, the less time you’ll spend later. Problem tenants will always eat up more of your time than you will spend screening. It is always worth your while. Remember, too, that having vacancies is no excuse for accepting substandard quality tenants; commercial property management is not the place to take the easy road.
written by admin
\\ tags: auto, commercial property management checklist, credit, deposit, landlording, occupancy, pets, prospective tenants, quality tenants, rental agreement
 
Advertising is one of the most important things you can do as a landlord in the field of commercial property management. You simply must advertise. There are plenty of good people and businesses out there who all need a place to live or work; usually, there is no shortage of places. If you don’t take them in to your home or office, then somebody else will. YOU want to be sure that you are the one who is taking them. Otherwise, you might get stuck with bad tenants.
First thing you must do in commercial property management when looking to advertise your property is to walk outside and take a good look at your property. Does it look like junk? If it does, then you have your first advertising project in front of you. Make sure your property looks good. So often, prospective tenants will come to examine your property, but if the property looks bad, they will be turned away, even before entering the property. Nobody wants to live or work in a shoddy home or building. So, if your property looks bad, fix it up. Make it pretty. You don’t have to overdo this, but you should make it comparable to other properties in the area. In fact, it is disadvantageous to you to make it much more attractive than the average. It will cost you money and give you little gain. Fixing up property is truly one area in life where you should strive to be average.
So, you’re going to advertise. You have the internet, real estate agents (not all of them will help you find renters), bulletin boards, housing offices (at colleges and other various places), the newspaper, etc.
How do you construct your advertisement?
Use the KISS rule: Keep It Simple, Stupid.
You want your advertisements to be short and to the point. Few people enjoy reading long advertisements when they are pouring through more than a hundred of them. Also, your advertisement is going to cost you money (except for possibly on the internet), so the less lines you use, the better. Don’t use words like “call” or “phone” before you list your number. It’s obvious what the phone number is there for. You don’t need to say “for rent;” you can say “rent.” Dont say “off of main street;” say “main street,” or better yet, “main st.” You don’t even need to say bed/bath, just list the numbers. 3/2. People know this means three bedroom, two bath. Here is an example:
rent 3/2 Main st.
No pets. 555-555-5555
Remember, when you are advertising, make sure your property looks good, and keep your advertisements short and to the point.
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\\ tags: advertise, advertisement, bad tenants, bed/bath, fixing up property, for rent, KISS
You’ve finally taken over the building, and you’re ready to begin your landlording career. First order of business? Collect the tenant’s information. You need to know how to contact them.
Collecting information
First rule of thumb, smile. Be on high alert for any and all opportunities to smile. We will repeat this several times throughout this post.
Usually this process goes smoothly, so you usually have nothing to worry about. First, keep your cool. You are the boss, but don’t be a jerk about it. You need to be firm, but fair and friendly. When you meet them, be sure you are standing erect and carry confidence in your voice. If you lack confidence or are easily intimidated, landlording is not a career for you. You need to show confidence because the tenants won’t think that they can walk all over you. Also, people like it whentheir boss appears to know what he or she is doing, and that the boss has everything under control. You want them to trust you and to be able to rely on you, so you must appear this way. Smile.
Simply ask them for the information and let them give it to you. Sometimes, tenants may seem a bit suspicious at your asking all kinds of personal information. Explain to them the reasons why, gently. For instance, if you ask for their work or cell phone number, explain to them that you may need to contact them in a hurry, such as in the event of a stranger trying to get inside or a fire. Explain to them that you need their social security numbers so that you can report to the credit industries their good payment history. Also, this is for your protection, too, you must get their information, because you want to check their credit. You need to see if they are reliable and can be trusted with rent payments. This goes for both residential and business property management. Remember, be sure to smile.
If a client resists, try to let them know that it is for their own benefit. If they do not want to give out their phone numbers because they are afraid of telemarketers or getting unneccessary calls at odd hours, explain to them that you will take every precaution necessary to keep their number confidential. Smile.
Like we said before, usually this process goes smoothly. However, there are times when the tenants just simply won’t give you the information. This is more common among residential tenants than it is for businesses. Sometimes, though, small businesses, usually single person operations or private firms, will give you a hard time; larger firms usually operate fairly and won’t pose you any problem. When the tenants absolutely refuse to give you the information, don’t be too quick to get into an argument. Forget about fighting with them. It is better worth your energy and time to collect this information from elsewhere. Ask the previous landlord, check with the city, do whatever you need to do to find this information. It won’t be that difficult to collect their information from other sources.
When you get their information, store it away in a safe place. You’re ready to move on to the next step.
written by admin
\\ tags: businesses, collecting information, residential tenants, smile, smiling
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