Top 3 Ways to Be an Awesome Landlord

One of the best ways to be financially independent is to own real estate. Renting your own property makes money each month but also reduces debt. And don’t forget, your property increases in value over time! Most millionaires in the world today made their money via real estate. So what are the best ways to be an awesome landlord?

Photo of a home in Clifton Louisville Kentucky by Tre Pryor
Rental properties come in all shapes and sizes. How you treat your clients can also be customized. | Photo by Tre Pryor

Being a landlord isn’t always easy. But it is an excellent, proven business strategy. The key is to be a great landlord, and that way, your tenants will stay longer, plus they’ll take better care of your property. Here are the top three ways you can do exactly that. 

1. Customize the Lease 

Once you have got your property ready to rent out and you’ve advertised the fact, it’s smart to create a lease that works for both parties. You can use and download templates, but these are very general, and they won’t take everything into account that you might need to.

By taking one of these standard leases or speaking to your real estate agent or property manager, you should add specific clauses that relate to you and your tenants. In that way, they know you are taking care of them right from the start, and you know that your property is better protected. 

The customizations might include the tenant being allowed pets, or one specific pet, for example, or it could talk about who is responsible for the maintenance of specific items. The tenant will have their own ideas when they have seen the property and know what they want to do with it, and you’ll know what you’re comfortable with. You should be able to come to a compromise that works well for all parties. 

2. Allow Changes to the Property 

It’s not uncommon for a tenant to want to make changes to their rental property. But most of the time that’s not allowed as a strict rule. But one of the best ways to be an awesome landlord is to judge each request on its own merit. For example, say yes when it comes to certain bathroom updates or installing security tech from mosquitoloiteringsolutions.com. But say no to peculiar requests like adding a skylight or most renovations that the tenant wants to do the work themselves.

It’s a balancing act between what adds value to the property with what makes the tenant happy.

Simple changes like swapping out a light fixture might be acceptable as long as the tenant pays to have it swapped back prior to leaving. By allowing the tenant to treat the property as theirs, they will be more comfortable, take better care of it overall, and stay for longer, saving you any lost rental income while you search for someone new

3. Make Repairs in a Timely Manner 

Here’s a big one! If something isn’t working the way it should fix it… fast! Your tenant might welcome making any small repairs around the house. Anything they don’t want to try and repairs are almost always the landlord’s responsibility. This is the way most leases will be written.

One of the benefits of renting over buying a property is that the tenant doesn’t have to worry about big problems like the furnace breaking down, a burst pipe, or other big maintenance issues. This is the landlord’s responsibility. Want to be an incredible landlord, then make the repairs quickly? You remove the problem and the tenant will be impressed.

Tre Pryor, Realtor

Tre Pryor is the leading real estate expert in the city of Louisville. He is a multi-million dollar producer and consistently ranks in the top 1% of Louisville Realtors for homes sold. Tre Pryor has the highest possible rating—5.0 stars on Google—by his clients and is routinely interviewed by the local NBC news. Tre Pryor is a member of the RE/MAX Hall of Fame.