As a landlord, it’s your right to collect fair rents on turnkey rental properties. When your tenant signs their lease, they agree to pay you a certain amount on a certain date over a certain period of time. In exchange for that commitment, your responsibility as a landlord is to do what’s in your power to ensure that the property is inhabitable and even comfortable. It may not be expressly stated in the leasing agreement, but it’s certainly something that tenants expect. Good landlords meet those responsibilities. Great landlords add value for their tenants.

 

The Benefits of Adding Value For Your Tenants

 

Prospective tenants definitely consider all the aspects of renting a certain property. Depending upon the rental market where your turnkey rental is located, there may either be a surplus of available rentals or a surplus of prospective tenants. The more rentals that are available, the choosier a quality tenant can be. If you add value for your tenants, you’ll be able to attract higher quality tenants, charge higher rents and enjoy consistent returns with fewer vacancies. After all, a happy tenant is much more likely to stay where they are than to give their notice and move elsewhere. Following are some ways to add value for your tenants:

 

Hire a Property Management Company

 

Prospective tenants are typically happier when there is a property management company overseeing the turnkey rental. To tenants, this means that they are more likely to receive timely attention to any issues, and that everything will be handled in a professional manner. This in itself is often the reason why some people will choose one rental over another. This is also why MartelTurnkey sells turnkey rentals that already have a property manager (PM) already in place. It makes the rental experience easier for our investors and nicer for your tenants. 

 

Offer Online Payments

 

The ability to pay rent online is a huge convenience for working tenants busy with family responsibilities and other commitments. Not many people relish having to trek to the bank on the first of each month or trying to time the arrival of their rent check through the postal service. Online payment capability usually allows the tenant to pay rent through a variety of means, sometimes including credit card payments. If you have a property management company in place, they probably already offer a tenant portal where tenants can pay rent online. If you don’t have a PM, consider offering online payments another way. There are paid software solutions online that offer this service. Your tenants will appreciate it. And, there is some evidence showing that online payment portals lead to more timely rent payments, so there’s added value for the landlord, too.

 

Be Responsive

 

If you have a PM in place, all of your tenant inquiries go through the PM. You never have to be directly interrupted by tenant communications. If it’s something the PM can handle, they will do so without bothering you. If it’s something that requires your attention, you’ll receive notification from your PM. When you do receive communication from your PM, it helps if you can respond as soon as possible. Without your input on such matters, the PM can’t act on the tenant issue. The longer your PM has to wait on your reply, the longer the tenant has to wait to hear back about their issue. So you can add value for your tenants by being responsive to your PM; all without ever having to communicate directly with your tenant.

 

Keep a Cash Reserve

 

Every landlord appreciates the positive cash flow of a MartelTurnkey rental property. Having that extra income each month helps to build wealth over time. You can use those profits to save for another turnkey rental investment or for anything else your family may need. However, it’s wise to keep a cash reserve on hand to pay for unexpected expenses on your rental property. Remember, MartelTurnkey properties are renovated before we sell them to our investors. If a property plainly needs something like a new roof or driveway repaving, we take care of it before we hand over the keys. That’s one way that we add value for you, our investor. But things do happen over time that may require a cash outlay. For example, let’s say that a water heater malfunctions and causes water damage. As a diligent rental property owner, you have insurance that will cover it. But in the meantime, your tenant needs a new water heater. They shouldn’t have to wait until the insurance claim goes through before they can have hot water again. If you keep a cash reserve, you can get the tenant a new hot water heater in a day or two and then just get reimbursed when the insurance check comes in. This is how keeping a cash reserve adds value for your tenants!

 

You don’t have to believe in Karma to recognize that adding value for tenants adds value to landlords. Owning rental property comes with tremendous benefits, year after year. But if you can add value to tenants’ lives in small ways, that’s worth its weight in gold. At MartelTurnkey, we like to do whatever we can to add value to our investors. We can tell you with certainty that it pays off!