7 Rewarding New Years Goals for Your Rental Property

The New Year is the perfect time to think about your goals and resolutions for the year to come. We reflect on the year we just finished and decide how we can do better. But don't stop there. Instead of just being hopeful for the new year, set a few real goals and New Years resolutions to inspire yourself to take specific steps to reach your goals. For property owners who rent residential homes (one or more), now is a great time to set a few property management goals for the new year. Resolve to do one or more of your landlordly duties better than you did last year, with a results-based goal you can easily meet if you try.

The best way to reach your goals is to take steps to make them happen. So this year, let's dive into our seven top New Years resolutions for rental property: 

1) Keeping the Home Occupied with Paying Tenants

It's not as easy as it sounds to keep a rental home occupied all or most of the time. When a tenant moves on, the turnover process and attracting new tenants can be a challenge. This year, resolve to overcome that challenge and keep your house or houses occupied with paying tenants all or most of the year.

Keeping a steady occupancy is all about planning ahead. You will want to hold onto good long-term tenants by keeping them happy and attract new reliable tenants who might become long-term given a chance. If you have a seasonal rental like a vacation or college campus home, then plan your occupancy calendar around the usual times of year. Plan ahead for expected turnover and try to line up tenants to move in soon after any departing tenants move out.

2) Responding Promptly to Tenant Requests

As the landlord, it falls on you (and your team) to respond to any tenant calls or emails. When a tenant gets in touch, they need to hear an answer quickly. Any requested repairs should be taken care of as promptly as possible. This is not just courtesy, it's also the law. Of course, you also have a personal life and career to see to. 

This year, resolve to stay attentive to your tenants and arrange for any needs with respectful quickness. You will be taking good care of your property(ies) and keeping your tenants happy at the same time. Quick responses can answer questions, avoid conflicts, and ensure that all maintenance issues are dealt with before the problem worsens.

3) Staying Ahead of Property Maintenance

Every home needs a little bit of annual maintenance - and some you can't expect tenants to take care of. This is the first of two reasons to conduct biannual (twice a year) inspections and provide appropriate maintenance services. It's also extremely common for property owners to be more hands-off, but also to fall behind on routine repairs.

For your New Year's Resolution on rental property, resolve to stay ahead of maintenance. Take care of any lingering little problems like the squeaky step or flickering laundry-room light. Pre-schedule repainting the house, putting on new siding, or roof work with tenants so these tasks are taken care of and your tenants can plan their year accordingly. This year, you can check off your maintenance list in a friendly way by planning way ahead. Forget nothing, and get the appreciation of tenants in a well-maintained home.

4) Improve the Landscaping and Yard Maintenance

What does your rental property yard look like? Most homes have a simple stretch of grass, a tree or two, and perhaps a stretch of under-managed flowerbeds. But you could do better. Your rental home(s) could have a desirable yard all year, if you landscape and/or provide maintenance services. Not all tenants can be expected to take care of mowing the lawn or tending flowerbeds, and it's a rare tenant who takes joy in lawn management. 

So this year, take over the yards for any home where tenants do not expressly want to garden. Offer a regular mowing if grass length is an issue or xeriscape with decorative rocks and cacti to simplify matters into something low-maintenance and beautiful.

5) Remodel or Upgrade the Home for Better Rent

You may be looking for a resolution that will help you raise both rent and desirability. That answer lies in upgrades and remodeling. By improving the home beyond a simple routine-maintenance and fresh paint, you can attract tenants willing to pay more for the home. Kitchen updates, for example, are among the top ROI projects for both selling and renting homes, because a modern well-designed kitchen becomes the centerpoint of family life.

If you have some remodeling or upgrade work waiting to be done, resolve to take care of it this year. If you have a property under-performing for the neighborhood and curb appeal, this may be the perfect year for a home-improvement-project resolution.

6) Enact Fast, Efficient Tenant Turnover

This year, reflect on your process for transitioning between tenants. How do you close matters and clean house from the previous tenant? How do you prepare the home to be more inviting than it was the last listing? How do you attract, screen, and decide on the next tenant? 

The fact is that we can always streamline this process further. Resolve to find the delays and opportunities in your process to get even faster at tenant turnover. The best turnovers are done by practiced landlords and property managers. A great tenant turnover ticks like clockwork starting from the moment of notice for non-lease-renewal. 

As soon as you know a tenant will be moving on, put your plan into action. Get your house listings up and attracting applicants early. Then enact a smooth plan for cleaning, repairing, staging, photographing, and marketing the home once it is vacant. Your goal is to spend less than two months with the house vacant and not gathering rent for self-maintenance. It is possible, all you need is planning and practice.

7) Improve or Provide an Online Tenant Portal

Finally, there's the technology resolution. If you are not already using an online tenant portal for rent payment, repair requests, and communication, then this is the year. Tenant portals are the cutting edge of convenience for both tenants and landlords, with a shared and isolated platform for doing house-related business so that emails can't be 'lost in the stack' and rent is always submitted the right way.

Modern tenants already view a tenant portal as a good sign for a modern, on-the-ball landlord. With recent events and remote being the new way to do everything, a tenant portal can also help you stay connected and responsive while minimizing in-person meetings with your residents.

There are several ways to get your properties and tenants hooked into a handy online portal. You can get out-of-the-box software, hire a dev, or join a property management team with their own portal.

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Joining Teams with Century 21 Property Management

Most of the time, we pick one or two big resolutions for New Years. But with the right team on your side, you could make all these resolutions for your rental properties and meet them easily by next year. Here at Century 21 Americana Property Management, we can help you do all these things as your new team of property management pros. From our online tenant portal to making the turnover process easy, property management could be exactly what your rental business needs. In the spirit of the new year, we are offering 5% off the first 12 months for new landlord clients. You can count on Century 21 to help meet your New Years goals for your rental property.