Being a landlord can be both fulfilling and lucrative, here are some tips for becoming a successful landlord and getting the most out of your properties. 

Communication

Open lines of communication are useful in times of emergency as well as for simple questions and requests. 

Ensure that you’re easy to deal with, do not be over bearing or unreasonable while communicating with tenants. 

A good communicator will be as transparent as possible about the property; if there are issues with the property, the tenant should be aware of these issues before signing anything. 

Similarly, landlords should be honest about any previous issues with the property, pests, mould or faulty plumbing may reoccur in the future and tenants should be aware of this possibility. 

Landlords should have reliable and consistent communication with their property manager, and should be willing to listen to their advice, using their expertise as a tool. 

Distance 

A good landlord knows when to keep their distance. Bad landlords tend to be over bearing and spend too much time keeping track of tenants. 

Dropping in on tenants unannounced is unacceptable, and should never happen outside of emergency scenarios. Instead, a good landlord will keep their distance from their tenants, and have confidence in their property manager to do their job. 

It can be equally bad to become too distant, not only can this be a headache for tenants, but the property may fall unto disrepair if you don’t have a property manager taking care of your property. 

A landlord should be willing to join their property manager on inspections occasionally.  

Documentation

Verbal agreements are often unenforceable, and so it is important that landlords have all important agreements written in paper.  

Clearly written agreements ensure that responsibilities and expectations clearly defined from the beginning. 

In order to be a good landlord, you must have a working understanding of your legal obligations and responsibilities, acting in accordance with the laws of your area. 

Maintenance 

Landlords should take pride in their property regardless of the fact that they themselves will not be living there. The property ought to be well presented and a good landlord will be quick to act if maintenance is required. 

More important than tidiness is safety, tenant’s safety should be a landlord’s primary concern and so the property should be entirely safe before being put on the market. 

Any locks, alert or alarm systems should be in working order and potentially dangerous maintenance requests must be prioritised for repair. 

Customer service 

Renting is a business, and this business can only be profitable if rent payments are regular. In order to keep payments regular, a landlord needs to keep the customer (renter) happy. It is a lot easier to retain existing tenants than to find new ones. 

Although it can be easy to become sentimental about properties or tenants, it is important that you avoid letting your emotions guide your decisions. Instead, landlords should approach leasing a property as a business and take into consideration what is beneficial for this business, not just for you, personally.  

Be reasonable 

Being reasonable doesn’t mean letting your tenants get away with consistent late payments or property damage, but rather it is about being flexible based each individual scenario. 

It is easy to be rigid as a landlord and enforce no-exception rules, but a good landlord will listen to tenant requests. Take these requests seriously and consider how they will affect property value. 

As a landlord you have the unique opportunity to help your tenants if they fall on hard times. If an otherwise reliable and amicable tenant faces some personal hardship and cannot make a payment how you deal with this situation is entirely up to you. In these situations, you will need to communicate with your property manager or tenant directly to reach a decision. 

To avoid confusion in these situations it is wise to have a late payment policy in place from the beginning; this should take the stress out of late payments for both tenant and landlord.

It is important that you don’t discriminate when it comes to choosing your tenants, not only is it unethical, but it is illegal under Australian federal law. It is illegal to deny tenancy based upon race, religion, nationality, sex, origin, colour, disability or familial status.