Buying an investment home that you plan to rent out can be a great way to earn some extra money and provide yourself some financial security for the future. Unfortunately, it's not always easy to do. You might find yourself doing more work on the home than you had expected. Unruly tenants can make keeping the house nice difficult. Here, you'll find a few tips to help ensure that your rental property is cared for by each tenant living there.
Include Trash Removal Services in the Rent
One thing that can destroy a home very quickly is trash lying about. This becomes a real problem when the tenants don't feel the need to pay for trash removal. Rather than getting rid of the trash that's built up over the past week, they put it outside where the wildlife can get into it. Soon, rats, raccoons, opossums, or even bears can begin making regular visits to the trash pile, and eventually, the smaller rodents will move into the house looking for another source of food and shelter.
You may want to include the trash removal service in the cost of rent and provide trash cans if the trash removal company doesn't. You don't want the tenants to have any excuse as to why they can't keep up with removing the trash from the home and property that they're renting.
Schedule Yearly Cleaning Services
If you're lucky, you'll find tenants that rent the home for years before having to find a new tenant. So, instead of having the home deep cleaned between tenants, you need to be prepared to keep up with the deep cleaning while you have tenants living in the home.
Schedule these services in advance so that you can inform the tenant of when to expect them to be done. Things like carpet cleanings, drain cleanings, HVAC maintenance, and gutter cleanings can all be scheduled well in advance. Include these dates on the lease and the tenant won't be able to argue that they weren't aware of the service coming up.
A week before the services are to be completed, contact the tenant and give them a bit of notice — it can be inconvenient for the tenant, but it is necessary to keep the home as clean and healthy as possible.
Don't give a tenant any excuses to destroy your home. These tips will help you and the tenant to keep up with the regular care and cleaning of the home.
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