Landlords are responsible for providing a safe and habitable property to the tenants who rent the home. We believe that if you under-promise and over-deliver, you’ll have appreciative tenants who are willing to pay rent on time, help you maintain the home, and follow the terms of the lease agreement.
Some landlords are satisfied in doing the bare minimum. In our professional property management experience, we’ve found that providing an exceptional rental experience to your residents will benefit you as much as it benefits them. Vacancy and turnover are expensive. Keep your tenants happy and take your responsibilities seriously.
Communication and Transparency
Your first responsibility as a landlord is to develop and maintain a trusting and respectful relationship with your tenants. You don’t want to become friends or get too close emotionally; that will make it difficult to enforce the lease. However, you do want to relate to them professionally. They have to trust you, and that trust is earned through communication and transparency.
Be responsive and informative. Discuss the lease in detail so they know what their responsibilities are during the tenancy and what you expect from them. Keep yourself available and accessible in case they have questions or run into problems.
Landlord Maintenance Responsibilities
Tenants will expect to move into a home that’s safe and functional. Before they move in, conduct a thorough inspection to look for any deferred maintenance or issues that may jeopardize your resident’s health and safety.
This includes:
Checking for potential leaks and plumbing issues with sinks, toilets, and tubs.
Testing each appliance to make sure it works.
Plugging something into each outlet to make sure the electricity works.
Inspecting exterior lighting.
Checking that the doors and windows lock, open, and close properly.
Trimming away any hedges, trees, or bushes that impede a tenant’s view of the outside.
Looking for hazards like loose railings or broken steps.
Installing and testing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.
If something goes wrong at the property, be prepared to respond immediately. Tenants will need to know how to get in touch with you or your property managers. Make sure they understand the process of identifying and reporting an emergency. A clogged drain does not require a phone call in the middle of the night, but a leak from a burst pipe that is flooding the home certainly does.
Landlords are also responsible for taking care of general issues around the home that are deteriorating or breaking down due to wear and tear. Your residents will be responsible for anything they damage, including problems that occur due to misuse or neglect. But, if something breaks because it’s old, you are the party responsible for making the repair.
Finally, pay attention to preventative maintenance. Protecting the condition of your rental property is a major responsibility, and one that comes with financial rewards. Have your major heating and cooling systems inspected and serviced annually. Make sure the landscaping and the pest control are taken care of routinely.
Many landlords don’t have the time, expertise, or resources to manage everything that’s required of them when leasing a home. We can help. Contact our team at Harcourts Avanti.
Harcourts Avanti is a full-service property management company that manages long term as well as vacation rentals in Del Mar, Encinitas, Carlsbad, Cardiff, Carmel Valley, Solana Beach, and the surrounding San Diego areas.