Upon last measurement, over 34% of Charlotte, NC's households were renters. That's a lot of people looking for their next rental home! Are you ready to provide it for them? 

Owning a rental property is a lot of work. Property management can be complicated, even if you only have one or two properties to fill.

We're here to talk about a few common property management mistakes that newcomers make so you can avoid them. Read on to learn more.

Not Keeping Up With Property Maintenance 

If you want to own and manage a rental property, you need to keep it well-maintained. Not only will this attract better tenants, but it will also keep your current tenants happy and might help you save money in the long run. 

You should either have a maintenance professional on call or be willing to do maintenance tasks on your own. This way, when a tenant contacts you with a maintenance request, you'll be able to take care of it right away. 

If you don't take care of tenant requests immediately, they won't be happy. Small maintenance issues can also turn into big ones when left unchecked.

You should also be doing routine maintenance and inspections. This is how you catch and prevent small maintenance issues and keep your property in great condition year-round. 

Not Screening Tenants

When you're trying to fill vacancies, it's normal to get a bit anxious. You may be tempted to just let anyone move in. This is a bad call.

The majority of people will be fantastic tenants, but not all of them. It only takes one bad tenant to ruin your property and your experience as a landlord. 

At the very least, you should make sure that your new tenants have reliable income (or another method of payment). The last thing you want is a tenant who is unable or unwilling to pay rent every month. 

Not Keeping Up With Fair Housing Laws

As a landlord, it's your responsibility to understand fair housing laws. Not knowing a law is not an excuse for breaking it, so you could find yourself in legal trouble if you're not careful.

If you're not confident that you know enough about local and federal laws, it's a good idea to get in touch with a property management service that can help you. 

Not Asking for Help If You Need It

Speaking of getting in touch with a property management company, one of the biggest mistakes that people make when they're renting out properties for the first time is trying to do it without help.

Landlords with only one property can get away with doing it alone as long as they don't have too many other responsibilities. Once you add more properties, or if you're trying to balance property investing with your day job, it gets harder.

When you hire a property management company, you're letting someone else take care of the difficult behind-the-scenes work so you can focus on what's important.

Don't Make These Property Management Mistakes

Don't catch yourself making these property management mistakes! If you want your property investment to be a success, keep this list in mind so you can stay on track.

See this link for four misconceptions about property marketing that you may be living under. https://www.carolinaspropertymanagement.com/blog/4-property-marketing-myths-that-you-are-probably-not-aware-of

Are you looking for help managing your rental property? At Carolina Property Management, our team is ready to help. Contact us to learn more today.

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