How to Maximize Your McKinney Rental With These Top Landlord Tips

Becoming an excellent landlord in McKinney is a process: the job requires a variety of different skills, including patience with yourself as you learn on the job. 

Don't be too hard on yourself! If you've made some mistakes, it's part of the process. Many new landlords jump into owning a rental property without any previous experience when it comes to providing property maintenance or managing tenants.

Seasoned landlords started at the beginning and improved their skills along the way—including learning from mistakes. 

Learning from expert property management companies in McKinney can help you become a better landlord without as much trial and error. Check out these helpful tips and tricks for owning a successful McKinney rental property, and start maximizing your long-term wealth!

1. Your Tenants Are Not Your Friends

Landlords should be friendly "to" tenants, but not "with" them. To maintain an excellent tenant-landlord relationship, keep things professional: your relationship with your tenants is ultimately a business arrangement. 

Set an appropriate standard of boundaries with all tenants. You'll find times when a bit of leniency and grace is appropriate, but stay within the boundaries of a professional landlord-tenant relationship:

• Consistently enforce the rules in the lease 
• Apply penalties for late rent payments
• Hold tenants accountable for property damage they cause.

Be sure you also provide excellent service to your tenants! A good tenant relationship starts with finding the right tenants through thorough screening—and serving them well as a landlord. 

2. Avoid Free Templates 

Managing a rental property requires a lot of paperwork: from applications to lease agreements and other critical documentation, it can be challenging to know where to start—and how to make sure your paperwork is legal.

You can find plenty of free online lease templates for rental properties. However, beware of getting what you "pay" for when using a free template. Prefabricated forms might not meet all of the legal requirements for owning rental property in McKinney.

Hire a lawyer or work with a property management company in McKinney to create the legal paperwork necessary to successfully operate your rental property. Your property manager can help you craft a set of leasing templates that meet local, state, and federal requirements for running a rental property that's above board.

Always be mindful of your expenses—but don't cut too many corners. It's not worth the risk to your investment property business to save a few bucks on free templates that might not meet legal requirements. 

3. Don't "Choose" Your Rental Rate

You might have a monthly rental rate in mind for your property—but if it doesn't have the support of market research, it could be the wrong rate. Setting the right rental price is less about "choosing," and more about finding the ideal rate to maximize your profits. 

• When the rent is too high, you won't find tenants who will pay that much to live in your property. You'll experience weeks—maybe months—of vacancy. When your property sits empty, you lose money. No rent-paying tenants mean no income for you. 
• When the rent is too low, you'll lose money every month—even with tenants paying the rent. You might find tenants quickly—but you won't generate the profits you could make if your property had the right rental price. 

When you work with an expert property management company in McKinney, you gain access to local rental market research. Running a rental market analysis can help you find the best rate for your property. With that information, the choice becomes clear about the sweet spot for your rental rate.

4. Screen Every Potential Tenant

After a while, potential tenants and applications can begin to all look alike. You might like some things about one potential tenant, but another possible renter has some good qualities, too. How can you decide?

Placing the best tenant in your property can't simply be focused around what you like about one tenant versus another. The tenant selection process must be fair to all applicants. No matter how frustrating, tedious, or time-consuming it might seem, it's critical to screen every potential tenant—before placing anyone in your rental property.

• Document your criteria for the "ideal" tenant before you accept applications.
• Use the same screening process for credit history, proof of employment, income verification, and references for every applicant. 
• Choose the tenant that qualifies and best matches your pre-determined criteria.

Finding the right tenant is as much about choosing the best as it is about excluding the worst options. With a fair, thorough process, you'll reduce the potential of putting a bad tenant in your rental property—and shield yourself from the risks of bias.

Property Managers Know Every Tip and Trick!

If you're feeling overwhelmed at the end of our quick tips for landlords, that's okay! Being a landlord isn't an easy job: it's a lot of work and requires patience and course-correcting when things don't go as planned. 

The best way to master every landlord tip and trick is to hire the best property management company in McKinney! RentHub Property Management has seen and done it all! We pair technology-driven property management with the local expertise you need to help you avoid landlord mistakes the first time—and enjoy a profitable rental property.

Want to start working with us for free? Contact RentHub for your FREE rental analysis! This powerful tool contains the market research you need to pinpoint your perfect rent from the start—before a tenant ever steps foot in your McKinney rental property. Your rate sets the stage for the rest of your property's lifecycle: you don't have the time to waste to get it right. Reach out to us today to start maximizing your McKinney investment home!

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