Rental Documents Every Landlord Should Have

A handful of tasks go into being a landlord — you’ll need to advertise your rental listing, screen prospective tenants, collect rent payments, turnover an apartment, and much more. 

While some landlords opt for hiring a property manager to help, you can easily do everything yourself with the right rental documents and tools. Here are the top 10 rental documents that are essential for managing a rental property. 

1. Pre-Screening Questionnaire

A pre-screening questionnaire can help you filter through tenant leads to determine which are worth pursuing before scheduling a property showing. The questionnaire can highlight if a person meets the income requirements, is willing to submit a rental application, and can pay the rental application fee. 

2. Online Rental Application

After conducting a property showing with a prospective tenant, it’s important to have them complete an online rental application to better understand their renting history, credit usage, and more. 

3. Prospective Tenant Acceptance and Rejection Letter

As a landlord, it’s advised to let applicants know whether or not their application has been accepted or denied. If you’ve accepted an application through Avail, your new tenant will automatically be emailed with the news, as well as next steps. 

However, tenants will also need to be properly notified when their application has been rejected. A prospective tenant rejection letter can clearly outline why their application has been denied in a friendly manner.

4. State-Specific Lease Agreement

One of the top rental property forms every landlord needs is an online lease agreement that’s state-specific and reviewed by a lawyer. When using Avail to manage your rentals, you can easily access lease agreement templates that have already been reviewed by a team of trusted lawyers and include all the information required by local ordinances. 

Our lease agreements can also be digitally signed for free and saved to your account for both parties to reference throughout the lease term. 

5. Tenant Welcome Letter

Providing a welcome letter to your new tenant can make the moving process less overwhelming, especially if they’re new to the neighborhood. A tenant welcome letter outlines the utilities they’re responsible for covering, your contact information, answers to commonly asked questions, and local places to visit. 

Although it’s not required to provide tenants with a welcome letter, it’s a nice gesture that can position you as an awesome landlord.

6. Move-In and Move-Out Checklist

Similar to a tenant welcome letter, a move-in and move-out checklist lets your tenant know what to check to ensure everything in the property is functioning properly. It also makes it easier to identify what needs to be fixed or replaced either before or after the tenant has moved out. 

7. Lease Renewal Letter

To avoid long vacancy periods and high apartment turnover costs, you can offer lease renewal options to your tenants 30 to 60 days before the lease term ends. It can also act as proof that renewal options were presented to the tenant, even if they choose not to renew. 

8. Security Deposit Return Letter

If you collected security deposit fees from your tenants, you’ll need to provide a security deposit return letter within a certain period. A security deposit return letter outlines the amount you collected, the rental property address, any deductions you took, and when it was returned. 

9. Rent Roll Template  

A rent roll template is the key to organizing any generated income from your rental properties. When collecting rent with Avail, a rent roll report is automatically generated that outlines all the rental payments that have been collected from your tenants. The report can then be exported as an excel spreadsheet to share with your accountant during tax season.

10. Apartment Turnover Checklist

There will be times when you’ll need to turnover an apartment once it’s time to find a new tenant, and an apartment turnover checklist will help. This process can be overwhelming as a first-time landlord, but having a checklist on hand that outlines the most important steps can reduce the stress. 

Looking for an Experienced Residential Property Manager?

If you have a home to rent in the Orlando area be assured there is no substitute for experience. Covering Clermont, Winter Garden, Windermere, Dr Philips, Kissimmee, Davenport, Champions Gate, Hunters Creek and Haines City. We remain focused on this greater Orlando area to ensure we are able to provide outstanding service to our Clients without sacrificing performance. Looking for an experienced residential Property Manager in the Orlando area with a demonstrable track record – look no further.

Call us today to find out more (863) 424-2309

7 Things to Know About Long-Distance Real Estate Investing

Not all neighborhoods offer properties that can help generate passive income through rent payments, but long-distance real estate investing can help you get around that. Thanks to the internet and smartphones, it’s now easier than ever to purchase a property in a different state and manage your properties remotely. 

However, remote real estate investing needs to be treated differently than managing a local rental property, since there’s a higher risk involved. That’s why we outlined seven things to know about long-distance real estate investing to keep in mind when getting started in real estate.

7 Tips for Long-Distance Real Estate Investing

Long-distance real estate investing is a great way to get started in real estate if you live in an area with low demand for rentals. However, there are more risks associated with managing a rental remotely, since you’re not able to be as present as the landlord. 

To help you along the process, here are seven tips on remote real estate investing that are important to keep in mind.

1. Research Markets You’re Interested in

Research markets you’re interested in to check the demand for rentals and the types of properties available. Rental reports, like the Realtor.com® Rental Housing Forecast, share insights on rental market trends and predictions that landlords, tenants, and real estate investors can expect in the upcoming year. 

There are also certain things you’ll want to look out for in a rental property, such as property taxes, local schools, average rents, amenities, and property history before looking to buy. By researching markets you’re interested in and the current rental market, you can get a better understanding of which markets are worth investing in. 

2. Check Your Property’s Profitability

Finding a rental property that meets your criteria is just the first step of real estate investing. You’ll also want to make sure the property can help generate passive income that can cover operating expenses or other property-related costs. 

After totaling your operating expenses and determining a rent price, use a rental property calculator to see if the property you’re interested in would be profitable.

3. Find Reliable Contractors

The key to long-distance real estate investing is finding a team of reliable contractors that can help fix maintenance issues or be the go-to person for your tenants. Platforms like Yelp, Thumbtack, and TaskRabbit are good resources to use to find highly-rated contractors to rely on. 

You can also hire a property manager close to the property to manage all maintenance and repair issues. If you do decide to hire a property manager, you’ll want to ensure they’re aware of local landlord-tenant laws and local ordinances they’ll need to abide by when managing your tenants. 

4. Implement a Solid Tenant Screening Process

Implementing a strong tenant screening process increases the likelihood of finding a tenant that pays rent on time and takes care of your property. You can request a rental application, credit check, criminal check, and eviction check to get a full picture on prospective tenants. Some states restrict exactly how much a landlord can screen a tenant, so make sure the process you implement does not violate local regulations. 

5. Request Videos and Photos of the Property

Thanks to smartphones, you can now request videos and photos of your property from your tenants throughout the lease term. Videos and photos allow you to see the current state of your property or get a better look at maintenance issues. However, it’s important to never rely solely on videos and photos since they can be easily manipulated by the sender. 

6. Schedule Annual Visits 

It’s important to schedule a visit at least once a year to get a closer look at the current state of your rental. Most states do not allow the landlord to show up to the property without proper notice, so your tenants will need to be notified before the visit.

During the visit, you can thoroughly check your property and ask your tenants about any issues they may be experiencing.

Looking for an Experienced Residential Property Manager?

If you have a home to rent in the Orlando area be assured there is no substitute for experience. Covering Clermont, Winter Garden, Windermere, Dr Philips, Kissimmee, Davenport, Champions Gate, Hunters Creek and Haines City. We remain focused on this greater Orlando area to ensure we are able to provide outstanding service to our Clients without sacrificing performance. Looking for an experienced residential Property Manager in the Orlando area with a demonstrable track record – look no further.

Call us today to find out more (863) 424-2309

There is no right or wrong way to find investment properties, but knowing how to find investment properties can speed up the process of establishing your business.

In this article, we share the four best ways to find investment properties for sale near you and what to look out for before deciding to purchase a property.

How to Find Rental Properties for Sale Near Me

The key to finding your next rental property is knowing where to look for available properties and the different options real estate investors can explore. We outlined four methods you can use to discover rental properties for sale near you.

1. Work With a Realtor

According to the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), more than half of Americans that handled the property search on their own experienced the most difficulty in finding the right property. For this reason, many opt to work with a trusted Realtor to help find properties that meet their criteria.

Hiring a Realtor can be highly beneficial when searching for investment properties, especially if this is the first one in your portfolio. They can identify off-market listings — properties that are for sale but have not been listed online by the seller — which can help you find prime properties before other real estate investors. There are also Realtors that have special credentials in negotiating that can help reduce the asking price or get you an overall better deal on the property.

The experience. The tools. The know-how. As your local full service RE/MAX® Bardell Real Estate team, we make it our top priority to make the process of buying and selling a home as simple and as stress-free as possible. No one knows the area better than our trusted real estate professionals who live and work in our local communities. Please don’t hesitate to contact us today!

2. Find Local Wholesalers

A real estate wholesaler is someone that works directly with potential sellers that has negotiated an exclusive right to purchase the property. They then assign the contract to a buyer at a higher price point to make a profit. They can typically be found online or be referred to you by a real estate professional.

Since this method of finding investment properties does not readily provide background information on a property, you may want to analyze the rate of return on the property before purchasing.

3. Buy From a Courthouse Auction

Foreclosure properties and those going through tax sale are typically required to go to a public auction, which can be another great way to find off-market listings below market value. Depending on where you live, you may need to go to an auction in-person or virtually depending on how courthouse auctions are handled near you.

It’s advised to have money set aside to handle renovations, major home repairs, and cover other expenses for these types of properties since they typically require more work to prepare for renting.

4. Directly Connect With a Seller

If you come across a property in your area, then you can connect with the seller directly to learn more information on the property, the asking price, and potential buying options. This could especially help if you’re planning on buying a property without a Realtor.

But if you’re still familiarizing yourself with real estate investing, you may want to consider looping in a real estate professional to ensure the right questions on the property are being asked, you have information on the property, and the asking price is fair.

What to Look for in Investment Properties

Finding investment properties is only one step of the buying process — the next step is knowing what to look for in investment properties. When it comes to investment properties, here are a few things to look for to ensure the property can help generate income each month:

• Neighborhood: Tenants prefer rentals that are close to recreational parks, public transportation, and grocery stores. It’ll also help if the property is close to schools or college institutions.
• Local rental demand: There should be a local demand for rental properties to avoid long vacancies and make a profit through your rental property.
• Amenities: The more a unit can offer a tenant, the easier it will be to generate tenant interest and charge a rent price that can ensure you make a profit each month.
• Property taxes: Every city varies in how much property taxes are, with some being higher than others.

Source

Experts in Residential Real Estate in Orlando

If you are buying or selling real estate it’s quiet often the single most important financial decision you make. For the last 30 years we have helped clients buying and selling property in Orlando and the surrounding areas. Put simply, this means the knowledge and expertise accumulated over this time ensures our clients get the best representation possible.

Our experienced agents will help and guide you through the entire process providing valuable support every step of the way.