Landlord Pain Points (and Tips for Getting Rid of Them!)

January 11, 2016

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Being a landlord can be very profitable, but it also comes with its own headaches. Landlords often share the same pain points, and those who have been there may have some great advice for landlords facing these pain points:

1. Stress

Issue: Managing properties can be a great source of stress. Landlords are responsible for finding and ensuring responsible tenants to respect their properties and contracts. For many landlords, this is their source of income, so making sure that the property is well maintained and the tenants are trustworthy is crucial. Additionally, landlords must be knowledgeable of legal processes and policies, which may affect how landlords can conduct their work.

Tip: Using AbodeStory to keep track of all documents, interactions, account information, and financial statements and balance sheets all in once place will greatly reduce stress.

2. Unstable or loss in Income

Issue: As mentioned, some landlords rely heavily on rent from their properties. It can be difficult to consistently have fully occupied properties. Alternatively, there are situations where tenants fail to make payments on time or at all, thus resulting in a loss in income.

Tip: First, screening tenant backgrounds and credit checks is crucial. Also gather previous landlord contact information and reach out to them. To reduce potential vacancies, be sure to post listings early and on multiple sources.

3. Tenant turnover

Issue: Many landlords will tell you about the difficulty in finding and preparing for new tenants to move in. It requires a large time commitment to do property showings, and a big effort to clean up each time after a tenant moves out.

Tip: Consider sweetening your deal if a current tenant is on the fence about renewing the lease. Otherwise, landlords can often reduce this pain point by posting listings early, and offering open-houses by scheduling digitally to efficiently schedule back to back showings.

4. Maintenance and Repairs

Issue: Landlords face repairs and maintenance issues often, and can be left with not knowing in which situations a contractor or professional is needed, or when the responsibility falls on the tenants.

Tip: Before tenants move in, outline which responsibilities for repairs fall on which party. Store these policies in your AbodeStory property page to refer to when necessary. AbodeStory greatly help landlords when it comes to managing this problem by finding reliable local professionals through the contractors feature, then managing in the “Maintenance” feature.

5. Insurance policy

Issue: New landlords also may have a hard time knowing the appropriate insurance policy necessary to insure the property appropriately against losses and lawsuits.

Tip: AbodeStory’s Knowledge Center is a great resource offering insurance basics regarding property insurance and renters insurance.

6. Finances and Taxes

Issue: Keeping track of incomes and expenses, calculating property values and property depreciations, as well as learning about the laws surrounding taxes on properties can be a huge chore for many landlords.

Tip: One option to consider is hiring a CPA to take care of the taxes. Additionally, to keep clear financial reports, use AbodeStory’s “Accounting” feature to keep track of incomes, expenses, security deposits, interest, etc. It will make landlord’s jobs much easier when it comes to handing over or taking care of taxes.

7. Knowledge and compliance with laws

Issue: This is a large pain point especially true for new landlords. It can be confusing to know which licenses or registrations are necessary to rent out properties, and what are the legal boundaries surrounding landlord-tenant relationships.