The longer your Chesapeake rental property sits empty, the more money you lose as an investor. Vacant properties can become an expensive problem when property owners struggle to find new residents when a lease term ends.
If you're not generating the money you need from your properties, take a look at your vacancy cycles. When renters don't renew a lease and weeks (or months) pass before you can replace them, your bottom line suffers! However, while solving this problem isn't always easy, shorter vacancy cycles can make a significant improvement in your profits.
Cutting corners during your renter screening process isn't the right answer to reduce vacancies—but we have some better solutions for you. Keep reading to learn expert insight from Chesapeake property management on how to achieve shorter vacancy timeframes!
Improve Resident Retention
If your property is never empty, you have an excellent "vacancy" cycle! While you can't count on your best resident to stay forever, helping them stay longer resolves a vacancy issue and enables you to make more money.
- Rental properties are attractive to people who don't want the responsibilities of homeownership.
- Your current or future residents don't want to deal with property maintenance or taxes.
- They do want to pay the rent—and let you handle all of the property details and significant upkeep.
However, renters won't stay when they don't feel like they're getting their rental money's worth out of your property and services. Improving renter retention starts by reviewing your processes and services and working hard to make residents happy and willing to renew their lease!
If this isn't something you feel comfortable handling on your own, then it's a smart decision to work with a Chesapeake property management expert like Renters Warehouse to navigate these issues for you.
Be a Good Property Owner
They might seem obvious, but it's not easy to accomplish. Good residents appreciate a good property owner—but being a good property owner involves a lot of work!
Residents stay when they have a property owner who:
- Communicates well
- Fixes maintenance requests and issues on time—the first time
- Shows appreciation
- Makes it easy to pay the rent.
You don't need to be friends with your residents! However, maintaining a friendly, professional relationship and providing excellent management services goes a long way to improving resident retention.
Raise the Rent (When Appropriate)
Don't worry that keeping the same renter year after year means you can never raise the rent. In most cases, a well-timed and appropriate rental rate increase makes sense for your best residents—and they'll take it in stride when it's time to renew.
When you're an excellent property owner that offers quality service to your residents, the best ones will choose a small rate increase at lease renewal instead of the headaches and hassles of finding a new home and packing up to move.
Begin Renewals Sooner Rather Than Later
Are you keeping track of your resident lease terms? If not, you're reducing the amount of time you have to find a new renter if your current resident decides not to renew.
- Set up an alert for each current lease at 90 days before the term ends.
- At that time, talk with your resident about the terms of a renewed lease and their plans to stay.
- If they opt not to renew, you have two to three months to find a new quality renter without losing money on an empty property between renters.
Choose a Chesapeake Property Manager
Expert property management is one of the best ways to keep residents longer and reduce vacancy timeframes. We're motivated leasing agents! Rent Estate™ Advisors don't get paid for property management services until we find a new (quality) renter that signs a lease for your property.
With professional Chesapeake property management, you have a well-oiled leasing machine to help keep vacancy cycles to a minimum. Property owners don't deal with any of the stress involved with the leasing process!
Property managers:
- Plan ahead for lease renewals or a new renter search
- Provide the best quality services to make your residents feel at home
- Have processes in place that make it easy for renters to sign a new lease or renew
- Apply professional listing and marketing strategies to help your property attract better renters—faster.
It's not easy to navigate renter satisfaction and vacancy cycles without the right processes and experience to serve residents while protecting the bottom line of your investments. Property management is the best way for investors to never deal with long stretches of time (and significant amounts of lost income) because of a vacant property.
Chesapeake Property Management Keeps Renters in Your Property
Dealing with a revolving door of renters means investors lose money. Without monthly rental payments—every month—you're not getting the most out of your investments.
The professional Rent Estate™ Advisors of Renters Warehouse Hampton Roads can help you stop the financial drain from an empty property. Our expert Chesapeake property management services keep your residents happy—so you make more money!
Learn more about choosing the right property management partner with your free copy of our Guide to Finding the Best Property Manager in Hampton Roads, Virginia!
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