How to Manage your Rental Property the Easy Way

In one of our previous articles, The Myth of Property Prices Growth, we discussed the great returns that property generates.

But for a rental property to be successful, it has to be managed correctly. Luckily, this is not difficult, but it has to be done right. We always encourage property investors to use a property managing agent to manage their rental properties for them, unless it is something they want to do full-time.

A managing agent does not only find tenants for you, but they also do the following:

Vetting is especially important to find the correct tenant because if it is done properly, you will most likely not have any problems. However, if it is done poorly, it is likely that you will have troubles with your tenant. Proper vetting includes doing credit checks, checking criminal records, obtaining references from previous landlords and checking their income level. P.S. The market norm is that a household’s income should be at least three times the rent of a property. Property managers do all this for a reasonable fee, which I pay with a smile since it gives me time to find other great investment properties! Bad tenants are a much smaller risk than most people think. According to TPN, only 3,86% of tenants don’t pay their rent in the rental range of R7 000 to R12 000, and only 3,92% don’t pay in the rental range of R3 000 to R7 000. These are great statistics to remember and are the average, which includes those tenants who are not properly vetted. This means you can do even better than this! Remember, there will be a month here and there that the property will be vacant or where you will have to spend a month’s rent on maintenance. As discussed in The Myth of Property Prices Growth article, one should work on 10 months’ rent and budget one month for vacancy and one month for maintenance. But the returns will make it all worthwhile if you have the right tenant! So, next time you are worried about finding the right tenant and how you should manage your rental property, remember, keep calm and hire a property manager!