For real estate investors renting out their Las Vegas Investment Properties it can be a very stressful situation.  They have to deal with tenants that don’t pay their rent, evictions, repairs issues, coordinating the repairs, finding tenants and HOA (homeowner association) complaints.  Even seasoned investors can find themselves in sticky situations that could have been prevented with a qualified property manager managing their property.

Property managers are the middlemen between the landlord and the tenant.  It takes the emotional side out of dealing with tenants who may be difficult, don’t pay rent on time or fail to maintain the property.  If repairs and maintenance needs to be done it is the property manager who takes care of it.  They make sure that the property is maintained and the rent gets collected.  It isn’t an easy decision to hire a property manager, but the situations below can help put the matter into perspective.

If you have many investment properties, it can be hard to keep things from falling through the cracks.  A property manager keeps everything organized and makes sure every property gets the attention it needs.  They will send a monthly accounting statement for each property that gives a break down of all the expenses and disperse rents.

If your time is limited it can be difficult to take care of all the tasks that need to be done when having a rental property.  A property manager frees up your time by handling the day to day activities of managing your rental property.

If you don’t live near your investment property, it is hard to keep an eye on the property.  A good property manager conducts frequent property inspections to ensure the property is being well maintained.

If you don’t want to deal with tenant phone calls at all hours of the day, hiring a property manager would make sense.  A property manager’s responsibility is to maintain communication with the tenant to ensure the tenant is content with the property.  A content tenant usually pays rent on time and maintains the property.

There is a lot involved with renting out an investment property.  If you find your don’t have the time or just don’t want to manage your investment property any longer, feel free to give North American Realty of Nevada a call at 702.376.7379 to discuss our Las Vegas Property Management services.

Being a landlord isn’t always as easy as it sounds, but these tips below will help make the process a little easier.

Make sure to have a written lease or rental agreement with all your tenants. Regardless if it is a month-to-month rental agreement or a long term lease agreement it needs to be documented in writing and signed by both parties.  Even if the tenant is a good friend or relative it is still necessary to protect yourself and have the agreement in writing.  Other important items to include in the contract would be when rent is due, late fees, eviction fees, pet policy, repair requests/policy to name just a few.

Screen all possible tenants. Poor screening of tenants often results in hassles for the landlord.  Often times, landlords will bypass screening their tenants because they seem nice or responsible.  This can often lead to a tenant who doesn’t pay their rent on time or at all, damages to the property or keeps undesirable company.  Doing a background check, running credit checks, and getting references can help give a better idea of what kind of tenant an applicant will be.

Take care of repairs.  Staying on top of repairs and maintenance of the property will help ensure that your tenants are happy.  If repairs aren’t handled in a timely manner, tenants can fix the issue themselves and deduct it from the rent or worse case scenario move out without notice.  If the needed repairs cause any injury the tenant could hold you liable.  It is best just to take care of the issues as they come up.

Get adequate insurance. Purchase liability and property insurance that will be adequate enough to cover any hazards that might occur.  This can protect you from lawsuits for injuries or for losses on your property due to fire, weather, and vandalism.  Contact your insurance agent for more information on obtaining the right insurance policy.

It’s essential to keep good records. A great way to protect yourself is by keeping records of any transactions, work, or discussions that relate to your property.  Any time you have a conversation with your tenants log the date and topic of the conversation.  If they called you asking to make repairs log the conversation and then log the time in which you called the maintenance person that will handle the repair.  Keep any receipts or notices that correspond with the property.  If there is ever an issue these records could be a huge help in proving your case.

If you have an investment property in Las Vegas and would rather have a professional property manager manage your property, give North American Realty of Nevada a call at 702.376.7379.

With real estate prices at historic lows, more and more people are becoming real estate investors.  These novice investors feel the biggest obstacle is finding a “great deal” that makes sense.  Once they find this “great deal” they believe the money will just start rolling in.  I have had several novice investors in the last month say, “just put someone in the home, I need the rent money to pay the mortgage.”  I can say without any hesitation, this is a very bad move.  Needing rent money to pay the next mortgage payment causes stress and can lead to bad decisions!

The purpose of tenant screening is to acquire a clear picture of the renter’s background. Specifically, landlords can explore the tenant’s rental history, credit report, criminal background and employment. This then allows the landlord to make an appropriate decision as to whether or not the tenant will make a proper fit for their investment property.  Again, this is no minor point.  Signing a lease agreement with a “bad prospect” comes with many serious problems best avoided. For example, a potential renter that has an extensive history of not paying his bills clearly would not be a safe bet to make his rent obligations on time. Such a renter can turn an lucrative real estate venture into an unstable one within a few months.

Then, there are those tenants that could be labeled even worse renters. Renters that allow their dwellings to fall into complete disarray can create a number of repair costs and other expenses. However, a quick call to their previous landlords could reveal such problem renters with a single phone call.

If there was a moral to this story it would be this: don’t let mortgage payment cloud your judgement, perform a tenant screening prior to renting your Las Vegas Investment property. It will eliminate many hassles and problems long before they even start.

If you would rather hand over the day to day activities of managing your Las Vegas Investment Property to a professional property manager, give us a call at 702.376.7379 or fill out the contact form to the right.