Categories
Landlord Tips

Organizational Tips for Landlords

Organizational Tips for Landlords
Well organized records can make life easier for landlords.

Good organization is important when running a business. Landlording is no exception. Yes, it take time and effort, but having well organized records can make your life easier. Here are a few organizational tips for landlords to implement when managing their rental property.

Create a Filing System

One aspect of being organized is the ability to find things quickly and easily. With landlording, there can be a lot of documents. Documents include applications, leases, maintenance request, and communication between landlord and tenant. Going paperless is ideal, however, it may be inevitable to have some paper. So first, have a physical or digital filing system in place that is easily accessible and understandable to those who need to know. In a digital world, you would simply save files to the appropriate folder on your device, such as a laptop. If you have to deal with paper, it is good to invest in a scanner. That way, you can scan paper and then save the digital copy.

Track Income & Expenses

Another among the organizational tips for landlords is tracking income and expenses. This task is critical for two reasons. First, it enables landlords to know if their business is profitable or not. Second, it makes tax time easier. Landlords may not want to spend a lot of money on expensive or complicated accounting software. That’s OK. Because there are tools designed just for landlords that help track income and expenses and provide reports. For example, RentalIncomeExpense.com is a free tool created just for landlords. Plus it provides reports, like a Schedule E Helper report, that can assist at tax time.

Categories
Landlord Tips

Landlords Can Make Tenant Lives Easier

RIE Tenant Easy
Landlords can make tenant lives easier in just a few simple ways.

Much has been written on ways to help landlords succeed. This blog post is not wholly different other than taking the view of how to help tenants. Happy tenants can make landlord lives easier. If there are ways landlords can make tenant lives easier, then it is a win win for both landlord and tenant. Here are a few easy things landlords can do for tenants.

Ways landlords can make tenant lives easier

Many tenants today consider the use of technology essential to daily living. One of the basic applications of technology is communication. Many tenants have smartphones, which allow them to be accessible anywhere. Landlords who communicate via text or email make tenant life easier. Talking on the phone, mailing letters, and meeting in person are time consuming, slow, and unappealing.

Smartphones are powerful tools. Beyond the immediate use of communication via text, phone, email, or information gathering from the Web, smartphones can be the key to your rental property. Literally. Landlords can install keyless locks on their rental property. With keyless locks, tenants do not have to keep track of a key. Depending on the type of lock, tenants can use a code or their smartphone to open and lock doors.

Something as simple as providing in unit clothing washers and dryers is a way landlords can make tenant lives easier. Carrying around clothes – dirty or clean – is not fun. Dishwashers are a standard appliance in rental properties. Why can’t washers and dryers be, too?

All of these simple ways landlords can do for tenants makes happier tenants, and they benefit landlords. By tracking these types of expenses, landlords can deduct these costs on their taxes as part of their landlording business. Free landlord accounting software like RentalIncomeExpense.com is an easy way to keep track of such expenses.

Categories
Landlord Taxes

Tax Breaks for Landlords

Tax breaks for landlords
Tax breaks for landlords can help them save money.

Landlords are entrepreneurs trying to find a way to build successful businesses. Collecting rent, managing expenses, and keeping tenants happy are just a few of the many things on the landlords’ “to do” list. Believe it or not, the tax code is one way landlords can follow to try and minimize expenses. We will share a few tax breaks for landlords below. We recommend consulting with a tax professional or CPA to best handle and maximize your tax return potential.

Mortgage Interest

If you have a mortgage on your rental property, you are most likely paying interest on your mortgage payments. Landlords can deduct mortgage interest at tax time, which for many landlords, is their largest deduction.

20% Pass Through Deduction

From 2018 through 2026, the 20% pass through tax deduction allows landlords to be taxed on 80% of rental net income. This deduction is only for pass-through entities where landlords run their rental business as a sole proprietor, LLC, or S corporation.

Maintenance Expenses

Landlords can deduct the expenses related to repairs to rental property. For example, the cost to repaint the house, fix a leaking pipe, or replace a broken toilet are deductible. To make life easier, landlords can use income and expense tracking tools. A free tool designed just for landlords is RentalIncomeExpense.com.

To maximize tax breaks for landlords, please consult a tax professional or CPA.

Categories
Landlord Tips

Free Tools for Small Landlords

Free Tools Small Landlord
Free tools for small landlords help them succeed.

Small landlords own and manage at least one unit and maybe max out around 10. Compared to large property management companies, small landlords may be more price sensitive. To help them succeed, there are free tools for small landlords.

Free Income Expense Tracking

Regardless of size, landlords need a recordkeeping tool when managing rental property. For small landlords, accounting software like QuickBooks is expensive and overly complicated taking quite a bit of time to learn. On the other hand, an Excel spreadsheet is free, however, it isn’t powerful enough. It is not easy to create helpful reports from basic spreadsheets. RentalIncomeExpense.com is landlord accounting software that is free, easy to use, and generates meaningful reports.

Free Tenant Screening

Finding the right tenant makes landlording easier. The ideal tenant is one that will pay rent on time and keep the rental property in tip top shape. So tenant screening becomes really important. A free tenant screening option for small landlords is provided by SmartMove (a TransUnion service). SmartMove charges a fee for the credit reports, however, the landlord can designate the applicant (tenant) to pay the fee as many landlords bundle that fee as part of an application fee.

Free Vacancy Listing

Online advertising is one of the most popular and wide-reaching methods today. Landlords can advertise listings with a real estate specific site. Some are free like Realtor.com and Apartments.com. Others, like Zillow, charge a fee, however, Zillow owns other listing sites which means you maximize your reach as your listings are on multiple sites.

These free tools for small landlords can be effective and make landlording easier.

Categories
Landlord Tips

Income Expense Tracking for Long Distance Landlords

Income Expense Long Distance Landlord
Income expense tracking is easy for long distance landlords.

A long distance landlord is someone who does not live near their rental property. Landlording success is not determined by how close or far you live to your rentals. A few simple tips including income expense tracking for long distance landlords can make them a success.

Rely on the Community

When situations arise with the rental, like a broken toilet, long distance landlords cannot be there to remedy the situation. Instead, they have to rely on people who can be present and help quickly and successfully. Having an electrician, plumber, and handyperson that can address a situation quickly (and bill you later) will give you peace of mind. Adding to that local team can be a landscaper who will ensure your property looks good and is cared for. An alternative to organizing a local team would be hiring a property management company. It is important to interview a few to compare their services and fees.

Apply Technology

Technology is a long distance landlord’s friend. Something as simple as communicating with tenants by text or email can be easy and effective. Additionally, installing cameras around the property can provide safety measures for the tenant and give the long distance landlord a view of the property.

Screen Tenants

Having a tenant you can trust, that will take care of your rental property, and pay rent on time is every landlord’s dream. Screening tenants become even more important for long distance landlords. Taking the time to review applications, interviewing tenants, and performing background checks become essential in an attempt to finding great tenants.

Income expense tracking for long distance landlords is important, especially when the landlord is not able to do any of the work themselves. Free landlord accounting tools like RentalIncomeExpense.com make it easy for landlords to record income and expenses. Landlords can be successful even when they do not live close to their rental property.

Categories
Landlord Tips

Save Money with Tenant Turnover

Save Money Tenant Turnover
Landlords can save money with tenant turnover by keeping things simple.

Landlords need tenants. A great tenant is one that resides for a long time, pays the rent on time, and keeps the rental property in tip top shape. However, no matter how great the tenant, there is bound to be some work between tenants. Cleaning up a little between tenants is far better than repairing property damage. With some really simple changes, landlords can save money with tenant turnover.

Simple is Key to Saving Money with Tenant Turnover

Keeping things simple will save landlords time and money with tenant turnover. Appliances that are of good quality and not complicated can be a better value over the long term. Well made appliances with few bells and whistles enable tenants to use them with greater ease. Repairs on simpler appliances may be easier, cheaper, and infrequent.

A beautiful landscape can be as simple as a well maintained lawn. Flowers and other shrubbery can certainly beautify a rental property. They can also require more maintenance and thus more cost for the landlord. Relying on tenants to maintain the beauty may not be feasible as tenants may not have such interest.

Simplifying the flooring in the rental property may be an upfront cost, but it will save the landlords in the long term. By removing carpet, landlords eliminate the need to shampoo or deal with stains or odors between tenants. Using durable flooring such as tile or reengineered wood can simplify the cleaning process.

Landlords can save money with tenant turnover by keeping things simple. To this end, free landlord accounting software like RentalIncomeExpense.com make the expense recording simple (and free).

Categories
General

Property Management Software Benefits

Property Management Software Benefits
Property management software is meant to make landlording easier.

Property management software makes landlording easier. It helps new landlords as well as those who have been managing rentals for years. There are many tools available to help make landlording easier. We will touch upon just a few of the many benefits of software for landlords.

Recordkeeping

One of the major benefits is tracking income and expenses in one central location. Maintaining good accounting records makes tax time easier. Plus, records can tell a story as it is important to understand how well your rental property business is doing. Ultimately, good recordkeeping provides peace of mind. Software with recordkeeping features can range from paid software like Buildium to free software like RentalIncomeExpense.com. Cost, ease-of-use, and features such as reports are items to consider when deciding on which software to pursue.

Tenant Screening/Applications

Renting to a great tenants makes landlording more enjoyable and easier. So finding such tenants makes the tenant screening process all the more important. Some property management software has the application and screening process built in. On the other hand, there are some stand alone services, like SmartMove, that focus specifically on tenant screening.

Landlords have choice when it comes to finding the right landlording software for their needs. They will find the solution that best fits their budget and is easy to use.

Categories
Landlord Tips

Landlord Tips for a Strong Tenant Relationship

Tips For Strong Tenant Relationship
There are simple tips for a strong tenant relationship.

Landlords are in the business of providing housing. Their customers are tenants, and landlords should not ignore the popular motto, “the customer is always right.” Maintaining a strong relationship with tenants is advantageous for the landlord. A landlord’s ideal tenant is one that pays rent on time and takes care of the rental property. When a landlord has such a tenant, then their goal should be to reduce the chance of tenant turnover. Finding a new tenant is a time consuming task. Time is money. Making the tenant experience friendly can lead to a positive and long lasting relationship. Here are a few easy landlord tips for a strong tenant relationship.

Listen

There will be times when tenants make requests. Before immediately saying “no”, landlords who first listen may earn the respect of tenants. For example, tenants may want to paint rooms a different color. The cost of paint or hiring a company to paint can be relatively minor when landlords can enjoy the long term benefit of a satisfied tenant. Landlords who use accounting software like RentalIncomeExpense.com can easily track an expense like paint. And landlords who offer to cover the cost of painting rooms will score even higher with tenants!

Communicate

Something as simple as calling or emailing tenants to see how they are doing can have a meaningful impact on tenants. It can show the landlord cares. At the same time, landlords who respond promptly to tenant issues or concerns convey the importance of the landlord tenant relationship. No one likes to be ignored. As in most relationships, helping each other out and feeling heard are important qualities. The landlord tenant relationship is no exception and simple tips for a strong tenant relationship with listening and communicating can go a long way.

Categories
General

Free and Easy Income Expense Tracking for Landlords

Income Expense Tracking Landlords
RentalIncomeExpense.com is designed specifically for landlords – Free & easy recordkeeping.

Landlords need an easy to use and affordable recordkeeping tool when managing rental property. Property management software like QuickBooks is expensive and overly complicated for the small landlord. Landlords need to spend a bit of time understanding how to set up accounts and then recording data into QuickBooks. An Excel spreadsheet, however, isn’t nearly powerful enough. Basic spreadsheets cannot easily generate the different reports landlords need. RentalIncomeExpense.com is the solution. It is free and easy income expense tracking for landlords.

Designed specifically for landlords, RentalIncomeExpense.com follows the same income and expense categories as those on Schedule E of Form 1040. So there is no setting up of accounts. Landlords simply record income and expenses as incurred and assign them to existing accounts. It’s Schedule E helper report makes tax time fast and easy for you and your accountant. In addition to the Schedule E helper report, RentalIncomeExpense.com provides landlords with a profit and loss report which helps them understand how well their rental property business is doing.

Income expense tracking for landlords does not have to be costly or complicated. RentalIncomeExpense.com is free and easy making it a top choice for landlord recordkeeping needs.

Categories
General

Rental Property Wear & Tear or Damage

Wear and Tear or Damages
Landlords incur costs when prepping rental property for the next tenant.

When a tenant vacates at the end of the lease, landlords have an opportunity to assess the state of the rental property. Normal wear and tear are items related to everyday living and are to be expected. Damage or negligent abuse by the tenant, however, is not normal and can be grounds for holding the security deposit. It is important for landlords to recognize the differences between normal wear and tear and damages.

Normal wear and tear include items such as minor holes, fading paint, and floor scratches. These items occur from everyday living. For example, small holes are present if the tenant hung photos on the walls. It is customary for landlords to clean the rental property for the next tenant. Cleaning includes filling minor holes in the wall, applying a fresh coat of paint, and even waxing floors.

Damage, on the other hand, are signs of intentional abuse or neglect by the tenant. For example, unusually large holes in the walls or unapproved wallpaper or painting are not normal wear and tear. Withholding some or all of the security deposit can be grounds in order for the landlord to cover the cost to repair damages.

Landlord recordkeeping is important to maintain. Whether the unit needs repairs due to normal wear and tear or damages, landlords incur cost and should record such expenses. RentalIncomeExpense.com is free landlord accounting software. With this free accounting tool, it is easy to record rental property income and expenses that align with Schedule E categories. Reports such as Profit and Loss and Schedule E Helper guide landlords as they manage their rental properties.