• Treat your property just like it’s a business.

Put your processes and systems in place, know your numbers, delegate what you are not great at and be very consistent. Understand the importance of charging market rate rents, but weigh that with the benefit of having a good long term tenant.

• Know Fair Housing Laws

There are local, state and federal Fair Housing Laws be sure to know them all as it’s a very time consuming and expensive matter if you break one of these laws, even when it’s an accident.  Something as simple as having wrong/old wordage on a sign can get you in trouble.

• Provide a great place to call home

Make the property desirable and put durable, reliable systems and appliances in the unit so you are not constantly fixing them.  Have the home clean and ready when the resident moves in and have the common areas kept up.

• Market your available properties to everyone

Be sure you make a complete effort to get your available homes seen by everyone looking in your market place. If you have a website be sure all of your properties (including floor plans) are posted; utilize all forms of social networks including pushing out to groups; have a great referral system for your current residents as they can be your best resource and lastly be sure to utilize websites that allow you to post your available homes for free.

• Utilize a strong tenant screening platform

This is a big one as your screening of these potential residents is key to a property’s success; after all, one bad tenant in a smaller size building can eat up all or more of the annual profit.  Be sure the system you use is not just pulling from public records, you want a system that utilizes at least one of the major repositories (Experian, Equifax or Transunion) and lastly… CHECK AND VERIFY THEIR REFERENCES!

• Train your resident

Make sure your residents know the way you would like your property to be run, be sure everything is spelled out in the lease agreement and they are aware of all guidelines. Be very clear and strong on your guidelines but also treat your resident as you would like to be treated.

These are just a few tips to get you started on your way to being a highly successful real estate investor.