How to Avoid Long Vacancies in Southwest Michigan

Investors understand that when they rent out a Southwest Michigan property, they will have maintenance and repair expenses. They expect to pay property taxes and insurance costs. But, vacancy can be even more expensive than those things and it’s often forgotten about until it happens.

An unoccupied property costs money. Your ROI suffers with every day that it’s vacant.

Avoiding long vacancy periods is critical to your cash flow. Working with a professional property management company can help you keep vacancy days down. If you’re managing on your own, follow these tips to keeping your investment home occupied and profitable.

Price Your Rental Home Competitively

An overpriced property will always stay vacant longer. You want to earn as much as possible in monthly rent, but you don’t want to sacrifice a full month of rent waiting for a tenant who is willing to pay your higher price. Price your property competitively and according to market rents. Tenants know the market well, and highly qualified renters will never be willing to pay more than they need to for a rental home.

Conduct a comparative market analysis so you know what similar homes are renting for in your area. You’ll need to work with reliable data. Don’t pay attention to what homes are listed for; get to know what they actually rented for. If you don’t have access to data beyond the rents you see on Craigslist, get in touch with a professional property manager in Southwest Michigan who knows the local market.

Make Your Rental Property Irresistible

There’s a lot that goes into vacancy that you can’t control. For example, you have no power over the strength of the market or the number of good tenants looking for rental homes. You cannot control the competition. But, you do have complete control over the condition of your property. This will have a big impact on how quickly it rents.

Provide a well-maintained home that’s in rent-ready condition. Prospective tenants will want to walk into a home that’s clean, functioning, and inviting. Pay attention to curb appeal and don’t forget the details like working light bulbs and natural light. When you offer an outstanding property that looks and feels like a great place to call home, you’ll place high quality tenants quickly, and your vacancy days will be minimized.

Avoid Vacancy with Tenant Retention

Turnover leads to vacancy, and the costs to clean and repair the property between tenants can be just as expensive and unpleasant as vacancy. When you have a good tenant in place, work hard to keep that tenant. You don’t want to lose a renter who pays on time, follows the lease, and takes good care of the home. You especially don’t want to lose that renter over something avoidable like a repair that took too long or a phone call that wasn’t returned.

Tenant retention should be a priority. Respond immediately and thoroughly to maintenance needs, whether they’re emergency issues or routine repairs. Check in with your tenant once in a while to make sure everything is going well. Ask if there’s anything you can do to improve their rental experience. Give them welcome gifts and incentives to renew their leases. Make sure any rent increases are reasonable and supported by the market.

These are just a few of the things you can do to avoid vacancy costs. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at Real Property Management Southwest Michigan. We’d be happy to help you avoid long vacancies and earn more on your rental home.

Click here for our Comprehensive Guide to Property Management.