Entering the real estate world can be extremely rewarding—there is a lot of money to be made when you invest in properties, as long as you do it right. With the high risk of real estate investment, the thought of being a landlord can be daunting. Being a landlord comes with a lot of responsibilities and tasks that need to be completed. So if you’re new to being a landlord, here are a few important tips to keep in mind.

Prioritize Safety

When you rent your property to someone else, their safety should be your top priority. If you fail to make some safety upgrades before renting out your apartment or house, you could get in legal trouble and could be responsible for causing an injury. So make sure you invest in the necessary safety features, like smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors. Also, you must ensure that vital systems such as plumbing, electrical, and HVAC systems are up to date.

Call Tenant’s References

Screening potential tenants is an important part of the rental process—if you choose the right tenants, you’ll hopefully have very few issues to deal with. When you talk to potential renters, you should always ask for references. A tenant’s references could include previous landlords or even bosses. You need to call these references so you can get a better idea of how responsible the potential renter is and hopefully move forward with making a decision.

Make the Right Upgrades

While it can be tempting to completely overhaul your rental property, it’s important to keep in mind the return of investment—if you completely re-do the hardwood floors, put in granite countertops, and add crown molding, are you going to be able to collect rent high enough to make these upgrades worth the cost? Instead of putting thousands of dollars into the property that you may not get back, focus on upgrades you know will bring in more money. Consider sustainable upgrades and repairs, like having solar panels installed and invest in appliance maintenance. Having the right sub-zero refrigerator repair services can make sure the refrigerator is working well and is as energy-efficient as possible. Properly maintaining your appliances will keep them in good shape for longer, so don’t ignore simple repairs.

Have a Detailed Lease Agreement

Your lease agreement should be detailed and it’s always a good idea to have an attorney look it over, too. Your lease agreement should establish how much rent is, maintenance details, accountability for damages, right of entry, additional fees, and the length of the lease, as well as any other important details—the more detailed the agreement, the better. Transparency will be helpful to you and the tenants.

Hire Necessary Help

Being a landlord is no easy task, and you may find yourself overwhelmed with trying to manage all of your properties. If this becomes the case, hiring property management services may be a good idea. Rental management can be outsourced to a reputable company so you have less to worry about as the property owner. Looking into experienced rental management companies in Scottsdale can give you peace of mind knowing that cleaning, scheduling, and other tasks will be taken care of so both you and your renters can relax.

Change the Locks Regularly

After you have tenants move out, you need to prepare for new renters to move in. One of the most important steps you should take during this time is changing the locks. Even if your old tenants turned in all of the keys you gave them, there is no way of knowing if they had copies made. So to reduce the risk of old tenants returning and entering the property unwanted, change the locks and get new keys for your next tenants.

There are a lot of rewards that can be reaped from being a landlord, including rental income and a flexible schedule. And with these simple tips, you can be on your way to managing your rental properties with ease.