Find an experienced property management company:
- Here at Realty Masters, we have twenty-five years of Pensacola area residential property management experience, and we manage more units in the Pensacola area than any other company in town. This past year we rented 264 properties while the second highest company rented 157. We help alleviate the stress of becoming a landlord by providing services such as advertising your rental property with the best possible methods, thoroughly screening tenants, and creating a legally binding lease.
Prepare your home to rent:
- The rental market is getting more and more competitive, and it is crucial to have your home stand out from the others. We can visit your home and evaluate it to help determine any updates that may be needed, as well as curb appeal, to achieve this goal. As a general guideline, items like carpet
sand paint should be updated at least every 3-5 years depending on the amount of wear and tear the flooring and walls may show. We also recommend a professional cleaning and require a carpet cleaning upon your move out.
Be proactive about maintaining your home:
- Landlords can complete preventative maintenance now before renting their homes to limit future expenses and repairs. Simple measures like caulking can go a long way. We typically make recommendations upon viewing a property and are happy to set up a consultation at your home to further discuss what is recommended for your home, but we commonly recommend things like:
- Having an HVAC tune-up completed by a professional HVAC company can save you money in the long run. Adding a new filter, cleaning the coils, and clearing the drain line can help possibly reduce the number of maintenance calls in the hotter months.
- For homes with septic systems, we recommend you have an initial pump out completed if it hasn’t been done in the past few years. It may also benefit you to add a septic cleaner to the system to assist with avoiding any future backups.
- Also, a termite bond is always a good thing to initiate before renting your home. This will ensure that no future infestations occur without being noticed.
Change your insurance policy:
- Homeowners who are making the transition to becoming landlords should contact their insurance agent to change their current policy from a homeowner’s policy to a landlord policy. Sometimes this may require a new 4-point inspection and wind mitigation report if there has not been one completed in the last 5 five years. Be sure you check to see if that will be needed so there is no delay in leasing your property or last-minute stressors adding to your move.
Get a professional home and WDO inspection:
- If it’s been a while since your home was inspected by a professional, consider hiring professionals to thoroughly inspect the property. Inspecting your home can catch any issues that could go unnoticed and worsen over time. Termites are especially tough to catch sometimes and leaving them untreated could cause major damage that may result in very extensive and costly repairs. By checking the structure, appliances, fixtures, and the pest control status of the home, it will provide you with peace of mind, that you have taken those extra steps to help safeguard your home
property while you are leasing it. We are happy to provide you with recommendations for home inspectors and pest control vendors upon request.
Realty Masters is the largest Pensacola property management company in the area, and we’re always accepting new properties in good condition. We’re happy to schedule a consultation at your property to discuss if being a landlord is right for you and can help make the transition from homeowner to landlord. Visit our property management page https://www.pensacolarealtymasters.com/pensacola-property-management to request a consultation and we’ll be in contact with you soon!
