Managing your rental properties while traveling can lead to some nightmare situations. Unless your trip is a bona fide staycation, you’ll want to find ways to remotely (and effortlessly) manage your properties. By establishing a travel management process, varying based on how hands-on you want to be during your trip, you’ll be able to truly rest easy and focus on your current endeavors abroad.
- Establish an Emergency Contact
Whether you choose a relative, friend, or maybe even another landlord (you can exchange vacation time), you’re going to need someone to be there to fill in while you’re away. While it’s unlikely that anything will happen during your trip, Murphy’s law reminds us all that it’s a good idea to have an emergency contact just in case.
If you have a trusted maintenance guy (like a plumber), you can even provide your tenants with their phone number and establish that you’ll pay the invoice either online or when you get back. Or, if your tenant pays for the repairs you could always deduct the amount they pay (with the invoice) from their next month’s rent.
- Collect Rent Online
When it comes to rental payments, you have three options. First, you can have your tenant mail you their rent check (making sure to have your mail held at the post office to prevent the checks from getting stolen) and then deposit it when you get back. Secondly, you can collect and deposit the rent when you come back from your trip. Finally, you can utilize online rental payment services to get your rent deposited automatically, and within a few days. This way you can keep a digital receipt of when your tenants pay their rent, get the funds you need while on vacation, and remove ‘bank deposits’ from your busy to-do list when you get back from vacation.
- Consider a Realtor or Online Screening Service If Leasing
Unfortunately, you can’t plan for everything. Sometimes a long-awaited vacation will just so happen to match up with a poorly-timed vacancy. If this is the case, you have a couple of options. First, if you’re leaving for extended travel, you might want to think about hiring a real estate agent to handle the leasing process while you’re gone.
If you’re going on a short trip and are at the start of working to fill your vacancy, you can postpone the marketing process for when you get back. If your vacancy has gained traction and you have a few interested potential renters, utilize ApplyConnect®’s online rental application and tenant screening to speed up the process. With our mobile-friendly platform, you’ll be able to view background checks and send out automated accepted, conditional, and denied decision letters right from the snow lifts or your comfy beach chair.
Whether you’re leaving for your trip now or are still weeks away, it’s important to establish a travel management procedure. This will help your long-term tenants know what to do if an emergency arises, and will give you some well-deserved peace of mind.
Do you have any holiday vacation plans? How are you planning on managing your rental while away?
