Whether you’re gone for a simple 3 days or a long 2 months, juggling managing your rental property while relaxing on vacation is near impossible. Unless your vacation spot is near your property, you want to avoid handling property issues remotely all together. No matter how long you’re MIA, here are some tips on how to prepare your renters and property for your Summer vacation.
Find Someone to Fill In for You
As Kaycee said in a previous article, bottom-line you’re going to need to have someone on hand who can fill in for you while you are out of town, “consider asking a trusted relative, an experienced friend, or another landlord (maybe exchange vacation time!) to be your replacement.” While it’s unlikely that anything will happen while you’re away, it’s good to have someone there to respond just in case.
Ms. Thai, a landlord in Glendale, California, told us that she hasn’t had an issue arise in the 50 years that she’s been traveling abroad. Before her two-month long excursions to France and Holland, she gives her tenants a local family member’s phone number in case of an emergency. Admitting that the only problems that could arise are plumbing problems, she also provides her tenants with their trusted plumber’s phone number and pays the invoice when she gets back.
When it comes to rental payments, she has her tenants mail in the rent—making sure to get her mail held at the post office so her rental checks won’t get stolen. Of course, if you want the rent deposited immediately you might want to look into providing your renters with some form of online rental payments (which ApplyConnect will be offering very soon).
Leasing on Vacation
You can’t plan for everything. Sometimes a long-awaited vacation will be poorly timed with a vacancy. If this is the case, consider hiring a realtor to find your perfect tenants. A real estate agent will market, show, and process applications for you. This way, once you get back, all you’ll have to do is focus on getting your property ready. Going on a short trip? Get a tenant screening provider that sends you text message updates when a background check and application is done. With ApplyConnect®’s mobile-capabilities, you’ll be able to view background checks and send out accepted.
