1. Know the local market and keep up with changes. If you are not directly involved in the leasing process, talk to other landlords, realtors and property managers to find out if rates are declining or rising so you don’t have to rely on projected rates from a third party when you are selling or buying.
2. Hot markets cool around the Holidays, so don’t base conclusions on seasonal surveys.
3. Evaluate and re-evaluate your ability to manage your real estate investments. If you started out managing a 10 unit building and now feel it takes too much time away from work and recreation, look at alternatives. You may be able to offer a discount on rent to one of your responsible tenants to assume the hands on management while you still handle the accounting and paperwork. Professional management companies offer various rates depending upon which services they provide.
4. Many times vacancies can be filled by referrals from existing tenants. While this can become a great resource, there may also be repercussions if the perspective tenant is not as reliable as the referring resident.
5. Consider concessions (rent discount in the third and last month, free cable, etc.) to attract strong tenants.
6. Take your time screening tenants and try to check references and application information as accurately as possible. You might lose a tenant who is in a hurry to move in soon, but, it’s better to be vacant and lose one month’s rent than rush to rent to a tenant who will default on payments.
7. Keep up appearances. Make sure that your building is the type of property where you would want to work and/or live. If you can’t visualize how it should look, look through exterior design and landscape journals, call in a landscape designer, or ask some savvy talented friends for advice.
8. Fine-tune your formula for attracting quality tenants (tenants who will treasure - not trash) the premises.

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