How to Make Tenants Pay Rent Timely
No matter if you're a land owner with just a few properties or a letting agent who takes care of hundreds of properties, the significance of payments on time is something that can't be denied . It is one of those things which can ruin a great relationship between a landlord and a tenant, and which causes plenty of issues. Rent, increasing it, insisting to receive it on time - it is the necessary evil when you decide to get involved with rentals.
As a letting agent, you have the supplementary engagement to account for everything to the landlord. If your tenant is not regular rent payer, this obviously leads to belated receiving of the rent. It is a bad scenario for everyone involved in the renting process. You can easily end up in a situation where you will be the one reimbursing the landlord for any losses. There are, of course, ways to prevent this, which you can read about further on.
If you are the property's landlord, you should understand that your economical peculiarities can quickly and easily change from convenient to inconvenient. Especially if you have a small portfolio, each delay in the rent will have a greater impact on your balance sheet than you may imagine. If you are the one paying for all the bills and maintenance fees, then you need to receive the rent on a regular basis, or you will soon have to look for new tenants. Now that you know the dangers of rental arrears, here are a few simple but effective measures which will ensure that you receive the rent on time.
1. Make sure that all the payments you are expecting are comparatively at the same date. This date can be the 2nd day, since most people get their pay around the end of each month. This will be the most suitable date.
2. Check your rental income every week because tenants sometimes prefer to pay rent early as well as late. Some tenants pay in partial amounts, whenever they have the money.
3. Offer as many payment methods as you can. Some tenants aren't comfortable paying rent through the internet, so they should be given the chance to pay through a bank transfer or even in cash. If you don't have too many tenants, this shouldn't be a problem. More options, which suit all of your tenants, will make paying rent much easier for them.
4. If you rent out your property to tenants who receive benefits, you should expect that their paying will vary, because they often get their money once every four weeks, not exactly on a calendar month. Be as understanding as possible, if you were aware of that fact when you signed the lease agreement.
5. Try to keep up an active communication with your tenants. There are many reasons for a tenant to fall behind with their rent and some of these reasons are quite genuine. In order to prevent the problem before it actually occurs, make sure you are aware of the situation your tenants are in. If you know their reason for being late with rent, it is your choice how to act.
6. If everything else fails, make sure that you insure your income with an insurance. This could make all the difference, especially if you are a landlord with a small portfolio and not much experience. People live and learn, and so do landlords and letting agents, but it is better to deal with the issues before they become real problems.