You’re going to be out of town for several months or even years, but you don’t want to sell your apartment. After all, property is a long-term investment – at least, if you want it to be profitable. Plus, you’re planning to return, and you aren’t keen on the idea of having to move all your furniture into storage just so that you can get tenants. Luckily, you don’t have to. While you will need to store any personal effects you aren’t taking with you, you can make good money from renting out a furnished apartment. Here’s what you need to know.
You Need Someone to Manage the Business Side
Living remotely will make taking care of your tenants difficult. Full service rental property management companies Mississauga provide an example of what you should look for. While it might be tempting to hire an out-of-work friend to act on your behalf, you need people with the right experience, skills, and resources to get on with the job. Alternatively, you have a steep learning curve to face, and that could be uncomfortable or even costly. And since you’re in this to make money, that might not be quite what you want.
Get the Right Tenants
Getting the right tenants isn’t easy. There are so many things that can be falsified or made to look better than they are, and spotting them takes experience and close scrutiny. Choosing between tenants becomes easier when you have a big pool to choose from. That comes back to marketing – the better the marketing, the greater the interest from prospective tenants, and the better the chances of choosing the very best tenants. Experience in screening applications is especially useful, and here, experienced professionals will have the edge. Consider this carefully when planning to make money out of your condo.
Protect Your Asset
Even with the best attention to detail when choosing your tenants, things can go wrong. Accidents can happen, disasters can occur, and people can default on basic terms of the rental agreement. Insurance is a must, and that insurance should take the property owner’s and tenant’s relationship into account. And, if the worst comes to the worst, there may be a need for legal action. As an individual, that’s going to be more difficult and more expensive than it would be for a company with a legal expert on retainer. Once again, the best advice we can offer is to use professionals to manage your rental property while you’re away.
Potential Benefits Outweigh Risks
It would be unrealistic to say that there are no risks involved in renting out your furnished condo, but the potential benefits are worth considering. It’s important to view the venture as a business and choosing people with adequate experience to represent you will help to minimise the chances of things going awry. Meanwhile, your apartment brings in regular income instead of standing idle, and if all goes well, as it does in most instances, there’ll be extra money in your pocket and no cause for regrets.
