Keeping Your Properties Occupied!

If you have multiple houses or apartments that you rent out then it’s very important to make sure your properties are not sitting vacant. The bankers will want their mortgage payments every month whether you have all or none of your properties leased out.

There’s a rule of thumb that I tend to go by when staying on top of vacancies. I try to make sure that I am running somewhere between a 90-95% occupied ratio with my properties. You never want to be at a full 100% booked up status unless you are just starting out and only have a few properties to work with. The reason why is because if everything you own is currently rented out then you may be leaving money on the table. There’s definitely a reason why you don’t have any vacancies and that’s because you’re too cheap. What if you are missing out on an extra $2,000 each month because all of your properties are rented under value?

On the other hand, you certainly don’t want to be on the other side of the stick and have only a small fraction of your properties rented out. This is obviously a disaster waiting to happen! If you’re properties are not being leased out it’s because of a few different reasons. First of all, the property might be considered substandard by all the prospective tenants you show it to. Make sure the property is up to par in that all the appliances work, the unit is clean and any damage from the last tenants has been repaired properly. The main reason why you’re rental property is not leased however, is more than likely the price! Check your prices and adjust accordingly.

If you are experiencing more than 10% of your properties being vacant for more than the standard amount of time (a month), then you might consider lowering your rent in order to get them filled. If you have everything booked up and have to keep turning away new prospective tenants think about raising the rent on some of your properties coming up for lease renewal.