As a Property Management Company in Gwinnett County, one of our biggest responsibilities as a property manager is to ensure rental payments are made on-time every time.  After 12 years of managing rental homes, we have narrowed down a few must do items to ensure on time rental payments for property owners. Below are 5 tips to ensure on time rental payments.

First on the list, a detailed Lease stating when payments are due, how much is due, where payments are made, how payments are made, and penalties if they are late. Everything starts with a detailed Lease. The more detailed the better. Why? Because no one looks at the Lease until there is a problem. A comprehensive Lease will cover not only the basics, but many items that do not come up that often.  You will not know how important they are until it happens.

Second, solve issues when they arise and take measures to prevent future issues from arising. All homes experience maintenance and breakdowns. By quickly fixing or walking through the problem with the resident, builds trust.  Maintenance request have tripled over the past two years.  While not every problem is the owners responsibility, quickly bringing the problem to a conclusion is good for everyone.

Third on the list would have to be not taking less than what is owed.  We have all heard of the phrase, “something is better than nothing.” This is far from the case in residential property management. By taking less than what is owed, you are doing two things. First, creating and rewarding a pattern. Your Lease should state that all payments are to be made on time and in full. By taking less than what is owed, you would be breaking the lease. Second, by breaking the lease, you are setting a precedent that may give you a huge problem in the future.  Especially if the Gwinnett County Court System gets involved.

Fourth on the list, do not deviate from the Lease.  As mentioned in reason number 3 on our list, deviating from the Lease can and will have consequences. In my opinion, the GAR Forms are the best available to date.  They are very detailed and fair to both parties. However, they do list what each party is required to do. Deviating from one part of the Lease may give the other party reasons to complain. An owner shouldn’t enforce parts of the Lease and leave the other parts up for negotiation.

Our fifth and final tip, properly screen your applicants prior to them moving in.  If an applicant has had good credit and on-time payments for the past 5 years, you can reasonably expect them to keep that trend going.  They obviously care enough about their credit.  However, someone who has less than stellar credit and has shown that due dates are mere suggestive payment dates, will probably continue the trend.  Kinda like marriage. Don’t marry someone on who they can be, but who they are now.

While the list above is not an exhaustive list, it will give you a great starting point.  As a property manager in Gwinnett County, we have utilized these tips and honed our skills over time. If you would like to put our skills to work for you, give 4th Avenue Property Management the opportunity to show how a professional property management company can make you money.  We have been managing and selling residential properties in Buford, Dacula, Duluth, Lawrenceville, Suawnee, Sugar Hill, and Braselton for more than a decade.