Becoming a real estate investor in Jacksonville brings the promise of long-term passive income—until your properties sit empty for too long. Without tenants, rental property owners can’t collect the rent. Without rental income, you lose money!
If you’re experiencing weeks (or months) between tenants, it’s time to shorten vacancy cycles to rebuild your revenue. Follow these tips from our expert Jacksonville property management team!
Increase Tenant Retention
The first way to reduce the vacancy cycles in your property is to retain the tenants that you do have. A higher rate of tenant retention means fewer vacant units in the property. If you keep tenants longer, you don’t deal with empty properties and lost income.
Apply these strategies to retain more tenants and reduce vacancies.
Be Mindful of Rent Increases
Raising the rent can help investors make more money, but there’s a right way (and a wrong way) to increase the rent.
- Bumping up the rent significantly can turn renters away and discourage them from renewing the lease.
- Trying to raise the rent mid-lease violates the law and can lead to a lawsuit.
In most cases, Jacksonville renters expect a rate increase when it’s time to renew. Applying the right strategies can help them absorb a higher monthly rental amount and complete the lease renewal.
Plan ahead for rent increases by:
- Documenting when renters can expect increases in the lease
- Letting tenants know at least 60 days in advance of an ending lease term
- Making incremental increases that are easier for renters to absorb without blowing their budgets
- Offering incentives to renew
Easing tenants into a new lease with a slightly higher rent amount helps reduce turnover and reduces vacancies!
Be a Good Landlord
Renters love to stay in Jacksonville rental properties where they have a positive professional relationship with the landlord. You don’t need to (and shouldn’t) build friendships with tenants. However, being responsive and delivering quality rental homes helps tenants feel at home in your properties.
Make these habits part of your rental management best practices:
- Respond quickly to renter concerns
- Schedule prompt repairs with quality contractors
- Proactively communicate with tenants
- Make it easy to pay the rent and reach you in an emergency
- Adhere to all landlord responsibilities for entering rentals and maintaining excellent properties
Being an excellent rental property owner in Jacksonville is one of the best ways to reduce vacancies! Treat your residents like valuable assets, and you’ll enjoy more long-term tenants and lease renewals.
Start Lease Renewals Earlier
Any seasoned Jacksonville property management company will tell you that staying on top of lease renewals is critical to maintaining cash flow and minimizing vacancies.
Starting the lease renewal process early helps renters understand any changes to the lease terms and prepare for rate increases. You also have time to find new tenants—with minimal vacancy time between residents—in case a current resident doesn’t renew.
Set up a system that automatically sets up alerts for each and every lease at least 90 days before the lease ends. Reach out to your tenants and work with them on renewals or their plans to move out.
With enough planning, Jacksonville property owners have time to make property upgrades and market a property with the ideal timing of a new renter moving in shortly after the current resident moves out.
Hire a Property Management Company
Dealing with tenants coming and going, tracking renewals, and being an excellent landlord is time-consuming—but important for your success! If you struggle to keep up with everything required of an excellent rental property owner, shorter vacancy cycles might be out of reach without the right help.
Partnering with an expert Jacksonville property management company takes the pressure off rental property owners to make sure they have a tenant paying the rent throughout the year. Minimizing days on the rental market means you make more money!
A property management company has the staff and experience to shorten the vacancy cycles and maintain consistent cash flow for your rentals—whether you have one property or several! They also have access to the right marketing strategies and rental listing sites to generate interest in your properties from the best quality residents!
Never Sacrifice Quality
Finding “any” renter isn’t a smart way to minimize vacancy times. Bad renters might pay the rent (sometimes), but they can also become costly problems that ruin your ROIs.
Residential property managers applies marketing strategies to attract quality renters. They also conduct a thorough screening process to make sure every renter they place is the right fit for your rentals and income.
Minimize Vacancy Times With the Best Jacksonville Property Management
If you’re ready to experience consistent cash flow and better returns on your rental properties, it’s time for the best Jacksonville property management! Spectrum Realty Services helps investors find quality tenants, increase renewal rates, and avoid income loss due to lengthy vacancies.
Stop struggling with bad tenants and empty properties! Let’s talk about how we can help.
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