How to Successfully Rent out a Duplex as a Landlord
Hey you guys, Carter Crowley here with Century 21 Affiliated & Crowley Real Estate. In today’s blog post, we’re going to be discussing renting out a duplex and the need-to-know items when you are thinking about renting out a duplex that you currently own. So if you’re a landlord or if you’re a prospective landlord that’s looking at buying property in the near future, this blog post is going to give you the need-to-know information when you’re looking at renting out a duplex or renting out any particular rental unit.
Do You Want Average or High Quality Rentals?
So first things first, you need to decide if you are going to bring to market a high-quality remodeled unit or if you’re going to bring an average unit to market. Typically, in the past with the rental properties that we have owned, it is always easier to rent out a nice remodel modernized rental unit compared to the same bleak old-style unit that most landlords are putting on the market.
When we remodel our units, we just put in the new vinyl flooring. We put in the modern color schemes, the white trim, the updated appliances, counters, cabinets, everything like that. And for $5,000 to $10,000, we can remodel an entire two bed, one bath rental unit and really turn it into a cash-flowing machine. When we do rental upgrades, we always take into consideration the budget that we have and try and stay under that. When we upgrade the unit, we can command a much higher rental rate than you could on a more middle of the road type of unit. So what this means is we stick money in, but we get a higher return on our investment. And also we’re able to rent out the unit much quicker.
Average on Market Time for Remodeled Rental Unit
Our average time on the rental market is less than a week before we find a tenant that’s ready to go. And most recently we just rented out a one bed, one bath unit that was gone in less than a week for above the market rate. So this just goes to show you that there are possibilities when you remodel units. But if you’re not remodeling your unit it might sit for a little bit longer on the market, especially if you’re not offering any sort of bonuses for that next tenant. Some bonuses mean including water, heat, electric, any of those items.
Another Tip For Renting out Your Duplex
When you’re looking at renting out a duplex or another rental unit, prescreen your tenants, meaning do a background check on them, do a verification of income, verification of employment. Make sure that everything is good to go so that you can successfully rent out your unit without any sort of financial struggle or an eviction pending in the future. DO NOT rent out a unit to someone with a past or prior eviction on their record because more than likely it could happen again and you don’t want to be the landlord facing the expense for an eviction at one of your properties.
So these are just some quick tips for renting on a duplex or renting own a rental unit in your area. If you need further assistance or you want a copy of our lease that we use or move-in checklist or any of the following items, please just reach out to me. You can call me or text me on my cell phone, which is (920) 252-2864 or you can fill out the form down below and I’d be more than happy to assist you with buying your first duplex in the Appleton, Wisconsin area, or giving you some advice, insight as to how to go about managing your rental properties correctly. Thanks so much and have a wonderful rest of your day.