• 3
• Rental Investments ,
• Tags: features in the home, property management, purchasing a rental, shoes of a renter, what to look for
• 17 May

Putting yourself in the shoes of a tenant is the first step when looking to purchase a new rental property.

Let’s start by asking a simple question. Have you ever rented a place that you ended up disliking shortly after moving in? Perhaps the home had creaky floors. Maybe the plumbing got backed up. Or it was like rolling the dice when plugging something into the outlet as to whether or not it was going to work. Whatever the reason was for not liking the property—it probably stained your experience with renting a property as a tenant.

Now, how about the flip side of the coin? Have you ever rented a home that you were just jazzed about? Maybe you loved the clean backyard or had a wonderful relationship with the landlord that nurtured a positive and consistent line of communication about the needs of the property. It doesn’t take much deep thinking to realize that this scenario, where the tenant loves where they live, the tenant will have more of an intrinsic desire to care for the property throughout the length of the lease.

The point we are trying to express here is this: if a tenant loves where they live because of great management, amenities, or whatever the reason—they will be stewards of your property. However, if they don’t have a positive relationship with management or dislike too many features of the property—they will neglect your property. So, while the first rule of real estate may be location, location, location, the first rule of Sioux Falls investment property ownership is to choose a home that you, yourself, could live in if need be. Empathy is one of the most powerful traits when considering a marketable rental property. Here are a few key features you might want to consider when analyzing your next investment property:

• Quiet location, near main roads, but not on them directly
• A fenced yard for children and pets
• No quirky or odd layouts
• Identify a location that is central to schools, dining, shopping, entertainment, and public transportation

Keeping these seemingly “small” details at the forefront of your mind when looking at investment real estate will undoubtedly help you make a sound decision on a property. These factors will make your rental more marketable which will lead to more applications and less (costly) vacancy. As always if you have any questions at all while making a decision to purchase, manage, or invest in real estate, the Real Property Management Express team is here to help.