Great Ways to Decrease Turnover Expenses
Having a tenant move from an apartment can be frustrating, especially when it’s unexpected. While it’s going to happen no matter what you do, turnover expenses are still one of your biggest expenses as a landlord. Regardless, it’s something that must be dealt with immediately since having an apartment sitting vacant interrupts your cash flow and rental income. During the time that your unit is vacant, you should do repairs quickly, market the apartment, and, hopefully, find qualified applicants fast to keep vacancy cost low.
Below are a few ways that you can save money and decrease turnover expenses.
- Use One Kind of Paint
Overall, if you want to save money and a headache when looking for new paint for your units, keep it simple and use the same paint color. This is likewise a saving when you have to do touchup work in apartments. Notably, you don’t have to worry about painting the entire apartment, and you can just touch up the areas that need repainting.
Of course, in some rental markets and luxury apartments, two-tone paint is preferred. Still, using the same two-toned paint in every apartment will save you money in the long run. Moreover, you can also keep extra paint in each unit for touch up repairs.
- Use LED Lightbulbs
While using LED lightbulbs may not sound like a big deal, actually using LED lights saves electrical energy. LED lightbulbs can last up to 50,000 hours. This is important since you’re paying the utilities after your tenant vacates
Additionally, due to the longer lifespan, your handyman, or the tenant will not have to change out the lightbulbs as often. This small project can save you both time and money.
- Install a Master Key System
Installing a master key system is important. First, you or your property manager don’t have to walk around with a million keys. Secondly, when a tenant loses their key, you can get them a new key immediately, without having to get a brand-new lock.
Yes, it is costly to set the system up, but after that, it’s a game-changer and quite convenient.
- Eliminate Carpeting
Having apartments with carpet is a big pain and quite frankly not smart business. Notably, it’s expensive to maintain and change when needed. It is likewise a magnet for mold and other household allergens that can irritate your tenants.
Instead, consider using vinyl tile (LVT) flooring, ceramic tile, or snap together floor covering. These types of flooring can endure a lot of wear and tear, and they are simple to clean and maintain.
- Hire a Cleaning Crew
Hiring the same crew or cleaning company to turnover each apartment in your building will save you time and money in the long run. Notably, as your cleaning crew becomes familiar with your building, your cleaning crew will undoubtedly develop a streamlined process that meets your requirements and expectations.
The repetition cuts down on labor costs as well as decreases the turnover time substantially by having your unit cleaned and ready as soon as possible.
Your goal is to get everything as nice as possible for your next tenant. This makes a good first impression. Particularly, if your tenants see that you take care of your property, they may likewise maintain the apartment as well.
- Preventive Maintenance
Repair work is inescapable. As such, while your unit is vacant, this is the best time preventive maintenance tasks to help prevent major repair issues in the near future.
Do everything you can. For example, replace Smoke and CO detectors batteries. Recharge or replace fire extinguishers. Have your HVAC system inspected and replaced if necessary.
While preventive maintenance may seem excessive, experienced property managers and landlords understand that it’s far more expensive (and frustrating) to deal with major repair issues that were preventable.
At the end of the day, lowering the turnover time and expenses should be one of your top goals as a landlord. So, you should figure out the best way to achieve this goal. Bear in mind that in some instances, spending the cash now and doing things the best way will save you cash down the road. Trust me, I know from experience!
