For owners of rental real estate, one of the biggest concerns can be receiving your rent checks on time. When a tenant pays his or her rent late, not only can it throw off your income and expense figures, but it also takes time on your part to track the tenant down and ensure that the money is eventually brought in.
There are some ways to help yourself with making sure you receive your income on time, though. One method is to offer an “early payment discount.” This essentially allows the tenant to pay a lesser amount of rent if payment is made prior to a certain date.
If you go this route, however, be careful that you are acting within the boundaries of the law. In this case, for instance, an early rent discount could be construed as simply a “late fee in camouflage.”
With that in mind, there are some other strategies that you could consider for getting your rent money on or before its due date. For example, having the tenant sign up for electronic payments or automatic withdrawals can be a win-win situation. Here, you and the tenant can determine what date the payment will be made, and each month the funds will automatically be “swept” from the tenant’s bank account to yours.
Another way to avoid taking up your own time with rent collection, as well as with managing and maintaining your rental properties, is to work with a professional property management team.
In doing so, you can delegate all of the time-consuming landlord duties, while at the same time still benefiting from your investment. If you own rental homes or units in Orlando or the surrounding Central Florida area, give us a call to find out more about how a property manager can work for you.