Passive Income Resource Guide
Property Management
165 articles9 sections
Self-manage or hire a manager
- Self-Managing vs Hiring a Property Manager: Costs, Time, and TasksStart here Managers typically charge 8% to 12% of collected rent plus leasing and repair fees. Hire one when that cost is less than your hours, distance, or legal risk are worth.
- How to Find a Good Property Manager Interview several firms, check the state license and where rents and deposits are held, compare their track records, and read the agreement before you sign it.
- Managing Rental Properties Remotely To manage a rental from far away, line up local help for emergencies and showings, follow absentee-owner rules, and budget for a manager's fee or travel costs.
- Property Management Fees: What to Expect and Negotiate Most managers charge 8% to 12% of collected rent, plus leasing, renewal, and repair fees. Compare full-year cost at your rent and turnover, and negotiate the extras.
- Scaling Your Property Management Operations Add software and written procedures first, then an assistant and a technician; a full-time manager costs about $75,400 a year, an 8% fee on 52 units at $1,500.
Maintenance, repairs, and inspections
- Building Reliable Vendor Relationships for Property Management Verify each contractor's license and insurance, use lead-safe certified firms in pre-1978 rentals, get bids and lien releases in writing, and collect a W-9.
- Handling Maintenance Requests Efficiently Take repair requests in one written channel, sort them by urgency, and start habitability repairs within your state's deadline or tenants may repair and deduct.
- Preventive Maintenance Schedule for Rental Properties Test alarms and check HVAC filters monthly, drain the water heater quarterly, service HVAC, gutters, and roof each spring and fall, and budget by remaining life.
- Rental Property Inspections: When, How, and Why Inspect at move-in, at least yearly, and at move-out, give your state's entry notice (24 hours in California, 2 days in Washington), and photograph every room.
- Filing Insurance Claims on Rental Properties File when the loss clearly exceeds your deductible, give prompt notice, stop further damage, inventory losses, and send proof of loss before the policy deadline.
Leases, rent, and tenant problems
- Dealing with Difficult Tenants: A Property Management Guide Document the problem, warn in writing, then serve your state's cure notice; try mediation or cash for keys before filing, and never lock out or retaliate.
- The Eviction Process: Step-by-Step Legal Guide Evicting a tenant takes a written notice, a lawsuit, a judgment, and a sheriff's lockout. California's courts say the court stage alone takes 30 to 45 days or more.
- Lease Management: Renewals, Amendments, and Terminations Change a fixed-term lease by signed addendum, give your state's notice to end or not renew it, and know the legal early exits: re-renting, military orders, and violence.
- Rent Collection Systems and Best Practices Collect rent by ACH, keep a fee-free paper option where state law requires one, set late fees within state caps, and follow a dated timeline to a valid notice.
Bookkeeping, metrics, and software
- Accounting for Landlords: How to Track Rental Income and Expenses Run rent and costs through a separate account, sort each entry to a Schedule E line, split repairs from improvements, and keep receipts until the limit runs out.
- Best Landlord Software and Property Management Tools 2026 prices and limits for Stessa, Baselane, RentRedi, TurboTenant, Buildium, and AppFolio, matched to portfolio size, plus how to check payout timing and tenant fees.
- Key Property Management Metrics Every Landlord Should Track Seven landlord metrics with formulas and a worked example: economic occupancy, days vacant, collection rate, expense ratio, maintenance per unit, turnover, tenure.
Legal rules and security deposits
- Legal Compliance for Property Managers and Landlords Every landlord must follow fair housing, lead paint disclosure, credit report notice, and servicemember rules, plus state and local rules for each property.
- Security Deposit Management: Legal Requirements and Best Practices Charge no more than your state's cap, hold the deposit as required, deduct only charges allowed by state law, and itemize on time, often 14 to 30 days.
Finding and keeping tenants
- How to Set Rental Rates for Your Properties Price from comparable units that recently leased, adjusted for differences, correct it with listing response, and keep renewals within state caps and notice rules.
- Tenant Retention Strategies for Landlords Price renewals against turnover cost, send the offer before your state's notice deadline, and fix what renters cite when they move: unit quality and repairs.
- The Tenant Screening Process: Steps, Criteria, and Legal Rules Screen every applicant in order: written criteria, application and fee, credit and eviction reports, income and landlord checks, then a decision with FCRA notices.
- Minimizing Turnover Costs in Rental Properties Each vacant day costs a day's rent, about $50 at the mid-2026 U.S. median. Show the unit during notice, book make-ready work early, and reserve monthly.
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