Owning a rental property often means extra household income. How nice it is though to realize it’s the first of the month and people are handing you their rent checks. But, being an owner of rental property can be difficult. The most difficult part is locating property that you can buy and rent out.

If you’ve managed to choose some worthwhile properties the last few years, that’s good, but chances are you could boost your rental portfolio even more. How can you do this?

Separately Rent Additional Space

There is a significant amount of positive points to this – garages, storage sheds, etc. If you have a storage shed detached from the house, you can add another $50 or $100 a month to the rent for the space.

Rent Amenities

If you decide to furnish the house, consider adding these items to the rent to increase the stream of revenue. For example, if you have washer and dryer, you can either add those amenities to the rent or remove them if they don’t agree to pay extra for the appliances. Renting these appliances can add to the cash flow you get each month, but you do have to repair them should something breaks.

This goes for any kind of property in the home.

Bill For Utilities

It’s difficult for any novice landlord to bill their tenants for the utilities. When it comes to utilities, it’s best if you pay for them yourself and then bill your tenants for the charges. Of course, many landlords request that tenants pay for their utilities. This means a higher influx of cash for you and your tenants will be more cautious about how much utility they are using.

Lower Your Turnover Rate

It sounds obvious but tends to be overlooked. After all, turnovers can be expensive. One turnover can endanger your profits for an entire year or more – loss in rent, advertising, maintenance and repairs, etc. Lowering your turnover rate can be rather complex. Here are some ideas to assist you with your rental units:

• Screen Tenants – The best way to lower your turnover rate is to screen the tenants. You want quality tenants, which can only be done by properly screening them. It’s important you do both criminal and credit checks, but consider interviewing the prospect about why they’re looking to rent from you and why they’re moving in the first place. Call their references and do as much due diligence as you can.
• Small Increases In Rent – It can be difficult to keep up with the rental increases in the market. In fact, you may notice rents increasing at a rapid pace more than you can handle. This is a good thing. However, you may want to consider not raising your rent too high, as your tenant may be unable to afford the rent even if they’re ashamed of telling you this. They may make every effort to pay the rent, but, in the end, be unable to. This will lead to higher turnover rates for your rental property.
• Maintenance – There may be some maintenance issues you should have to take care of, such as plumbing clogs due to hair in the drain. If this happens, send the invoice to your tenant to reimburse you for the payment. However, you want to make sure you stipulate what you will and will not cover, and what your tenant is responsible for.
• Other Maintenance – When it comes to other maintenance issues, be sure to take care of them right away. Tenants are very appreciative when you take care of their problems instead of dilly-dallying.  If your tenant needs to move to another home your own, they’re more likely to rent from you if you keep up the maintenance on your property.