In a perfect world, you'd never have a vacant unit. In a perfect world, your quality tenants would never want to leave your community. In a perfect world, vacancies are filled before the previous tenant even has the chance to move out.
Unfortunately, we don't live in a perfect world. The reality is that at one point or another, all property managers will be forced to contend with a vacant unit. Scott Safadi of Cal Bay Property Management recommends these three tips to keep your vacant units up to snuff:
1. Keep it secure. Kids loving nothing more than exploring, and if your unit's door is unlocked or a window is cracked open, you could find yourself with a mess on your hands. Worse yet is the chance that something more sinister could occur in the unit left unsecured. Do your best to keep the unit locked up tight!
2. Inspect regularly. If a pipe bursts in an occupied unit, you'll know within hours of the accident. If a pipe bursts in a vacant unit, though, it could be days or even weeks before anyone notices something has gone awry. That's why it pays to inspect the unit with regularity. Even if you can't stop in every week, alert neighbors to the fact that the unit is vacant. They can help be your eyes and ears when you're not around!
3. Avoid "for rent" signs. For landlords eager to fill a vacancy, this tip might seem counterintuitive. But the reality is that most renters will be looking at real estate online these days. For rent signs are just promoting that the unit may indeed be vacant — and that could be a big security risk.
- Scott Safadi, Cal Bay Property Management
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