Many property owners are also the landlords of their investments, but the two roles don’t have to be connected. An owner is the one who, as the name suggests, owns the land and home directly; a landlord is a person who finds tenants and rents out the house, apartment, or condo to them.
If you are an owner looking to hire out your landlord duties, what exactly can you expect from landlord services? As it turns out, quite a lot!
What Are Landlord Services?
Landlord services are those provided by someone renting or leasing the property to a tenant in return for the rental payment. These services refer to the specific rights and responsibilities of landlords, and while these vary from province to province, there are general laws common across the country. For starters, landlords are legally obliged to make sure that the rental unit complies with the rules and regulations about minimum standards for health, safety, housing, and maintenance.
Before renting or leasing a property, the landlord must make sure that it meets municipal property standards, zoning bylaws, fire safety regulations, and local building codes. It’s also up to the landlord to maintain these standards throughout the tenancy. If you’re new to the property business, making sure you’ve followed them correctly can be a challenge. It’s very important to know what you have to do before bringing in tenants.
Keeping Track Of What You Can And Can’t Do
Some services are split between the landlord and tenant, with the landlord providing the necessary maintenance or repairs and the tenant cleaning and making sure the property is kept up to legal standards. For example, landlords have to make sure that the tenants have access to a reasonable supply of fuel, electricity, hot and cold water, and other utility services like cable and internet. However, landlords don’t have to cover the costs of these if the agreement says the tenant must pay to connect and/or use these services themselves.
Tenants, in turn, must pay the rent on time, behave well, and clean the rental premises as per their agreement. They must also fix any wilful damage or destruction caused by negligent acts, either done by the tenant or a person whom the tenant lets into the property.
Why Landlord Services Can Be Outsourced
As we mentioned previously, property owners are not always the landlords of the units they rent out. People who buy properties for investment purposes may find that, before putting their units on the market, they don’t have the skills, experience, or patience to navigate all the jobs and responsibilities the law requires of landlords.
Landlord services can include advertising, taking professional photos taken of your property, finding the tenants and putting them through a screening process (including credit and employment checks), giving tenant walk-throughs, collecting and depositing the rent. It also includes setting up grass cutting and snow removal (should the lease require it) and the handling of all maintenance requests and repairs.
If the amount of work required to be a good landlord sounds like a lot, choose a Forest City Property Management Landlord Services package that meets your needs! We’ll make sure you get the most out of your investment.