We own some rental properties and we are far from being experts in anything related to real estate rentals. We became accidental rental property owners but it’s worked out ok so far without any major issues.
I really like the mostly passive income stream that comes from property rentals but it’s not completely passive. Last year we had an issue with a water heater that ended up costing $600 to repair. I had forgotten about that issue until I came across this YouTube video from one of my virtual real estate mentors, Coach Carson.
In this video, Coach talks to someone that owns 100+ properties and has experience in what solutions have worked to keep maintenance costs low. The IBC device you see in the image of the video is a home heating and water heating unit that works great to lower maintenance costs. I wish I knew that before I had the water heater repaired in my rental unit but being a landlord is a learning journey.
There are other pro tips on flooring, roofing, plumbing, materials quality and more. If you own or plan to own rental properties, I would encourage you to watch this video and Coach Carson’s channel. Coach is a great mentor in the rental business.
Risk Mitigation
The largest risks to owning real estate rentals are:
- Having your tenant(s) become injured due to poor maintenance.
- Losing your tenant(s) because of poor maintenance.
- Losing your property to destruction due to poor maintenance.
There are other risks which I will cover in future posts but the most of the core risks are related to maintenance of the property you own. Doing preventative maintenance, optimizing maintenance with quality proven solutions, and operationally maintaining the property are the best risk mitigation along with the right insurance policies.