Not everyone has the right personality traits to become a successful landlord.
But if you have these five traits, you’re probably prepared for the job.
If you don’t, you may have to put in some extra effort to meet your goals or reconsider your options.
Extroverted
Even if you only own one rental property, you will come into contact with a lot of people while working as a landlord.
In addition to your tenants, you’ll likely have to communicate and network with maintenance workers, property managers and real estate investors in your area.
This type of work is often much easier for extroverted property owners who enjoy meeting new people.
That doesn’t mean introverts will find the work impossible, however.
They just might not enjoy it as much as extroverts who are at their best while working with others.
Organized
Landlords have to keep a lot of information and documents in order.
Some of the items that you must keep organized include:
- Leases
- Rent payments
- Property taxes
- Tenant screening forms
If you lose track of any of these documents, you will find it very difficult to make money as a landlord.
There are some tools that can help you stay organized.
Online document storage and rent payments, for instance, will keep most of the documents you need in order.
And because they’re stored in the cloud, you can access them whenever you want without shuffling through towers of unorganized paper.
Detail-Oriented
In addition to being an organized person, you also have to pay close attention to details.
If you are the type of person who double checks financial records, for instance, you won’t find out at the end of the year that you accidentally entered $10,000 instead of $1,000.
Going back to find and fix that kind of mistake takes a lot of time that you could devote to more useful tasks.
Paying attention to details can also help you make more money from your rental properties.
Like many landlords, you probably explain in the lease that tenants will have to pay additional fees.
For instance, tenants might have to pay late fees if they don’t send you their rent by a certain date.
If you are a detail-oriented person, you will keep track of this to make sure you collect fees when appropriate.
Depending on how many properties you have, this could amount to hundreds or even thousands of dollars per year.
Fair
As a landlord, you will encounter all types of people.
You may not particularly agree with or even like some of the people you meet, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t treat them fairly.
By keeping an open mind and acting as fairly as possible, you can build a positive reputation that others will respect.
Trying to treat people fairly can also keep you out of legal problems.
There are currently seven protected classes against which landlords cannot discriminate.
These classes include:
- Race
- Color
- Religion
- National origin
- Gender
- Disability
- Familial status
If you treat everyone fairly, this isn’t something that you have to spend a lot of time thinking about.
Still, it’s always a good idea to know the law so you don’t accidentally get into trouble that can damage your reputation and profits.
Action-Oriented
The best landlords are always willing to take action when it’s needed.
They don’t procrastinate, and they certainly do not try to ignore messages from their tenants.
Putting things off until later will just make it harder for you to keep tenants happy, maintain your properties and follow the law.
As an action-oriented person, you are always ready to handle difficult tasks when they arise.
Your tenants will appreciate it, and you will keep your properties in top condition so you can earn more money.
