How to Get the Most Money for Your Sacramento Rental Property

When you want to maximize the income potential on your rental property, the first and most important thing you can do is minimize vacancy. It’s well known that the longer your property is vacant, the more money you are going to lose. When you work towards keeping those vacancy periods to a minimum, there are a couple of things to consider. 

First, a lot of owners like to do their own repairs. This is certainly understandable – why pay a vendor to do what you can do yourself? Doing your own repairs can save you money as long as you do them right away. If you don’t have the time to make those repairs quickly, your home is going to stay vacant longer. Maybe you only have weekends to do the work or one day per week. If that’s the case, it will actually save you money in the long run to have a vendor do the necessary work. It’s a deterrent during showings when there are repairs that need to be made. Every day your property is vacant, you’re losing that rental income. 

You also have to set the correct rental price. Sometimes, just a difference of $50 will leave your property vacant longer. We tell owners that it’s okay to set your rental price at $50 or $100 above the market for one week. However, if you don’t get any hits from qualified tenants, you want to bring it back down to what the rent should be according to the market, and it will rent much quicker. 

When you get your applications in from interested tenants, it’s imperative to screen them properly. This will save you time and money in the long run and it will also save you from damage to your property. Stick to your guns on your qualification requirements and you’ll have great, high quality tenants. 

Owners often ask if they’ll get more rent by changing the counters in the kitchen to granite or by remodeling the entire home. Typically, the answer is no. If the property looks clean and it really shines, it won’t matter if you have tile from the 1980s. As long as it’s clean and it looks good, you’ll get a good tenant. You won’t get that money back that you spend on an expensive remodel and granite countertops aren’t going to bring you $10,000 in extra rent. 

If you have any questions on maximizing your rental income, or you’d like to discuss these tips in greater detail, please contact us at Sacramento Delta.