Key Takeaways

1. Proactive Maintenance Saves Money: Addressing small repair issues like leaky faucets promptly prevents costly damages, such as burst pipes or mold, preserving your Clark County property’s value and avoiding thousands in repair costs.
2. Legal Compliance Reduces Fees: Familiarizing yourself with Nevada’s landlord-tenant laws (e.g., fair housing, eviction rules) or partnering with a property manager like B&R Property Management helps avoid expensive legal fees from disputes or non-compliance.
3. Effective Marketing Minimizes Vacancy Costs: Using professional photography and targeted advertising on platforms like Zillow reduces vacancy periods, ensuring consistent rental income and covering ongoing expenses like mortgage and taxes.
4. Thorough Tenant and Vendor Screening Protects Profits: Rigorous vetting of tenants (checking income, rental history) and contractors (comparing rates, verifying reputation) prevents financial losses from unreliable renters or overpriced services.

As a landlord, planning, anticipating, and estimating your rental investment’s expenditures is crucial. The goal is to ensure that you can keep your expenses in check for optimal return on investment (ROI).

However, despite these efforts, you may realize some overspending from time to time. Left unaddressed, these can eat into your profit margins and negatively impact your investment goals.

In today’s blog, B&R Property Management will walk you through some of the costs that you may not realize are accruing and what you can do to stop them.

5 Hidden Costs Landlords Often Overlook in Property Management

Repair and Maintenance Costs

As a landlord, it is crucial to understand that repair and maintenance is one of the most important property management aspects. Your tenants may call you to notify you of an issue like a leaky faucet, a malfunctioning appliance, or even a pest infestation.

What may start as a small leak in a faucet can turn into a burst pipe if you leave it unaddressed. Other issues that could arise from the burst pipe could include things like mold growth or structural damage.

And fixing such damage could cost you thousands in repair costs. Not to mention the disruption and inconvenience you could cause the tenant, as certain areas could become unusable.

To prevent such a possibility, make sure you are proactive with rental repairs and maintenance. Provide the tenant with multiple channels of communication ensuring they can reach you with ease. 

Lastly, respond appropriately to ensure small issues don’t become serious and potentially expensive to fix later on.

Legal Fees

Legal fees is another area where costs can rack up to extraordinary amounts if you’re not careful. As a landlord, there may come a time when you may need to enlist the services of a legal partner. Possible scenarios include:

• When looking to evict a difficult tenant from your rental property. 
• When looking for professional help in drafting a rental agreement.
• When looking to understand and comply with landlord-tenant laws.

If looking to partner with a legal professional, make sure to do your due diligence first. Go for experts who have years of experience under their belt and have positive reviews from prior clients. 

Alternatively, you may also want to work with a reputable and professional property management company like B&R Property Management to help with any legal compliance issues.

As for the increasing need for legal services, make sure to stay legally compliant with the state’s landlord-tenant laws. 

For starters, make sure you are familiar with the state’s fair housing laws, security deposit rules, habitability codes, and eviction laws, among others. You could also enlist the services of a full-service property manager to help you handle all landlording aspects on your behalf.

Vacancy Costs

Vacancy costs not only cost you rental income but can impact your bottom line as well. Some of those costs include:

• Loss of rental income
• Mortgage payments
• Property taxes
• Insurance policies
• Utilities
• Marketing and advertising costs
• Maintenance and repairs

To avoid these heavy costs, make sure to market your rental property effectively. By highlighting the key features of your property, leveraging professional photography and creating alluring headlines, you can market your rental to a wider pool of tenants. 

This can ensure you always have a pool of interested applicants ready to move in immediately upon vacancy.

Poor Quality Tenants

Don’t let the pressure of filling a vacancy jeopardize the quality of tenants you rent to. No matter how overwhelming the pressure becomes, always insist on renting to a quality tenant. A quality tenant pays rent on time, cares for their rented premises and notifies of maintenance issues promptly.

To maximize your chances of renting to a quality tenant, ensure you make them go through a meticulous vetting process. The process should include checking and verifying every prospective tenant’s:

• Income: Choose a tenant who can demonstrate they can afford consistent rent payments. Preferably, go for tenants that earn at least 3X the monthly rent amount. 
• Employment status. Go for a tenant who has a stable employment history. 
• Rental history. Choose a tenant who has a good rental history with prior landlords. You can even call them to ascertain the details the prospective tenant has provided you with.

Vendors & Contractors

This is another cost you may be accruing without realizing!

As a landlord, vendors and contractors are some of the professionals you’ll need to have in your team for successful landlording and property management. These can include landscapers, roofers, plumbers, inspectors, handypersons, and maintenance contractors.

Others can include legal professionals, bookkeepers, accountants, and a software partner.

But because being a landlord can be quite demanding, you may fail to price shop and get proper estimates for work performed. The result of this can be price- and rate hikes. There may also be hidden charges for any work done outside normal business hours.

To prevent such issues, vet vendors and contractors just as you would with potential residents. Take ample time to identify reputable service providers and build mutually beneficial relationships with them.

Conclusion

As a landlord, keeping costs in check is a key recipe for success. Luckily for you, this blog has you covered in this regard. You’ll now be on your way to optimizing your return on investment.

For expert help in managing your Las Vegas rental property, look no further than B&R Property Management. We have an unparalleled track record of property management excellence in Las Vegas. Get in touch to learn more!