Rental Properties: 10 Ways To Increase Income

What if you want better cash flow from your rental properties? You can't just raise the rents arbitrarily. If tenants leave, income goes down, not up. There are other ways, though, including the ones listed below.

1. Install coin-operated washing machines. Even if you don't have the money to do this yourself, you can find a company that will do it for you, and share the income with you. 2. Rent extra parking space. When I got tired of a renter's extra car, I just started charging a weekly fee. Then I didn't mind so much.

3. Raise the rent. Okay, we did dismiss ARBITRARY rent hikes as a cash-flow solution, but check on the rates for similar units. Are you renting at below-market rates?

4. Rent storage sheds. Especially if your apartments are small, your renters may need a place to store their things. Don't let them spend their money elsewhere. Put a few sheds on the property.

5. Enforce late fees. It is perfectly fair to have a fee for late payment of rent, and guess what? Those who are chronically late usually don't even mind - they just don't look at these things the same way as others.

6. Offer improvements for rent increases. If it's worth $25 more monthly rent to a tenant, install that dishwasher. Even on a credit card you'll pay less than that per month for it.

7. Install vending machines. If your rental properties are large enough, others will do this for you for free, and give you a share of the income. 8. Rent by the room. A four-bedroom house might make more money if you include all the utilities and rent by the bedroom. This has made a lot of fortunes for investors in college towns. It does mean a lot of management, however.

9. Rent-to-own sale. Usually there's a non-refundable deposit, and higher than market rents in these deals. When renters change their minds, as they often do, you got the deposit and better cash flow. This is great when poor cash flow makes you want to sell. You either sell or get the better cash flow as you repeat the process. 10. Reduce expenses. Every dollar of expense you cut goes straight to the bottom line. List every expense of your rental properties, and look at them one at a time. How can you reduce them?

Posted by Chris Bernstein on December 13, 2008 at 12:00 AM

About Chris Bernstein
Chris Bernstein is affliated with RE/MAX Properties, which is located in Sarasota, FL. For further assistance please use the contact information located on the right.

As of 05/22/12 the Chris Bernstein RePage is ranked at 4,001 with 405 points.

Local Information for Sarasota, FL

Latitude: 27.337273 -- Longitude: -82.535318

ZIP Codes for Sarasota, Florida	34230 34231 34232 34233 34234 34235 34236 34237 34238 34239 34240 34241 34242 34243 34260 34276 34277 34278
Area Code for Sarasota, Florida	941
Time zone for Sarasota, Florida	EST

Other Area Cities: South Gate Ridge, FL Sarasota, FL Bee Ridge, FL Bradenton, FL Longboat Key, FL Palmetto, FL Siesta Key, FL Memphis, FL South Bradenton, FL Venice, FL

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your Sarasota photos!

To see random photos for other cities Click Here.

Submit your photos of Sarasota and become eligible to win $200. Click Here for details.

Sarasota is a city in the central west coast of Florida, USA. The Gulf of Mexico is to the west and Sarasota Bay separates portions of this city that is composed of a mainland and its barrier islands, known as keys. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 52,715. As of 2004, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau is 54,349 [1]. It is the county seat for Sarasota County.GR6 There's a distinction between the actual city and the perceived city. Most residents of what is known as "Sarasota" actually live in unincorporated parts of Sarasota County. Some even live in Manatee County because Sarasota was considered to reach Bowlees Creek before Sarasota County was created in 1921 out of a portion of Manatee County. The southern boundary of Bradenton, the closest city to the north in Manatee County, is twelve miles away. So an arbitrary line separated portions of what once was identified as Sarasota before the creation of Sarasota County. -- Source: Wikipedia.com

Florida 2000 Census Population Profile Map

	Sarasota	Florida	United States
Population	52,715	15,982,378	281,421,906
Median age	41.1	38.7	35.3
Median age for Male	38.9	37.3	34
Median age for Female	43.5	40.1	36.5
Households	23,427	6,337,929	105,480,101
Household population	49,593	15,593,433	273,643,273
Average household size	2.12	2.46	2.59
Families	12,076	4,210,760	71,787,347
Average family size	2.81	2.98	3.14
Housing units	26,898	7,302,947	115,904,641
Occupied units	23,427	6,337,929	105,480,101
Vacant units	3,471	965,018	10,424,540

Visit US Census

Enter our Photo Sweepstakes and Win $200 for your Sarasota photos!

Rental Properties: 10 Ways To Increase Income

Local Information for Sarasota, FL

Latitude: 27.337273 -- Longitude: -82.535318

The Leader Spanish Real Estate

ATF Forex Trading

Lingerie & Perfumes

Wedding Singer

QROPS