When you are a property manager or landlord it can be a very challenging thing to know when to raise peoples rents and by how much. You want it to be beneficially for you but at the same time not have it to high forcing tenant to move out causing you to have a large amount of vacancies.
The first thing I would recommend is to do your research. There are plenty of websites now a days that can assist you in determining what fair market value would be to rent in your area for e.g.. http://www.zillow.com and http://www.rentometer.com. These sites will giving you a good determination what you should be charging.
The next thing I would say is don’t raise everyones rent at one time. Chances are that not everyone’s lease will finish at the same time but if they happen to be around the same time frame I would recommended you stretch them out as much as possible, again you don’t want to risk having to may people move out at once.
A tip that might help and I find to be a very effective method is to try your best to time it and raise rents around tax time. It will benefit both you and the tenant in the sense people have extra money around this time of year and if they are not happy and don’t want to move forward with he new rent amount they aren’t stuck with no extra money to move and find a more suitable place. This will also benefit you because people are always looking to move at this time because they have extra money so you will stay vacant for a less amount of time. Second best time would be around when kids start school. People alway want to move and get settled before the new school year starts so its best to raise rents around these times because chances are you can rent the unit out much quicker if the tenant decides to leave.
Written by Scott Esmail
Scott Esmail.com 