Are You Able to Increase Your rent?

It always surprises me how people think that if their cashflow is not stacking up then the first thing they need to do is to look to increase rents. Normally when this approach is blindly taken it leads to more harm being done as the property then takes even longer to let.

You cannot just increase the rent if your property cash flow doesn’t stack up. You need to look closely at what YOUR property market is doing. By this I mean you need to assess properly how the property you are letting is bearing up in the current market in your area. For example, if you are letting out an apartment and the market is saturated in your local area then you would be crazy to increase the rents for this property.
 
However if you are letting property that is in great demand in your local area then definitely look to increase rents, but always be competitive.

Before you can increase the rents there are two things that you must do:

a) Speak with atleast three letting agents to establish what the property is likely to let for and what you need to do to achieve the higher rental income.
b) Act as a prospective tenant and look at your competition. If you see that your property is superior to your competitors then you can justify increasing the rent.

However there always MUST be some kind of justification why you are charging a higher rent than others. Some justifications can include:

– Your property is better decorated/furnished
– Your property comes with a car parking space
– Your property is more spacious
– etc.

If you can justify your increase then go for it, as it can be the easiest and quickest way to boost your property cashflow without spending any money on your property!

Remember: Our landlords property management software will help you to track your property cash flow.

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