No one likes to do it and no one likes to pay for it. As real estate investors, staying on top of property maintenance is a key way to keep your tenants content and build a reputation as an investor who cares for their business. Even when you have property management handling the nitty-gritty details and hands-on aspects of property maintenance, that doesn’t mean investors can ignore maintenance and simply rely on that management company.

Smart real estate investors stay in front of property maintenance by accepting it as a capital expenditure (capex) that is going to always be there.  Maintenance is what prevents major issues and when issues arise, whether you landlord yourself or use a management company, time and action are vitally important.  The longer we wait as real estate investors to address maintenance issues, the bigger the problems become and the bigger bite they take out of our check books.

This is the first of a few articles I am writing dealing with the topic of tenants.  It is my hope that I can help investors get a better understanding of exactly who the tenant is that is renting their properties.  I figured the easiest place to start was defining exactly what tenants are looking for today.

At the same time, many of the investors that work with Memphis Invest and Premier Property Management are reviewing statements from 2014 and deciding what to add for 2015.  With three cities and varying price points available for portfolios, there is a lot to choose from, but more importantly...there is a lot for renters to choose from.  Here are the top factors for tenants that you need to consider.

In real estate investment, there are always things we can do better. As owners, our property managers are one of our greatest assets. They ensure that your real estate investments run smoothly in the day-to-day nitty gritty.

No one person can be more instrumental in the success — or failure — of your real estate investments than your property manager. They act as organizer, middleman and voice for your investment property. A good property manager not only keep real estate investors from having to deal with the daily grind of many landlord responsibilities, but they are key in finding and keeping good tenants.

There is a phrase that is often used when talking success for real estate investors.  It goes:  A bad property manager can destroy a great investment every time.

Sometimes it feels like a futile struggle to get tenants to pay on time. Your property manager can send reminder after reminder in every way they can think of, from the spoken word, written note, email, text, tweet to smoke signals and semaphore...sometimes nothing seems to work!

When the rent payments come in late, it can be a real inconvenience to real estate investors — particularly those who own single-family properties.  At the same time, high turnover rates can be a killer for a real estate investor.  Both of these issues can easily be overcome with a few simple steps and "re-evaluation" of the owner/landlord/management/tenant relationship.

Whether you’ve taken on landlord responsibilities yourself as a real estate investor or you’ve hired a property manager, there are things people dislike about property management. 

It’s not all petty griping —there are some good reasons to complain. When you invest in real estate, It's a job that takes enormous patience, sacrifice and interpersonal and organizational skills.  Add the responsibility of managing your properties and it’s not for the faint of heart.