Ok, so you are now ready to rent your property meaning that you have researched and followed applicable laws with regard to renting out your property, set an appropriate rent and security deposit, made the home rent ready to new residents and writing a stellar ad to get attention of those prospective residents; your phone and email should now be bombarded with prospective tenants wanting the “showing a rental property.”
Most new landlords in Coeur D’Alene idealize that showing the property will only take about a half an hour. This is not the case, even if you live next to your rental. Showing a rental property will require significant time for initial discussion on the phone, applicant paperwork, and driving to/from your property. Time management is essential so that the idealized showing a rental property doesn’t take too much from your life. A few things to keep in mind as you schedule your time and expenses for tax purposes are as follows per showing:
Time spent on phone for initial discussion, plan to talk 15-20 minutes
Drive to property, show tenant inside and outside, all features, 25-90 minutes
Applicant will fill out paperwork, this varies greatly; anywhere from 15 minutes to 3 days or longer
Car mileage: 57.5 cents per mile. If property ten miles away, then total mileage deduction would be $11.50 per each time driven
Car gas – About one gallon per visit – about $2.50 per gallon
Each showing will require 1.5 hours, $11 of wear & tear on car, and $2.50 in gas
The idealist landlord falls into is showing a rental property only once and taking the first applicant with money in hand. However, it takes on average 7 to 15 showings to find a quality and qualified applicant. By our estimated costs for each showing a rental property, and performing 7 to 15 showings will use up approximately 10-20 hours of your time, $80-$230 for wear and tear on your car, and $17 to $37 in gas.
The above information should give you a solid idea as to the time and costs required for showing your property so that you can plan accordingly.
Real Property Management Coeur d’ Alene is here for all your property management needs beyond showing a rental property.