People are clumsy, dirty, accident-prone Tasmanian devils. That goes double for children, and says nothing of pets.
Homeowners are no better, but they have so much money invested in their property that they take more care not to damage it. But renters? Fuhget about it. Tornado inbound, chance of damage: 100%.
So how to protect your rental property, that you’ve invested hundreds of thousands of dollars into?
Like everything else in rental management, an ounce of prevention is worth pounds upon pounds of cure. While screening tenants thoroughly (including an inspection of their current home) helps you weed out the dirtiest and least reliable tenants, you also need to armor your property to withstand the incoming horde.
From physical rental property improvements to protective lease clauses, here’s how to tenant-proof your property and prevent damage before it happens.
First Protection Priority: Landlord Insurance
First and foremost, landlords need insurance. Several types of landlord insurance policies, in fact.
You need a rental property insurance policy, of course. Lenders require these, if you have a rental property mortgage on the property. Double check exactly what your policy covers, and the policy exclusions. Try Sure as a reputable landlord insurance option.
You should also consider buying rent default insurance. If the tenants stop paying the rent, the insurance policy kicks in and pays it for them until they either catch it up or you complete the eviction process and sign a lease agreement with a new renter. Check out The Guarantors and Steady for reputable rent default insurers, to never worry about your tenants failing to pay rent again.
With The Guarantors, the tenant actually pays for the policy. It includes damage coverage, in lieu of collecting a security deposit. So the policy not only guarantees the tenant’s rents, but also protects against rental property damage.
Finally, require your tenants to buy renters insurance. These policies provide some protection to landlords as well, such as putting up renters if the property becomes uninhabitable, and protecting against pet attacks. Sure offers renters insurance in addition to landlord insurance.
What’s Better than Tenant-Proofing? Tenant Screening
You can fortify your rental property all you want, but careless renters will still damage it. As much as you should try to make your investment property sturdier, the best protection lies in thorough tenant screening.
Sure, you sure run tenant credit reports and criminal background checks. Go a step further and run eviction history reports, which get closer to the heart of the matter: have they violated other landlords’ lease contracts in the past?
But comprehensive tenant screening doesn’t end there. Get on the phone and contact not just their current landlord, but their former landlords. What kind of renter are they? Did they pay the rent on time every single month? More relevantly here, how did they treat the rental property? Remember, their current landlord has a vested interest to get rid of them if they’re a bad tenant, and might say anything to do just that.
Likewise, contact their supervisor at work. What kind of worker are they? What kind of person are they? How reliable, respectful, and conscientious are they?
Form as detailed a picture as you can about how they treat their belongings and responsibilities. Then go look for yourself if you can, by finding an excuse to meet them at their current home, perhaps to go over a few finer points in the lease agreement. While there, see as much of the property as you can, to get a sense for how they treat it.
Spoiler alert: that’s exactly how they’ll treat your investment property, if you sign a lease with them.
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Protecting Rental Property Walls
Face it: your walls are going to get screwed, hammered, dirty, and beaten up. Sounds like an R-rated movie, right?
Your tenants won’t be gentle, because as far as they’re concerned they’re just passing through. It’s on you to take precautions, both in the form of rental property improvements and protective lease clauses.
1. Go Glossy
Most people paint their walls with a flat finish paint. It’s a little cheaper, and it looks good… at first.
In six months, it shows every scuff of every shoe or hand or box that brushed by it.
Glossy paint, alternatively, can be wiped clean. Scuffs erase right off the wall. So yes, while the total material costs might add an extra $100 to your painting bill, you may well be able to get two extra tenancies out of that paintjob, rather than having to repaint between every single tenant.
You have to paint anyway, you might as well use longer-lasting paint.
2. Install Door Stoppers Behind Every Door
This is a no-brainer. Every single door needs a door stopper behind it. You can install them yourself, or if you’re not feeling handy-capable, grab a six-pack of beer and a pizza and invite your handy friend over to help you.
You know what happens otherwise: doorknob-shaped holes in the wall behind every door.
There’s a thin line between “damage” and “normal wear and tear,” when it comes time to deduct or refund the security deposit. But here’s the thing: you don’t want either. You can’t make your renters treat your property with kid gloves, but you can make your property harder to hurt.
Tenants are tough on properties, so it’s your job to make sure your properties are tougher than your tenants. And as rental property upgrades go, this one costs less than $50 and will save you countless hours of patching and repainting walls.
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3. Prohibit TV Mounting
Do you really want a bunch of holes drilled in your walls, just so your renters can mount their TV instead of using a TV stand?
Then there’s the more serious risk of them failing to screw the mounts properly into studs. What happens when their $2,500 TV falls off the wall, taking a huge chunk of wall with it?
Worse, what if a toddler is playing on the floor underneath it?
Nope. No TV mounting. Write a clause into your lease agreement and avoid a slew of drywall-related rental property repairs.
4. Screw All Racks, Bars & Hooks into Studs
Similarly, you don’t want renters to yank a towel from the towel bar and have the bar pull right out of the wall. It gets even uglier when your tenants’ kids use the towel bar for pull-ups.
The same goes for coat racks and hooks, paper towel holders, and every other protrusions for hanging things on.
Invest $6.99 in a stud finder and use it before screwing any fixtures to the wall. For the cost of a few dollars and a half hour, you can dodge endless rental property repair calls at 10 PM.
Protecting Rental Property Floors
The other part of the house that takes a beating from your tenants are the floors.
Before continuing, it’s worth pointing out that replacement flooring counts as a rental property tax deduction. It takes the sting out paying for them… but not by much. Your goal as a landlord: preserve the flooring through as many tenancies as possible.
Here’s how you can achieve it.
5. Avoid Carpets and Hardwood Floors
Carpets are a disaster waiting to happen. When making flooring decisions, ask yourself “How will this flooring hold up to vomit and red wine?” That will jolt your train of thought in the right direction.
Faux wood, luxury vinyl tile (LVT), and bamboo flooring can all look spectacular, and in many cases look indistinguishable from hardwood floors. Speaking of which, hardwood is another disaster waiting to happen. Your renters will scratch it up every time, no exceptions.
The next time you need to replace the flooring, look to the three options above as tenant-proof rental property upgrades.
6. Require Felt Pads on All Furniture Feet
This might sound like splitting hairs, until you actually go out and spend the money to install the faux wood or bamboo floors.
Put a strongly-worded lease clause in your rental agreement, and have the renters initial it. The clause should include a line holding them responsible for any scratches to the floors, and the cost of replacement flooring sections will be deducted from their security deposit.
Lastly, spend $3.99 and give them a box or two of felt pads when you sign the lease agreement with them. Aww, what a thoughtful housewarming present!
7. If You Must Install Carpets, Spend More on Padding & Less on Carpeting
Carpets usually need to be replaced between nearly every tenancy. Padding does not.
But here’s the thing – thick, plush padding makes even lower-grade carpet feel rich and plush.
Don’t install carpets, but if you absolutely have to, invest more in the padding than the carpets themselves.
8. Put a Shoe Rack by the Front Door
People track in mud, dirt, gravel, pebbles, dog excrement and worse into your rental property. At least, they do if they leave their shoes on when they walk in the front door.
If you put a shoe rack by the front door and take off your shoes when you show the unit, it sends a strong message: This property is so nice that we take shoes off before entering. You can even include a lease clause requiring them to take off their shoes when they enter the unit.
While you can’t really enforce the shoe clause easily, they’ll be much more likely to comply if there’s a beautiful shoe rack just begging to be used. And like the other rental property upgrades on this list, it’s cheap.
How to Protect Everything Else in Your Rental Property
Floors and walls take the biggest beating, but that doesn’t mean the rest of your rental property is impervious. Here’s how to protect your rental property in all other areas.
9. Switch Screen Doors & Storm Doors to Plexiglass
Your renters’ kids will put their hands right through the screen door. Or worse, the glass in a storm door.
Nowadays you can buy strong, scratch-resistant plexiglass nearly as clear as glass. Cops use it to lock up violent felons – you can count on it to prevent your tenants’ kids from breaking it.
It’s also one of the cheapest rental property improvements on this list. Win-win.
10. Simple Landscaping Means Less to Mess Up
Ornate landscaping looks great. It also requires work to upkeep. Do you think your tenants are going to break their backs keeping up extensive landscaping?
At best, your renters might water a few plants and mow the yard. And those are more responsible people than the average slacker whose weekend is filled with cheap drinks and reruns of bad sitcoms.
As a general rule of thumb, the less work your tenants have to do to maintain the outside of your property, the more likely it is they’ll do anything at all.
11. Replace Light & Fan Pull Cords with Switches
Pull cords to turn on lights and fans aren’t the “cool,” or “vintage” type of old-fashioned. They’re just annoying, outdated, and fragile.
Besides constantly getting in the way and hitting people in the forehead, your tenants will inevitably yank them too hard one day and pull it out of the socket. Then they’ll call you saying “I don’t know what happened, it just fell out on its own!”
Get ahead of the issue by replacing them with this newfangled technology called a light switch. Spend an extra $5 per switch and install dimmer switches for a more luxurious feel.
And for the fans, you can buy plus/minus button switches to control fan speed. They’re not outrageously expensive either – two simple and affordable rental property updates for a modern vibe and less to break.
12. Install Window Blinds Yourself
I’ve heard a lot of landlords over the years say “If my tenants want blinds, they can install them on their own.”
That’s the wrong attitude. First, you want your unit to show in its best possible light (pun intended). Second, blinds are cheap.
Finally – and most relevantly here – if you install the window blinds, you know it will be done right.
The last thing you want to do is leave rental property improvements in the hands of your tenants. If you do, you can expect four-inch carpenter nails or screws going right into your beautiful window framing.
Take this responsibility on yourself, and if you want to go higher-end, buy wooden slats or even plantation shutters for a classic-elegance feel. And make it clear that damage to them will come out of the tenant’s security deposit.
13. Require Tenants to Replace the Air Filters
One lease clause you should definitely include is a requirement that the tenants replace the air filter every three months. Include the appropriate size, and even the best store nearby to buy them, or a URL where they can order them online.
Most tenants forget to do this, and it leads to exponential greater strain on your air conditioning condenser and furnace. Which, in turn, leads to drastically shorter lifespans for each, plus higher energy bills for your tenants.
Not every rental property improvement is done by you. But even this one requires your attention, as part of your semi-annual property inspection.
Alternative: Switch to Passive Investing
As an expat who spends much of the year overseas, I got sick of landlording a couple years ago. Sick of the tenant excuses, sick of damage to my investment properties, sick of hearing “check’s in the mail” and chasing down delinquent tenants and filing evictions.
But I’ve built an entire career out of real estate investing. Besides, there’s a lot to love about real estate investments, from the ongoing passive income streams to rental property tax deductions to real estate leverage to diversification away from stocks.
So I set out to find a way to get all the benefits of real estate investing without any of the headaches of being a landlord. What I found: real estate syndications. You get all the same tax benefits, the same passive streams of income, and even better returns, typically 15-30%. But real estate syndications are passive investments — you just write a check.
No more 3 AM phone calls. No more investment property damage. And no more hounding miscreant tenants to pay their rent on time.
Best of all, you can invest in syndication deals with less cash than it takes for a down payment on a rental property and closing costs. At least if you invest as part of a real estate investment club, that is. If you aren’t already a member in one, join ours!
Final Word: Inspect the Property Every 6 Months
Some tenants wreak havoc on their homes. Others are respectful and treat your property gently.
If you don’t inspect the property every six months, how can you know which type of tenant they are? That’s important information, which will help guide your decision about how much to raise the rent, whether to renew their lease agreement, or whether to start the eviction process immediately.
Checking on your properties regularly helps you verify that the tenants are complying with the lease agreement terms as well. Are they replacing the air filters? Keeping batteries in the smoke and CO detectors? Did a deadbeat boyfriend move in? Did they sneak in a pet?
It also sends a clear message to your tenants: I’m paying attention, and I care about this property. You should care about it too.
Have any horror stories about what tenants have done to your property? Or success stories of how you’ve protected your investments? Share them below! (And speaking of sharing, please pass this article along to other landlords who’d enjoy it!)
More Ways to Boost Your Rentals’ ROI
About the Author
G. Brian Davis is a real estate investor and cofounder of SparkRental who spends 10 months of the year in South America. His mission: to help 5,000 people reach financial independence with passive income from real estate. If you want to be one of them, join Brian and Deni for a free class on How to Earn 15-30% on Fractional Real Estate Investments.
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I had tenants leave my brand new hardwood floors completely ruined with scratches last year. I withheld the security deposit to put toward the costs of that and the other problems they caused, but after refinishing the floors and repainting the walls, I was still out $4,000. I’m using that felt pad trick in all my rentals from now on, so sick of tenants who just don’t care because it’s not their problem after they move out.
I’m so sorry to hear that Rachel. You may want to swing by for an inspection with your new tenants, to make sure they don’t scratch up those newly refinished floors all over again!
Great article! I’ve blown $10,000 before turning over a property. One of those things that new landlords just don’t think about until they’ve had an expensive turnover. Do it right the first time, screen the heck out of tenants, and sign a ball-buster of a lease agreement. All about protecting your assets!
Thanks Bill! I totally agree, it’s all about protection and prevention. A lot of landlords don’t like hearing that, but that’s the real key to ROI, once you’ve bought the property.
So many landlords fail to look ahead and protect their investment. Renters WILL put your property through hell, like the article says people are just hard on where they live. Landlords have to think long-term and think defensively about protecting against damage.
Thanks for the article, some great ideas!
If I may add to number 2, I saw this at a hotel recently and took a picture to do it in all my rentals in the future. (hopefully the pic shows up)
https://outlook.office365.com/owa/service.svc/s/GetAttachmentThumbnail?id=AAMkADAwZTQxNjg5LWYxMmEtNDM0ZC04ZTU3LWU5MjhjYmY4ODE1YgBGAAAAAAB%2FgItWZ%2BM1RIQj7hBNOKvfBwD5%2BUmKKlZ6Tr2iVlJqfFNBAAAAAAEMAAD5%2BUmKKlZ6Tr2iVlJqfFNBAAB6ShziAAABEgAQACjXmvABaadHgEFO69TIOS8%3D&thumbnailType=2&X-OWA-CANARY=smH4ZVDANUqhJ7M5Ffcf6RDICZsbUdQY6Z8B89U6kZ28oD-bDVRIpxODDKDGAiUE-uuPy7E7dZs.
To Eric, who posted Feb 9, 2017.
The link to your pic doesn’t work. Would you please describe the idea your picture represented?
Usually I do not read post on blogs, however I would like to say that this write-up very
forced me to check out and do so! Your writing taste has been surprised me.
Thanks, very nice article.
Great article. Knowing that your property depends on the renter it is our goal to protect our investments is paramount and knowing the possibility of getting damages due to unforeseen circumstances. Better to take precautionary measures with the rental property.
Great article Brian! I have also rented my three of apartments in the main town and last month finally get to an end of lease, and what I have seen there is shocking all cupbaords and kitchen panels are totally destroyed with the mould. Well nice tips.
Thanks Thomsan! Yeah I’ve had over $15,000 in damage caused to a property before, by bad tenants. Everyone is so quick to denounce bad landlords, but people just shrug indifferently at bad tenants. Landlords have to protect themselves, because no one else is going to protect them.
These are all great ways to protect a rental property from the daily wear of the tenants that reside there. I especially appreciate your ideas regarding flooring. Carpeting gets a beat down, whether your tenants wear shoes on it or not, and fresh-looking carpet is a must-have when it comes to placing new tenants in your rental. Extending the life of your rental’s carpet is a great way to save you money in the long run. I would love to recommend sharing some temporary decorating ideas with your tenants prior to move-in. This is also a beneficial way to preserve your rental. Thanks again for sharing!
These are some interesting tips, I especially like the advice on how to keep renters kids from causing too much damage to the place. After all, it can be a little hard to keep kids in check, especially when they’re so young and likely to explore. That’s why suggestions like replacing the storm doors with plexiglass works so well because it keeps them safe and saves you from any problems.
Yeah today’s plexiglass can look just like glass, and is much hardier and safer with kids in the property. Great tip!
Brian,
Thank you for a wealth of great information.
Glad you’ve found the blog useful Kermit!
Thank you so much for this extensive list of ways to protect your investment property. People buy rentals with the intention of generating serious cash flow from them. The last thing they usually think about is the wear and tear that even good tenants can have on a property. If you want to make sure your tenants care for your rental property the way you want them to, I would suggest creating a simple, budget-friendly welcome package that not only comes with a few goodies, but also a list of maintenance items that your tenant will be responsible for throughout their tenancy.
Great point Damon about a low-cost welcome package to onboard new tenants!
You said in one of your comments above that you had over $15,000 damage done to a property before. Is there ever anything you do beyond keeping the security deposit? Is it ever worth your time to do small claims court or do you usually just eat the cost and move on?
Not sure if you had another article about that.
In that particular case I ate the cost because the tenants were such deadbeats that it would have been a waste of time, I would never have collected on it. They never should have been leased to in the first place, which was my fault for not reviewing the property manager’s work closely enough.
But in general I recommend getting a money judgment in cases like that.
We also recommend getting a rent default insurance policy, to pay you the rent in the event you have to evict.
Thanks for this insight! I think all property owners are looking for simple and affordable ways to preserve their investment properties. And you’re right, tenants are rough on rentals sometimes. And all those repairs you have to make will come right out of your bottom line. Luckily, if you have a reliable property management company on hand to help draft airtight lease agreements and collect security deposits, you and your rental property will be protected.
Thanks Mike, and it’s definitely true, the quality of the management makes a huge impact on returns!
Few things I would add to the door stoppers and door handles is to remove the drywall from the section where the door may hit and place in some 2×2 and plywood backer as this will reinforce the area. I have seen in a number of commercial and other places where door handle bumps are smashed into the wall.
If you are doing a rehab on a house and plan on installing new drywall back it with OSB and then use the thinnest drywall that your code allows. This not only reinforces the wall, it adds stability to the wall, This prevents fist, feet and any other damage that may happen. The other thing is to replace all doors with a steel door and forgo the cheap doors. I would also remove any and all doors that are not 36 inches or greater. The fact that damage from getting things in and out of tight doors is a pain. The savings will show over time from not having to replace or repair door frames or walls.
Filter changes are a pain in the neck for most renters. Install return filter boxes and are easy to open and swap out. Add in a fixed filter storage location and include 3 filters for one year of lease. This way they are not out searching for them. Also spec that they buy the better filters as people will always opt to buy the cheap 99 cent ones.
Floors are going to be a pain no matter what you have. The only way to migrate this is to have concrete.
Bathrooms are always going to be a problem. Instead of putting in that cheap vanity that will soon be soaked by laziness put in either a wall hung sink or pedestal one. This keeps the trash from under it. Install a cabinet in another location.
Great suggestions Joe, thanks for adding!
Excellent article for landlords! Landlords should be responsible on checking the property twice a year, and if necessary, inspect quarterly. We do not know what may happen in the property and it is good to build professional relationship with tenants to let them know that you care as a landlord and a good citizen.
Agreed JJ!
I’ve been a victim of tenant damage for many years and it cost me a fortune! I didn’t know much on how to deal with it back then. I’ve learned my lesson the hard way.
I’m so sorry to hear that Maricel!
I completely agree with all the advice on screening for good tenants; as a long time renter in Santa Fe, New Mexico, always in the historic district, I have perspective myself. I rented one property for 18 years, another for 11 years. In the 18 yr location I had a neighbor in the other side of the duplex complain she could not close the refrigerator door; she asked me to take a look; she had let the ice in the old fridge grow to an iceberg. I said, “You just need to defrost!” to which she replied, “But I rent!” as if landlady was gonna come defrost for her; this was a nice young woman but clearly clueless and a bit entitled! The 11 yr rental was a cozy older home where the owner’s son, to whom I paid rent, never came to see problems such as when a neighbor’s tree broke and fell onto my house; he was a nice enough man but felt put upon by his siblings to deal with their elderly mom’s rental; I had to emphasize that not only were certain issues a problem for me, my health, etc., but detrimental to the Value of the property. Given that the house was in the historic district it became obvious they were just cruising until they could sell out. Good landlords help create good tenants, and vice versa.
Absolutely Lynn! It’s a two-way street.