As a Moorhead rental property owner, you’re maybe trying to nail down tactics to reduce property maintenance costs. Though you can certainly do a few things to save money, re-keying your rental property’s locks is not one of them. It doesn’t matter how amicably your last renter left, you should habitually have your property’s locks re-keyed between renters. There are particular reasons for this, the most salient being the security of your property, the safety of future renters, and helping boost your rental’s appeal to new renters.
Property Security
Security should be the key concern for Moorhead property managers, whether or not your property is currently occupied. Even for a very short time, vacant properties can turn out as targets for criminal mischief and burglary. This is only made far easier if your previous renters copied their key and gave it to someone that wasn’t on the lease. To keep your property secure and to keep out criminal activity, you need to be able to control who has access to the property and when. You can do this with no sweat by re-keying your property’s exterior doors soon as a renter moves out.
Renter Safety
Unreturned keys are a big issue for your future renters. Renters do need to feel safe in their rental homes. But in truth, if your past renters still have a key to the house, that feeling of safety may be a rather dangerous illusion. If a previous occupant or someone they gave a key to does break in, you may find yourself liable for any damage or injury that results. You will additionally lose the trust of your renter, which may develop into canceled leases and indeed very costly turnover. To make renter safety a reality, it’s salient to re-key the locks.
Increased Appeal
Though the cost of re-keying the locks between renters may make you hesitate, you can certainly use it as a selling point for your property. If a prospective renter is worried when it comes to safety, you can just allay those fears by guaranteeing that their locks have been re-keyed; and they may single out your property over similar rentals in the area. If you can increase demand for your property, you can charge a bit more for rent and rapidly recover anything paid to have the locks re-keyed.
DIY or Hire a Pro?
If you are handy, you can re-key the locks of your rental property yourself. Allowing that it is manageable to do, it does take a bit of comprehension and skill. And re-keying the locks can be cheaper than replacing the entire lock, knob, or deadbolt.
Though, to always make sure the job is implemented decently, you may deem to hire a professional to come in and do it for you. A professional locksmith will be able to act upon the job more efficiently and render you higher confidence that the re-key has been done thoroughly. Either way, the most weighty thing is that it is done sufficiently well, and you have an entirely new set of keys to give to your new renter.
Alternatives to Re-Keying
Today’s landlords are watching out for other solutions to help completely make sure of their property’s and renter’s safety. To cite an instance, instead of re-keying the locks routinely whenever a renter moves out, a few landlords find it more cost-effective to install an electronic keypad or smart key product. As a sample, installing a keyless entry system that depends on a code instead of a physical key could elude the need for re-keying your property altogether. More innovative and advanced keyless entry systems also need a smartphone app to unlock. Notwithstanding that such options cost more upfront, the greatest benefit is that you can uncomplicatedly change the key code or smart key tool. In a while, a keyless entry system could add up to sizeable savings.
Renter move-out can be a bustling and very hectic time for property owners. Why not let the professionals at Real Property Management Optimum do it for you? Our Moorhead property managers are trained at handling everything the move-out process dictates and can find you a great new renter! To learn more, contact us online or call us at 320-289-4649.
Originally Published on July 2, 2021
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