As a Brandywine rental property owner, you always try distinguishing systems to reduce property maintenance costs. While you can easily do several things to save money, re-keying your rental property’s locks is not one of them. Regardless of how amicably your last renter left, it would be best to have your property’s locks re-keyed between renters consistently. There are many reasons for this, the most crucial 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 first concern for Brandywine property managers, whether or not your property is currently occupied. Even momentarily vacant properties can become unfortunate targets for criminal mischief and burglary. This is only made readily possible 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 hinder criminal activity, you need to be able to control who has access to the property and when. You can do this more easily by re-keying your property’s exterior doors once a renter moves out.
Renter Safety
Unreturned keys are a severe issue for your future renters. Renters yearn to feel safe in their rental homes. Although if your past renters still have a key to the house, that feeling of safety may be a treacherous and 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 especially lose the trust of your renter, which may cause canceled leases and costly turnover. To make renter safety a reality, it’s beneficially important to re-key the locks.
Increased Appeal
Although understandably, the cost of re-keying the locks between renters may make you hesitate, you can use it as a selling point for your property. If a prospective renter is worried about their safety, you can effectively allay those fears by guaranteeing that their locks have been re-keyed; and they may decide on 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, as quickly as possible, 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. While it is true that it is a lot easier to implement, it does take a bit of practical knowledge. And re-keying the locks can be more cost-effective than replacing the entire lock, knob, or deadbolt.
But to guarantee that the job is done correctly, you may have to hire a professional to come in and do it for you. A professional locksmith will be able to settle the job more efficiently and lend you higher confidence that the re-key was worked on accurately. Either way, the most critical thing is that it is done correctly and you have an entirely new set of keys to give to your new renter.
Alternatives to Re-Keying
Today’s landlords are looking for other solutions to help ascertain their property’s and renter’s safety. As a sample, instead of re-keying the locks every time a renter moves out, many landlords find it more cost-effective to install an electronic keypad or brilliant essential product. To cite an instance, installing a keyless entry system that is by a code instead of a physical key could avoid the need for re-keying your property altogether. More advanced keyless entry systems additionally need a smartphone app to unlock. Though such options cost more upfront, the most significant benefit is that you can effortlessly change the key code or essential intelligent tool. Moving forward, a keyless entry system could add up to additional savings.
Renter move-out can be a manic time for property owners. Why not let Real Property Management Gold professionals Real Property Management Gold do it for you? Our Brandywine property managers are great at handling everything the move-out process needs and can find you a trusty new renter! To learn more, contact us online or call us at 301-392-2172.
Originally Published on July 2, 2021
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