Rental Properties: Ten Ways to Increase Income

Do you want better cash flow from your rental properties? You really can't just raise the rents arbitrarily, because if tenants leave, income goes down, not up. There are other ways to increase your income from your properties, of course. Start with some of these ten suggestions.

1. Coin-operated washing machines. If you don't have the money to do this yourself, you can find a company that will do it for you, and share the income with you.

2. Rent parking space. I got tired of a renter's extra car, so I just started charging a weekly fee. A little extra income and I didn't mind so much.

3. Raise rents. Okay, we dismissed ARBITRARY rent hikes as a cash-flow solution, but check on rates for similar units. You may be renting at below-market rates.

4. Storage sheds. If your apartments are small, your renters might need a place to store their things. Why let them spend their money elsewhere? Put a few rental storage sheds on the property.

5. Late fees. It's perfectly fair to have a high fee for late payment of rent, and guess what? Those who are chronically late usually won't even complain - they just don't look at these things the way others do.

6. Improvements for rent increases. If it's worth $25 more rent to a tenant, install that dishwasher. Even on a credit card you'll be paying less than that per month for it.

7. Vending machines. With large enough rental properties, others will do this for you for free, and give you a share of the income.

8. Rent rooms. A four-bedroom house could make more money if you include utilities and rent by the bedroom. This has made many fortunes for investors in college towns. It will mean a lot of management, however.

9. Rent-to-own deals. Usually you'll charge a non-refundable deposit, and higher than market rents in these deals. When renters change their minds, as they'll often do, you got the deposit and better cash flow during their stay. This is great when poor cash flow makes you want to sell, because you either sell or get the better cash flow as you repeat the process.

10. Reduce your expenses. Every dollar of expense you cut goes to the bottom line. List all expenses of your rental properties, and look at them one by one. How can you reduce them?

You can use this link to read a good article on why you should usually refinance rental property instead of selling it. Another related article: Buying Rental Properties - What To Look For : Some good tips for finding the best deals.