If you have recently acquired a small apartment complex, then you want to make sure you do what needs to be done in order to make it a great place for the residents that live there. This article will help you to get rid of any potential problems right away and change things about the property that makes it safe, clean and friendly for everyone who lives there.

Go over all tenant records

The first thing you want to do is make sure you know which tenants are ones that you may have future problems with. This will help you to act accordingly when it comes to knowing how lenient to be with the tenants. For example, you want to start being strict with tenants you see are always late with rent. However, you may want to be a bit more lenient with a tenant you see has never been late who suddenly asks for a couple days extra to pay.

Secure the apartment complex

Make sure you make any necessary changes to turn the apartment complex into a safe one for your tenants where they don't have to worry about preventable crimes. To do this you want to make sure that there is plenty of lighting around the complex; there should be no areas where it is extremely dark or these will be areas that invite criminal behavior.

You may also want to fence in the entire complex with wrought iron gates that require a code to be entered to open the gates at the main entrance or the parking areas. This way, you have more control over who is getting in to the property. Hiring a night time security guard will also help to severely cut down on night time crime if the apartment is in a rougher part of town.

All of your out buildings, such as pool houses, rec rooms and laundry rooms should be closed and locked up each night. Otherwise, they create a great hang out for those looking to vandalize or do recreational drugs.

Property clean up

You also want to get on the property and make sure everything is cleaned up as quickly as you can. You can either clean up yourself or hire a company, like Seabreeze Property Services. This is going to let your tenants know you are a manager who takes action. It also helps you to present the complex as a clean one where residents can enjoy the experience of living there. It gives you a nice looking property to show off when potential renters come and it decreases the chances of someone getting hurt on items such as broken glass or other debris.