As a Duchesne rental property owner, you’re certainly trying to discover procedures to reduce property maintenance costs. Whereas you can do some things to save money, re-keying your rental property’s locks is not one of them. No matter how amicably your last renter left, you should, at all times, have your property’s locks re-keyed between renters. There are a lot of reasons for this, the most critical 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 priority for Duchesne property managers, whether or not your property is currently occupied. Even for a period of time, vacant properties can develop to be targets for criminal mischief and burglary. This is made so much 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 avoid criminal activity, you need to be able to control who has access to the property and when. You can finish this more manageably by re-keying your property’s exterior doors right after a renter moves out.
Renter Safety
Unreturned keys are a big problem for your future renters. Renters hope to feel safe in their rental homes. Nevertheless, if your past renters still have a key to the house, that feeling of safety may be a huge 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 supplementarily lose the trust of your renter, which may give rise to canceled leases and very costly turnover. To make renter safety a reality, it’s critical to re-key the locks.
Increased Appeal
Whereas the cost of re-keying the locks between renters may make you indeed hesitate, you can employ it as a selling point for your property. If a prospective renter is worried about respect to safety, you can easily allay those fears by guaranteeing that their locks have been re-keyed; and they may choose 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 promptly 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. Even though it is very simple to deal with, it does take a bit of knowledge and skill. And re-keying the locks can be a bit more cost-effective than replacing the entire lock, knob, or deadbolt.
Nevertheless, to see to it the job is finished rightly, you may need to hire a professional to come in and do it for you. A professional locksmith will be able to undertake the job more efficiently and grant you higher confidence that the re-key was performed well. Either way, the most crucial thing is that it is worked on properly, and you have an entirely new set of keys to give to your new renter.
Alternatives to Re-Keying
Today’s landlords are going after other solutions to help always guarantee their property’s and renter’s safety. For instance, instead of re-keying the locks each time a renter moves out, a lot of landlords find it more cost-effective to install an electronic keypad or smart key product. In particular, installing a keyless entry system that depends on a code instead of a physical key could stave off the need for re-keying your property altogether. Highly advanced keyless entry systems also need a smartphone app to unlock. While indeed it’s true that such options cost more upfront, the major benefit is that you can painlessly change the key code or smart key tool. After some time, a keyless entry system could add up to great savings.
Renter move-out can be a rather hectic time for property owners. Why not let the professionals at Real Property Management Uintah do it for you? Our Duchesne property managers can efficiently deal with everything the move-out process asks for and can find you a suitable new renter! To learn more, contact us online or call us at 801-889-1517.
Originally Published on July 2, 2021
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