Business Skills for DIY Landlords

Do-it-yourself landlords require a certain level of business skills in order to maximize their financial success. While some of these skills can be acquired through real life experience from "The College of Hard Knocks", it is much easier and less costly to acquire them through self-teaching and education.

The "Big Three" categories of business related skills that really come in handy for diy landlords are as follows…

1. Business Administration Skills

These skills are essential for running the general operations of the business. They include performing tasks such as bill paying, collecting rents, reconciling bank statements, bookkeeping, etc.

2. Financial Analysis Skills

When purchasing new investment properties, financial analysis skills are a necessity for making wise investments. In addition to "crunching the numbers" for new investments, financial analysis skills come in handy for developing balance sheets and income statements.

3. Sales and Marketing Skills

These skills are necessary when it comes time to fill vacancies or sell your property as a for-sale-by-owner, or FSBO. This includes activities such as writing effective classified ads for filling vacancies, "selling yourself" and your property to prospective tenants, advertising the property and getting it ready for sale, etc. These skills can be some of the most important in the landlord business. A wise old man once said "If you learn how to sell, you'll never go hungry".

For more in-depth information about basic business knowledge and skills needed by diy landlords, please visit The Landlord's Library book collection. It's a terrific, one-stop source for practical, comprehensive information on the entire subject of residential landlording.

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