As a St. Petersburg rental property owner, you’re surely trying to find effective ways to reduce property maintenance costs. Even though you can do one or a few things to save money, re-keying your rental property’s locks is not one of them. Hardly matters how amicably your last renter left, you should systematically have your property’s locks re-keyed between renters. There are a bunch of reasons for this, the greatest 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 biggest priority for St. Petersburg property managers, whether or not your property is currently occupied. Even momentarily vacant properties can evolve to be targeted for criminal mischief and burglary. This is only made so much 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 keep away from criminal activity, you need to be able to control who has access to the property and when. You can do this more manageably by re-keying your property’s exterior doors whenever a renter moves out.
Renter Safety
Unreturned keys are a big problem for your future renters. Renters ache to feel safe in their rental homes. But n fact, if your past renters still have a key to the house, that feeling of safety may be a threatening 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, over and above that, lose the trust of your renter, which may generate canceled leases and a rather costly turnover. To make renter safety a reality, it’s advisable and imperative to re-key the locks.
Increased Appeal
Even as the cost of re-keying the locks between renters may make you hesitate, you can profit from it as a selling point for your property. If a prospective renter is worried about their safety, you can successfully allay those fears by guaranteeing that their locks have been re-keyed; and they may want 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 very quickly recover anything paid to have the locks re-keyed.
DIY or Hire a Pro?
If you are quite handy, you can re-key the locks of your rental property yourself. While it is easy to work on, it does take a bit of competency. And re-keying the locks can be a bit more low cost than replacing the entire lock, knob, or deadbolt.
But if you want to make sure the job is performed well, 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 finished off appropriately. Either way, the most necessary thing is that it is done well, and you have an entirely new set of keys to give to your new renter.
Alternatives to Re-Keying
Today’s landlords are ceaselessly trying to find other solutions to help nail down their property’s and renter’s safety. Like, instead of re-keying the locks at regular intervals when a renter moves out, most landlords find it more cost-effective to install an electronic keypad or smart key product. For illustration, installing a keyless entry system that is dependent on a code instead of a physical key could inhibit the need for re-keying your property altogether. More advanced keyless entry systems also require a smartphone app to unlock. Though conceding such options cost more upfront, the greatest benefit is that you can painlessly change the key code or smart key tool. In due time, a keyless entry system could add up to more significant savings.
Renter move-out can be a restless and hectic time for property owners. Why not let the professionals at Real Property Management TradeWinds do it for you? Our St. Petersburg property managers are adept at addressing everything the move-out process asks for and can find you a responsible new renter! To learn more, contact us online or call us at 727-400-4722.
Originally Published on July 2, 2021
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
