As a Raleigh rental property owner, you’re certainly trying to pick out approaches to reduce property maintenance costs. Allowing you can do specific things to save money, re-keying your rental property’s locks is not one of them. Regardless of how amicably your last renter left, you should, in any event, have your property’s locks re-keyed between renters. There are countless reasons for this, the most basic 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 one of the greatest concerns for Raleigh property managers, whether or not your property is currently occupied. Even momentarily vacant properties can, sadly, become targets for criminal mischief and burglary. This is only made easily 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 to efficiently avoid criminal activity, you need to be able to control who has access to the property and when. You can fulfill this more simply by re-keying your property’s exterior doors when a renter moves out.
Renter Safety
Unreturned keys are a big issue for your future renters. Renters care to feel safe in their rental homes. But on the other hand, if your past renters still have a key to the house, that feeling of safety may be an unsafe 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, in particular, lose the trust of your renter, which may affect canceled leases and cost-intensive turnover. To make renter safety a reality, it’s basic and critical to re-key the locks.
Increased Appeal
Allowing that the cost of re-keying the locks between renters may make you hesitate, you can make use of it as a selling point for your property. If a prospective renter is worried about safety, you can properly allay those fears by guaranteeing that their locks have been re-keyed; and they may settle on 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 quite easily 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. Though it is truly easy to carry out, it does take a bit of ingenuity and skill. And re-keying the locks can be a bit more cost-efficient than replacing the entire lock, knob, or deadbolt.
At the same time, to always make certain the job is done properly, you may endeavor to hire a professional to come in and do it for you. A professional locksmith will be able to act on the job more efficiently and guarantee you higher confidence that the re-key was implemented perfectly well. Either way, the most crucial thing is that it is executed flawlessly, and you have an entirely new set of keys to give to your new renter.
Alternatives to Re-Keying
Today’s landlords are committed to finding other solutions to help establish their property’s and renter’s safety. As an example, instead of re-keying the locks constantly once a renter moves out, innumerable landlords find it more cost-effective to install an electronic keypad or smart key product. For a case in point, installing a keyless entry system that is based on a code instead of a physical key could abstain from the need for re-keying your property altogether. More advanced keyless entry systems also actually need a smartphone app to unlock. Even though such options cost more upfront, the advantage is that you can uncomplicatedly change the key code or smart key tool. Eventually, a keyless entry system could add up to very large savings.
Renter move-out can be a bustling and very hectic time for property owners. Why not let the professionals at Real Property Management Raleigh do it for you? Our Raleigh property managers are proficient at dealing with everything the move-out process dictates and can find you a likable and responsible new renter! To learn more, contact us online or call us at 919-481-0008.
Originally Published on July 2, 2021
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