As a Killeen rental property owner, you want your rental properties to stand out in the competitive market. By making your rental home more attractive to residents, you’ll attract high-quality tenants, earn more in rent, and avoid long vacancy periods.
How can you get the attention of good tenants?
One unique way to set yourself apart is by offering military perks for veterans and active-duty service members. The Killeen rental market is full of military tenants. When you can reach those potential tenants in new ways, you’ll find that there are several benefits to what you earn and how quickly you’re able to get your property rented.
Offering military renter benefits can be an effective way to attract high-quality tenants, build trust with local service members, and maximize your return on investment (ROI). Demonstrating your commitment to members of the military and their families is also an excellent way to show how much you support the community. This is great for your reputation.
Ask a local Killeen property management company, we’ve been supporting military tenants and military owners for years. It’s part of the way we do business; not only because we support the military, but also because we know it’s great for the owners we work with and the homes that they rent out with our help. Let’s take a closer look at why it’s a good idea to pick out some military perks and amenities when you’re renting out your property in Killeen.
Military Tenants and Killeen Rental Properties
To benefit from military perks and amenities, you need a strong pool of military tenants.
That’s easy to find in and around Killeen, Texas.
Killeen is less than 10 miles from Fort Hood and around 65,000 active duty military personnel and their family members I’ve in the area. Even more interesting than that is the number of military retirees who remain in the Killeen area even after completing their military service and retiring from the armed services. According to the Heart of Texas Defense Alliance, a remarkably large number of veterans and their family members continue to live in the Killeen area, even when they’re no longer serving at Fort Hood.
Having a military base in town helps the local economy tremendously. Fort Hood covers 218,823 acres in southwestern Bell and southern Cornell counties. In 2021, Fort Hood employed 55,374 people on a full-time basis, and the number of service members employed at Fort Hood resulted in a population of 49,000 dependents in 2021. That’s a lot of people needing housing, education, healthcare, and other services.
According to the Comptroller of Texas, Fort Hood contributed to 160,933 direct and indirect jobs statewide in 2021 and also generated more than $28 billion in economic activity.
Renting out property in a community like Killeen means ensuring our military tenants feel welcome and accommodated. It’s good for the local economy, and it’s also good for our rental businesses.
Perks Killeen Landlords Can Offer to Military Tenants
What do military tenants need to feel comfortable in their rental homes? Here are some potential perks, amenities, and benefits that are specific to military tenants and might be enjoyed by them when they’re renting your home:
- Flexible Lease Terms
Members of the military are at the mercy of their service orders. They may get instructions to transfer at any moment, and this can be stressful when they’re renting a home. While there are laws in place to protect them against the penalties that often come with breaking a lease, you can make things easier for your military tenants by offering flexible lease terms. This demonstrates you understand the nature of their work, and how it’s completely possible they won’t be able to fulfill the full term of the lease agreement they’re signing. Include some language in the lease that allows them to leave the property without penalty when it’s time to ship out.
You can also offer month-to-month lease agreements without the usual penalties that come with them, such as higher rents and fewer protections. Customizing your lease agreement to accommodate the needs of your military tenants will help you provide a more supportive and personalized rental experience.
- Offer Landscaping and Pool Cleaning Services
Are you renting out a home with a pool? Include pool maintenance and cleaning services at no extra charge for your military tenants.
You can do the same with landscaping. After putting in long hours at work, very few of your military tenants will want to come home and mow the lawn. By offering a professional landscaping service and including it in the rental amount, you can show your military tenants that you appreciate them. They’ll know that their home will continue looking great on the outside, and they won’t have to worry about the maintenance that’s required in keeping up with the mowing and weeding, and trimming.
- Updated Security Features
Long hours are sometimes required at Fort Hood, and your military tenants may worry about their family members who are alone at home. Provide peace of mind and extra security by installing alarm systems or video doorbells, which are extremely popular. This will allow your tenant to have more control over their safety and security.
- Offer a Military Discount
Members of the military typically get a Basic Housing Allowance (BAH) when they decide to live off of the base to which they’re assigned. You want to know what the BAH is before you set your rental value, especially when you want to attract military members. You can also offer a discount. A five or 10 percent rental reduction will get the attention of those who are trying to stay as close as possible to their BAH. Consider a one-time discount, such as half off the first month’s rent, or a recurring discount every month that rent is paid. You can also waive the application fee for an active-duty military member. If your military tenants are moving in with pets, you can waive the pet fee or reduce the amount of pet rent that’s normally collected. These types of discounts will get the attention of good tenants.
- Consider Offering a Furnished Home
It’s not always a great idea to provide furniture in your rental property. Typically, tenants – and even military tenants – want to move in their furnishings and belongings. However, some tenants who move around a lot for their military service will appreciate not having to furnish a mostly temporary home. Consider this as a perk that will not appeal to the entire population of military tenants but will definitely help your property stand out in the rental market.
Benefits of Renting to Military Tenants
Making these extra perks and amenities available to your military tenants will serve you in several ways.
First, it will ensure you have a strong population of military tenants on your property. Second, it will help you offer a property that’s more attractive to members of the military and their families. Finally, it will set you up to attract some of the best tenants in Killeen. When word gets out that you’re military-friendly, you’ll have a lot of interest in the homes that you’re renting out. Word of mouth is still an important marketing tool, and if one military tenant is having a good experience with you, they’re likely going to talk about it with their fellow service members.
Renting to military tenants is good for your property. It’s good for your income, too. Here are the benefits to you, as a Killeen landlord, when you have members of the military renting your home:
- There’s guaranteed income. Your military tenants are gainfully employed and it’s easy enough to verify their income. You also have the BAH, which provides peace of mind that there’s always rent money coming in.
- Members of the military have a shared sense of responsibility. Think of the nature of their work at Fort Hood; they’re going to be proactive about maintaining your property and treating it with care. They also know how to follow directions. Your lease terms will be respected.
When you’re renting out a property, your priorities are to protect the condition and value of that home and to earn as much as possible on the property. Both of those things are more easily accomplished when you’re renting to military tenants.
Killeen Property Management
If you know you want to focus on attracting military tenants to your Killeen rental home, but you’re not sure where to start, work with Killeen property managers. We understand how to market your property to military tenants, and we have excellent relationships in place with the local community and the military members who currently live here.
We work with military owners who are renting out their properties, and we also work with military tenants who are looking for homes. If you’d like some help preparing your investment and attracting the tenants you want from Fort Hood, please contact us at Shine Residential Management. We’d be happy to work with you.
