Good tenants are hard to find. Tenants that pay rent on time, respect your property, and are easy to communicate with are rare. These ideal tenants are exactly what landlords and property managers would love to fill their rental units with. However, what can be harder than finding these ideal tenants is holding on to them for multiple years. Sometimes keeping a tenant can be out of a landlord’s control as factors like moving jobs, or family growth can mean your rental no longer fits the needs of your ideal tenants. However, the rental market is very competitive, and while some factors may be out of a landlord’s hands, there are plenty of factors within a landlord’s control that can lead an ideal tenant to stay or leave a property. Here are some Tips to Keeping Your Amazing Tenants happy, so they renew their lease year after year.
· Be Reasonable and Understanding: Even the best tenants can have issues that can arise and be an annoyance to a property manager or landlord. They may be late for rent one time and ask a landlord to take care of an issue that is not his or her responsibility. However, being understanding and taking care of the issue or letting the single mistake go can help build tenant loyalty. Obviously, if rent ends up being late often or the tenant’s complaints only get longer, then it may not be worth going to extra mile to keep them happy.
· Be respectful: Always be respectful of your tenants, their property, and their privacy. As the landlord or property manager, you may feel like you deserve to have access to the property whenever you want, but if a tenant feels like you have disrespected them or their family, they will be much less likely to re-sign a lease. Even in the case of an emergency, a landlord or property manager should still try to contact a tenant before they enter their rental.
· Always thank you tenants: Showing your tenants that you appreciate them can go a long way. Sending them a nice holiday card or even having a tenant appreciation event help tenants feel wanted and cared for.
· Show Your Listening & You Care: Show tenants you care about what they have to say. Whether it is a maintenance request or suggestion many landlords or property managers hear about an issue fix it and never follow up on it. While it may be time-consuming spending the extra few minutes to follow up with a tenant will help create a warm relationship that will keep your ideal tenants happy and re-signing the lease year after year because you take the extra step to check in on them.
This post is provided by RISSOFT Residential and Commercial Property Management Software, specializing in innovative and cutting-edge management software for all 50 states. Request a demo or contact us today to receive more information.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this post in not intended to be construed as legal advice, nor should it be considered a substitute for obtaining individual legal counsel or consulting your local, state, federal or provincial tenancy laws.