Property Management
Having great tenants certainly is a Property Manager’s dream. Once you’ve had a great tenant experience, you are hooked and wish everyone can be like that example.
But what makes a good tenant experience?
And, can it be replicated time and time again?
If you don’t know, here is a tip: Property Management is a relationship business.
Building great relationships is the foundation of Property Management and is at the heart of everything we do. A good relationship with Tenants will benefit the Owner and the Tenants. Finding great tenants takes time and work and retaining them is the key to earning a maximum profit as a landlord. What if your good tenants never want to leave your rental property, wouldn’t that make what we do so much easier? Vacancies drain profits rapidly, from advertising again, rental loss, cleaning, and repairs. Here are some tips on how to retain great tenants:
Be Respectful, Reliable, Communicate often and Follow through.
It is important to be approachable in this business. Tenants will communicate with you more when they have a good relationship with you. And trust me, you would rather know of a potential problem ahead of time versus getting an emergency call at 2:00am. Frequent, quality communication as well as being reliable and following through on your commitments also builds trust between you and your tenants. These foundational principles will go a long way to keeping your tenants happy and renewing their lease(s) with you.
Be Proactive With Maintenance and Perform Regular Property Inspections.
Keeping up with maintenance and addressing issues quickly will benefit you in many ways: it builds trust and confidence with your tenants, saves time on repairs, and reduces downtime of equipment. Additionally, this is a great marketing tool. Tenants are happy to share when they have great experiences and will be confident recommending your property to their friends and family. Knowing that the Landlord/Owner takes great care of the property is an excellent selling feature.
Bonus
Find creative ways to engage your tenants during their renewal. Be open to trying things out of the box. For example, if your tenant has outgrown their unit and you are unable to offer a larger unit, try to find a creative way to add storage solutions with shelving or built-ins to help alleviate this concern.
This brings us back to the communication item discussed earlier. Having a great relationship with your tenant will oftentimes give you insight into their pain points. Being able to quickly respond with a solution will help you reduce your vacancy and keep your tenant a bit longer.
Being able to master the art of keeping great tenants is key to being successful in the real estate and property management business. Happy Tenants, paying rent on time is the epitome of what we hope for as a Property Managers. It certainly is the goal when we enter the real estate investment business as Landlords. So, let’s build and maintain those relationships!