Building a strong relationship with your tenants is the surest way to keep your retention rate high and avoid any points of conflict, such as unpaid rent or unresolved maintenance issues. While maintaining a clean and welcoming property is undeniably important, research has shown that tenants are most likely to terminate a rental agreement when the lines of communication with their landlord or property management company have broken down.
So, what are the best ways to improve your relationship with your tenants?
Provide Great Customer Service
Being proactive and putting effort into the time you spend communicating with your tenants is a simple yet exceptionally effective way to build and improve your relationship. Small gestures can go a long way when it comes to cultivating a relationship with tenants and can significantly increase your renewal rate.
When a tenant first moves into your rental property, providing a welcome basket full of home essentials can create the foundations of a friendly and respectful relationship. This simple gesture shows that you value your tenants and appreciate their decision to choose your property as their new home.
Taking note of your tenants’ daily activities as they come up in conversation, as well as important dates, such as birthdays and anniversaries, is another way to demonstrate that your care about them as people, instead of simply viewing them as a number on a page. Small, personal touches like sending a gift card go beyond the expected obligations of landlords and make you appear more considerate and caring.
Promptly Resolve Maintenance Issues
Whether it’s applying a fresh coat of paint or fixing a leaking sink, promptly responding to your tenants’ concerns and resolving them is another simple way to make them feel cared for and respected.
It is important to remember that the lease agreement also applies to you. While the tenant has agreed to pay rent on time and treat your property with respect, you have agreed to maintain the property.
Quickly fixing any issues minimizes the amount of time tenants have to live without certain appliances and, subsequently, reduces their frustration. Put yourself in your tenant’s shoes and try to imagine having to live without a functioning shower or reliable heating while being unable to fix it yourself.
Being active and transparent about the issue is the surest way to keep your tenants happy. Be sure to have a clear process for tenants to submit a maintenance request. It also minimizes the long-term care your rental properties will require because the issue will not be given the time to grow into a larger, more expensive problem.
Create Open Channels of Communication
Communication is essential to any respectful, healthy relationship. An effective communication channel can be created by providing your contact details to both prospective tenants and your current tenants. Be sure to provide a reliable contact for tenants that you check regularly. It can also be helpful to come to a mutual understanding about both your and your tenants’ preferred method of communication.
There are also numerous forms of “property management software” that can streamline communication between you and your numerous tenants, allowing you to keep track of multiple properties at once.
The simple act of sending a message to check in on how new people are settling in can help set the precedent for positive tenant relations and ensure that they become long-term tenants.
It is important to be honest and fair when dealing with certain duties that being a landlord necessitates, such as performing a regular inspection of your real estate and collecting rent. If you have scheduled an inspection, let your tenants know in advance by providing a notice period so you do not infringe on their right to quiet enjoyment.
Furthermore, if inflation necessitates a change in rent price, make tenants aware that you are completing calculations for rent increases and be sure not to exceed the maximum rent increase outlined in the contract. While no one wants their rent to increase, keeping tenants in the conversation ensures that they do not feel taken advantage of or disrespected.
Ask for Feedback
Regularly asking your tenants for feedback is the easiest way to identify any areas of weakness in your role as a property manager and to address them. Taking on the role of a property management professional is a huge responsibility that will necessitate growth and development over time.
Asking your long-term tenants for feedback can cultivate positive tenant relations because your consideration of their needs and opinions will make them feel respected. Do not be deterred by the possibility of receiving negative feedback.
Collecting feedback about the maintenance of the property or how you collect rent payments can significantly improve your relationships with tenants because it shows that you care and want to become better at your job as a property manager.
In the long term, incorporating tenant feedback into your performance can decrease the likelihood of conflict and the necessity for dispute resolution proceedings.
Improve Tenant Relations with MPS by your Side!
Working as a property management professional can be a highly rewarding job, both financially and personally. By incorporating these simple steps into how you approach your relationship with your tenants, you can significantly improve your retention rates as well as the happiness of your tenants. If you are a property investor looking for real estate in the Windsor area, click here.
Whether you are looking to improve tenant relations or seeking assistance from a property management company, contact the management experts at Maximum Property Solutions today!