Accommodating Landlord: Smooth Renting Experience
By: John Garcia | Date Posted: May 30, 2022
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Although some landlords have an unfortunate habit of placing the needs of their tenants on the back burner, it canât be denied that reliable renters are a landlordâs most precious resource. That being the case, any landlord who wishes to maintain healthy tenant retention rates should readily attend to the needs of their renters. However, if this is your first time owning a rental property, the core characteristics of an accommodating landlord may be unfamiliar to you. So, if you aspire to become a landlord who prioritizes tenant comfort and convenience, take heed of the following pointers.
Make Yourself Easy to Reach
Landlords must be easily reachable for renters during maintenance emergencies, such as plumbing or electricity issues. Being unreachable in emergencies can frustrate renters, indicating a lack of responsibility. Provide tenants with your work contact info and an emergency number, emphasizing its use only for genuine emergencies.
Being an Accommodating Landlord
A good way to be reached is to invest in a property management company. This way your tenants can get ahold of someone at any point in time. Most good property management companies have a phone number you can call at any time of the day for emergencies. Tenants can rest assured, that no matter what time of day they will get the help that they need in the event of an emergency. This is also super helpful if they have common questions that you donât have to answer all day long. Someone else can help you answer those questions. They can also handle lots of the other logistical side of things like collecting rent, cleaning the property, property maintenance, property emergencies, and maintaining a healthy relationship so that your tenants are happy and you donât have to lift a finger!
Knowing that they can reach out to you at any time will provide your renters with tremendous peace of mind and effectively illustrate your commitment to good communication. The more accessible you are to your tenants, the more secure theyâre likely to feel â and the more secure they feel, the more likely they are to continue renting from you long after their original lease periods.
Have Open Office Hours
A willingness to meet with tenants in person is another important tenet of good communication between landlords and renters. (Of course, in light of the highly infectious nature of COVID-19 and the ongoing pandemic, landlords would do well to exercise caution with regard to in-person interactions with tenants. Video calls work just as well, for example.) If you maintain an office on the property, consider putting open office hours into effect. During these hours, tenants will be able to come to see you without making an appointment and make you aware of any questions, concerns, or grievances they have regarding the property and/or your managerial practices.
In addition to making renters feel heard and respected, keeping open office hours can be a great way to set yourself apart from landlords who actively avoid tenants at every turn. So, if you have the time to spare and you value the input of your renters, opening your office up to tenants is a prospect worth considering. Customer resource management software can also prove helpful in cataloging tenant requests, complaints, and grievances, so if you havenât already done so, start looking into the best CRM for real estate.
To make sure your residents can reach you at any hour of the day you may want to think about getting an AI customer service line. That way residents can get answers to frequently asked questions at any time of the day. AI customer service has become very life-like and is extremely dependable, especially for things that are commonly asked. Your residents will feel taken care of and you can make sure that you get the time off and sleep that you deserve!
Make Maintenance a Top Priority
A well-maintained rental property is generally a property occupied by satisfied tenants. So, to ensure that youâre able to provide your renters with top-notch maintenance, take care to hire maintenance personnel who are knowledgeable about all things handyman-related and able to interact with tenants in a courteous, professional manner. Furthermore, avoid sitting on maintenance requests, as youâre liable to forget about them and draw the ire of your renters.
As a landlord, itâs important to understand that your tenants are more than just people who hand you checks every month. While itâs true that you ultimately have a business relationship with these individuals, itâs also your responsibility to make their residential experience as comfortable as possible. Unsurprisingly, landlords who fail to process this fact have trouble hanging onto tenants for longer than the duration of their initial leases. Landlords looking for effective ways to better accommodate their tenants should take the previously discussed tips to heart.
A Happy Tenant Means Longer-Term Rentals
If you want to keep your tenants for a long time, then you need to establish a good relationship with them. Following these guidelines will help you succeed in that. A happy tenant may mean a longer-term tenant which means less turnover on your end and less hassle of finding a new tenant. Also, remember that there are many good property management companies that can help you with all the logistics and management of your rental properties.
Thank you for reading!
