The whole point of being a landlord is always to have a constant flow of income from tenants. The problem is that you cannot bring in money this way without having tenant stability.
As a landlord, tenant stability is crucial to your bottom line. If you seem to be struggling to keep good tenants longer, you could benefit from some of our tips to help change your concern. Finding tenants may seem easy but keeping them might be hard.
Here are five tips that can help you retain your tenants.
1. An Excellent Screening Process
Most landlords only do a basic screening process where they look at employment and credit history to ensure that they are getting a tenant that will pay the rent on time. They will also check for any criminal history.
But have you also checked how often your potential tenant moved based on their records?
If they are always moving every year for no apparent reason, then this is a warning sign that they are not stable tenants.
Check out how we do our tenant screening process:
What to do in a situation like this:
Do your research and ask your resident if they see themselves staying in the house they are renting. If they answered no, then see to it that you start promoting the place for rent a few months before the lease ends. Doing this will help you have ample time to look for new tenants for the same place.
2. Make the Apartment a Desirable Home
You may think that as soon as you hand over the keys, your job is done.
However, in order to make the home more appealing to tenants, it is important that you perform regular maintenance to have a clean and well-tended property. This means ensuring the driveways are clean after a storm, the landscape is tended to, and make sure that any complaints are taken care of right away.
A consistent inspection of your rental property will help you determine any necessary repairs to keep the home looking fresh and new.
Here’s a quick guide on how you can initiate a property inspection:
3. Be Available
As a landlord, you need to make sure that you are mostly available if you want to keep good tenants around.
A tenant wants to know that if there is a problem, there will be a prompt response by you. Even if you need some time to complete whatever project needs to be done, be sure to keep good tenants in the loop. Residents want to know that their concerns are taken seriously and they are getting the attention that they need.
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4. A Little Friendliness Goes a Long Way
Whether you are an individual landlord or have a staff tending to your property, make sure that everyone who deals with the tenant is always friendly and professional.
If you are outside when your tenant comes home, wave at them and treat them like family. Always treat your tenants with respect. This is a simple task that can help keep good tenants around for longer.
5. Incentives Help
When the time comes to renew the lease, contact your resident to learn what kind of plans they have.
If they have not decided what step to take next and that you have considered them as great tenants, then decide on an incentive to keep good tenants around.
You could implement a cash incentive or discounts on the rent. You could also consider something like modifications for the home or new appliances as well.
In Conclusion
If none of these things help keep good tenants around, try asking them why they have decided to move on. This could be invaluable information on areas that you can improve upon to help retain your tenants better.
If you believe it is too much work, do not give up. You can always hire a professional property management company that makes sure you have a quality and happy tenants living at your property. Because being a landlord has never been easier!
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