No matter how new, well-maintained or amenity-laden a rental property is, it won’t do you any good if no one is interested in renting it. While there are a number of good landlords out there, a fair number of property owners tend to forget just how important tenants are to their livelihood. Unsurprisingly, landlords who consistently ignore tenants’ needs, minimize their grievances and regard them as expendable often have trouble hanging on to renters. To help ensure that you’re the kind of property owner people want to do business with, take heed of the following tips.
Invest in Desirable Properties
Anyone who’s intent on becoming a millionaire through real estate investing would do well to invest in desirable properties in high-demand areas. Since a reasonably new, well-maintained property in an undesirable area is unlikely to generate as much rental income as an older property with fewer amenities in an in-demand area, you should place a strong emphasis on location. So, when exploring your options, take care to research the respective locales of any properties that strike your interest.
In your search for desirable locales, keep an eye out for places with high median income, low crime rates, copious centers of commerce, good schools and healthy job markets. If you’re looking to turn rental property ownership into your full-time occupation, focusing your attention on good properties in good areas should be a no-brainer.
Make Yourself Accessible
No one likes dealing with a landlord who’s impossible to get a hold of. Unfortunately, many landlords have no qualms about dodging calls, emails and other communiques from tenants. The way these property owners figure it, a tenant reaching out means having to tend to a maintenance task or fulfill some other cumbersome obligation. With landlords like these, tenant needs and concerns are the lowest of priorities.
Needless to say, behaving in a similar manner is not going to endear you to your renters. Sure, most correspondences from tenants are in reference to maintenance and upkeep issues, but as the property owner, dealing with such problems is part of your job. With this in mind, provide all of your tenants with your work-based contact info. You should also provide them with a number at which to reach you in the event of a serious after-hours emergency. Furthermore, if you maintain an office on the property, have open office hours and/or allow tenants to schedule meetings with you. Lastly, when communicating with tenants about legal matters, make sure all correspondences are in writing.
Respond to Maintenance Requests in an Expedient Manner
It should come as no surprise that tenants hate having maintenance requests ignored. Depending on the severity of the issue, their residence may be outright unlivable until such time as the problem is fixed. Whether you’re able to address maintenance problems yourself or you’ve hired full-time maintenance personnel for such tasks, make sure to regard every maintenance request as a priority. Even if an issue doesn’t seem to be terribly serious, it’s liable to become far more pressing if allowed to linger for an extended period. Additionally, in the interest of maximum safety, advise that all tenants invest in renters insurance, since homeowners insurance can’t be applied to rental properties.
Hire a Reliable Property Manager
If you have a full-time day job and/or other rental properties to manage, you can benefit from enlisting the services of a dependable property manager. As the name suggests, this individual will oversee virtually every aspect of day-to-day operations. In addition to processing maintenance requests and fielding questions from tenants, the property manager will keep track of rent payments and be in constant communication with maintenance personnel.
The ideal property manager will be able to communicate with staff and tenants in a personable, approachable manner and possess a knack for delegation and proper time management. However, this isn’t to say that you should take yourself out of the equation entirely. No matter how dependable your property manager, make sure to check in with them at least once a day and stay abreast of what’s happening with the property.
Good tenants are the lifeblood of any profitable rental property. However, in spite of this fact, many landlords have zero qualms about ignoring tenants at every turn and regarding their concerns as unimportant. That being the case, it’s in every landlord’s best interest to take active measures to retain their best tenants. Fortunately, endearing yourself to your tenants isn’t nearly as difficult as some property owners make it look. New landlords looking for effective ways to keep tenants satisfied would be wise to remember the pointers discussed above.
