The longer you can keep your renters, the better. You’ll save time and energy that would need to be spent looking for new tenants, cleaning the space your renters left, and avoid losing money while your unit is vacant. Longer tenant retention should be something you’re always trying to improve so that you can make the best returns on your rental property.

Not sure how to improve your tenant retention?

Here are some simple tips that will help ensure your clients enjoy your property for many years:

1. Friendly Communication

Sure, everyone knows who their landlord is, but not all tenants feel like they have a good working relationship with them. Your goal here is to keep things professional, but maintain friendly communication so that your tenants feel comfortable talking to you about any issues they have. It can go a long way to simply introduce yourself and ask about your client, their life, and their interests. Show you care about your client by getting to know them. In addition, you may consider sending a friendly personalized holiday card every year.

2. Take Good Care of the Property

This one is very important. Go above and beyond your client’s expectations with the care of the property. In addition to promptly fixing any problem spots your client points out to you, make sure you do some basic maintenance on a regular basis. Landscaping, for example, should be a routine task that is completed on a weekly or bi-weekly basis.

You should also have a solid property management plan that includes regular exterior and interior painting jobs every few years, maintenance checks and cleanings of major appliances, roof cleans, and more. It’s also wise to plan to invest in upgrades every so often. When tenants see that you’re really taking care of maintaining and upgrading the property to keep up with other, newer spaces, they’ll be more likely to stay with you.

3. Respect Tenant Space

Don’t show up unannounced to your tenant’s apartment or home and expect to be let inside. When you sign the lease with your tenant, the property becomes their private space to use however they’d like as long as they follow basic rules. That means you lose the right to waltz in and out of the property as you please. So, don’t do anything that you wouldn’t like either. If you have to take care of maintenance, let clients know well ahead of time so that when you ring the doorbell, they are expecting it. Most clients won’t mind you coming in to do maintenance, but it’s essential you give them a warning. Phone calls and email are great ways to keep in contact with your clients about anything coming up. Visiting the property is fine, but only with prior notice. This will keep your clients from feeling like you’re spying on them or invading their space.

4. Conduct Inspections

Ever heard the phrase an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? This is true for your property, but it also goes a long way with your clients. By conducting regular annual or semiannual inspections, you show your clients that you are proactive about keeping the property in good shape. They’ll appreciate your willingness to maintain the property. This is also a great time for you to ask your clients if there are any upgrades they’d like to see so that you can take them into consideration. Make it clear to your clients that the inspection isn’t for the purpose of being nosy and making sure they’re caring for the property (although you’ll also notice this). You want to make the impression that you’re just proactively checking for leaks, drips, paint status, major appliance issues, etc.

By following these four tips, you can make sure that your tenants feel welcomed and cared for on your property, encouraging them to stay.

Need help with your property management plan and tenant relationships? Leave it to A Creative Property Management! Give us a call today at 714 842 8080.