Keeping your rental units full of long-term tenants is one of the most important parts of being a good property manager. While property owners understand that there will always be a certain amount of turnover. There are a variety of reasons for this turnover ranging from those who are buying a home to those who only needed a short-term rental in the first place.
But at the same time, there are a number of would-be long-term tenants provided you are ready to give them the incentive to stay. Not sure what else you could be doing to help make the most of your long-term tenants? Here are six hot tips to help you improve tenant retention.
If there is one thing your tenants hate more than anything, it’s when you ignore them. You need to be ready to listen to their needs. Even if you have no way to address their concerns, in many cases just having a sympathetic ear is enough. When it comes to maintenance calls, be sure they are handled expediently. All of this will help your tenants feel as though they are important to you and will always be taken care of promptly.
If you aren’t already sending out a monthly newsletter, you should be. It is a great way to let your tenants know what’s going on such as any maintenance projects, new arrivals, and special events. The more you take the time to keep them informed the more your tenants will feel part of the big picture, most love to know what’s going on around them.
If you really want to keep your tenants happy, you need to keep the public areas clean and well-kept. When you work hard to maintain your properties, your tenants will realize they live in an area that is safe, clean, and comfortable, they are far more likely to stay for the long run.
Tenants like to get to know who they are dealing with including maintenance workers, management, groundskeepers, and so forth. While you are going to lose an employee from time to time, the longer you can keep yours, the more it will help with tenant retention. On the reverse side, when you have constant employee turnover, you are more likely to experience tenant turnover.
Today’s tenants want to be able to reach you via text message, email, and voicemail. They want to be able to pay their rent online, they want a website where they can submit maintenance requests, leave messages for you, stay in touch. Be sure to embrace the latest technology, but leave your standard forms of communication in place for your older tenants who may not want to deal with so much “newfangled” technology.
If you really want to keep your tenants hanging around, you need to build a strong sense of community. When your tenants feel like they are part of their community, they are far less likely to want to leave that community. Consider hosting summer barbecues, holiday events, New Year’s Eve parties, meet and greets for new tenants, and any number of other events designed to bring your tenants together.
These are six simple things you can do that will not only help to create a real sense of community but also help to retain your tenants on a long-term basis.
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