I know you’ve had a terrible time over the last few years, but renters have been through a lot too. It’s not easy to sleep at night when you fear ending up on the street, so you should make their lives as stress-free as possible.
You’ll increase your reputation as a great landlord, which could pay dividends in the future. It’s easy to ensure your properties are full when everyone respects you. Here are a couple of good ways to start making your tenants smile.
1. Respect Their Privacy
Nobody is going to call a landlord dispute lawyer if you knock on their door, but they don’t want to hear from you. It doesn’t matter how much you enjoy talking to them. Every tenant deserves the right to privacy.
You’ll probably need access to their home a few times per year, but make sure you give them proper notice. If you don’t see them walking around, send a letter/email asking them to call to arrange something.
2. Deal With Bad Tenants
It’s not just you that needs to deal with bad tenants. If you own multiple homes in the area, your other tenants will need to deal with them too. It’s almost impossible to turn a terrible tenant into a good one.
While you’re waiting, they’re just going to make everyone unhappy. It’s best to dispose of bad seeds as soon as possible. Make sure you follow the rules when throwing them out to avoid anything bad from happening.
3. Wait To Raise The Rent
Raising the rent isn’t a guarantee you’ll earn more money. Once you increase the prices, your rental units might stay empty a few months per year, which could leave you with the exact same money when all is said and done.
Only one of those options is going to leave you with a happy tenant. I’m not saying it’s a bad idea to raise the rent but play around with the numbers first. Tenants are desperate to save money right now thanks to covid.
4. You Don’t Need Friends
If you’ve already got friends in your life, you don’t need to be friends with tenants. Once you become too friendly with someone, they might start pushing their luck. When you reject them, they’ll be very disappointed.
It could cause serious trouble once you’ve fallen out, so keep the relationship as professional as possible. You can still be friendly with someone without being best friends, so don’t ask tenants to hang out.
5. Fix Any Problems Fast
When something goes wrong at home, you’ll fix it straight away. If your tenant has a problem, it’s easy to delay the repairs because you don’t appreciate how frustrated they are. Sitting around waiting could drive them crazy.
Repairs will need to be carried out anyway, so it’s pointless waiting until the last minute. It’s not just a good way to keep your tenants happy. When you repair something straight away it’s not going to get worse.
You Won’t Regret It
You don’t need to believe in karma to know being a good landlord will help you. In most cases, happy tenants are the best ones by far.
