With the growing rental competition in Irvine, you cannot risk your rental business by behaving unprofessionally with your tenants. If you want to retain them in the long run and generate high ROI, it is vital to keep your tenants happy and satisfied. A promising way to ensure tenant retention is to build better business relationships with them. It is therefore critical to learn how you can gain and nurture healthy business relationships with your tenants.
As seasoned property managers in Irvine, we recommend using the following tips to gain a better business relationship with your tenants.
Facilitate Open Communication For Greater Tenant Retention
Communication is an essential factor in any relationship that can make or break your business. You should keep open all communication channels with your tenants to know if they face any problems in your rental unit. Share your contact details, such as phone number, email ID, office, and home address. Online tenant portals are also an effective way to facilitate open communication with renters. It can help them post queries regarding lease agreements, repairs, and rent payments. Try to maintain transparency and build trust with tenants so that they feel comfortable while communicating with you.Set Clear Rules Of Tenancy
Conveying clear tenancy rules and expectations is the first step toward building a healthy relationship with renters. Avoid ambiguous clauses, convoluted phrases, and complex terms that they might not understand. Be clear about their responsibilities and obligations about paying rent in time, cleaning the property regularly, changing air filters, and maintaining the habitability of the place. Also, talk about various addenda like pet policy, appliances, smoking, and criminal activities to avoid liabilities.Resolve Requests and Complaints On Time
Being a landlord is not an easy task. You have to perform multiple responsibilities simultaneously like maintenance, handling insurance and taxes, and administration. However, that does not mean you should avoid or postpone looking into tenants' concerns. It is good to be prompt and responsive in addressing their issues, not waiting for them to complain, and acting proactively in providing services.Respect The Privacy Of Your Irvine Tenants
Respecting the tenants' privacy is more important than you think. Even if you have the right to enter the property, consider sending 24 hours’ notice before you visit. Note that you can directly visit the house in case of emergencies without prior notice, but make sure you inform them about your arrival at least through a phone call. Avoid paying frequent visits without valid reason and practice common courtesy.Avoid Being Unnecessarily Strict
As a landlord, you will want to maintain discipline in your rental, but being too strict and uncompromising will only result in lease violation, late rent payments, and property damage. Consider being flexible and making some exceptions to the rules to forge healthy business relationships with your tenants. Here are a few things you can do.- Be flexible about some of your policies, if the tenant is really good, like your pet policy
- Allow tenants to modify the interior slightly, with prior permission
- Replace old appliances with energy-efficient ones
- Permit the tenant's friends or family to stay on the property, with due notice of how long they will be staying
