Don't forget to REMEMBER to Appreciate our Tenants!!!

Good tenants are a treasure....and we can not forget that their rent pays the bills. Any other kind of treasure you would guard, protect and cherish. But too many times as landlords and property managers, we forget about our treasured customers who pay their rent on time, never cause a disturbance, take care of their homes, report problems promptly and are good neighbors.

The fact is, 95 percent of tenants are good. We want them to continue making
their homes with us. Here are four ways to help show them that you are just
about the best landlord there is.

1. Always do what you say you will do. Under promise and over produce.  Never promise something you can't do. For example, a tenant complains about noise or
inappropriate behavior from another of your tenants. Tell the complaining
tenant, "I'll look into it and get back to you. If you haven't heard from
me in two or three days, call me." Never under any circumstances promise to
fix the problem or to do something specific by a certain time; you haven't
gotten the other tenant's side of the story.

Investigate the problem and call or e-mail the complaining tenant with a summary of
your findings and what you are doing to correct the problem.

If you promise to deal with the situation by a certain date and time, you
had better be right on time or the tenant will remember only that you
didn't do what you said you would.

2. Survey tenants for unfulfilled expectations, then fill them. Find out if
there is anything they had expected that they are not getting from their
home. Suppose with the noisy neighbors your tenant never called you. He
just seethed quietly....possibly thinking about moving. He'd even started checking Craigslist to see what was available. Then he gets a survey form from you wanting to know how things are in his home. Does he ever let you know.

There is no way to know all the reasons tenants do not communicate or correspond.
So you have to give them the opportunity to tell you what is on their minds.


3. Do something to reward good tenants. It may not be much, but it could
mean a lot. A thank you note for being such a good resident goes a long
way.  Too many times people say to themselves, "I always pay my rent on
time and am careful not to bother anybody, but nobody appreciates me."

If you do not feel as if a thank you note is enough; then send a plant or a gift certificate.

4. Don't trade off bad service or conditions for lower rent. Paint is
peeling, all kinds of things need repair—none of them serious, but it looks
shabby. Good tenants don't think about the rent being low, only that the
place doesn't look very good. They might even think the rent is too high
for a "dump like this." Lower rents won't get good tenants to trade off for
unsatisfactory conditions, only bad tenants.

Keeping good tenants means keeping your eye on the customer service ball.
Never miss an opportunity to do the little things and the big things to
provide top-notch service to your tenants. Then you can look forward to
having your good tenants stay with you a long time and thank you for being
their landlord.

 

Wallace S. Gibson, CPM * GIBSON MANAGEMENT GROUP, Ltd.
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"...to be a Virginian, either by Birth, Marriage, Adoption, or even on one's Mother's side, is an Introduction to any State in the Union, a Passport to any Foreign Country, and a Benediction from the Almighty God...." Anonymous