The Easy Fix For Tenant Retention? Just Fix It!
We need to think of rental property as a business, and the tenant as residual income. Without it the cash-flow brought about by a paying customer will stop to exist. An unfriendly atmosphere will always make a situation more tense and unworkable toward a solution. Take heed to a few tips below.
Leaky faucet. Running toilet. Sticking windows and doors. And the best – a tenant who called to let the landlord know the outlets in a bedroom weren’t working. How did
the landlord fix it? By the giving the tenant an extension cord so they could run electric from another room.
Aside from buying a home or relocating – one of the top reasons tenants don’t renew leases is because of inadequate maintenance. As a property manager, you might think that a tenant can “live” with a running toilet for a few days, or an AC unit that constantly “goes out”, but from a tenants point of view – if they feel things – especially their needs – are being neglected – they will move.
So how can you get organized to handle repair requests promptly?
- First up – if something needs replacing instead of fixing – replace it.
- Second – get into the habit of fixing, replacing and improving rentals with each tenant move out. Don’t just paint and shampoo carpets after a tenant moves out – get through the entire home and aim to prevent “repair calls”.
- From there, give your tenants options for submitting repair requests. My tenants have three options for contacting me about repairs: phone call, email or they can use my online repair request system.
- Have a few handyman “ready to go”. Within a couple hours of tenant repair requests, I’m able to let them know who and when they should be expecting at their home to fix the problem.
- Be prepared for true emergencies – especially ones that cannot be fixed for a few days. Have a back up plan for tenants if the AC goes out in the heat of the summer, or the water heater in the cold of the winter. This demonstrates that their problem is your problem and if tenants see you are working at a solution for them – they are more likely to do what they can do to help.
- Finally, once the repair is made – check in with the tenant to see how things are going.
Buying or selling Tucson real estate, Mt Lemmon, Tucson bank-owned homes, Tucson rental homes, or Tucson lease option homes? Visit www.KGCPropertiesLLC.com!
This blog is written with my opinions and my opinions are
presented wit
h accuracy but not guarantees. Please talk to a professional before making any real estate, financial or agency decisions. Gabrielle Kamahele Rhind - 2011. If you want to reprint parts of this - just email me for my permission: TucsonsRealEstate@gmail.com.
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