Longtime landlords know how deleterious a high tenant turnover is. To keep good tenants, it is essential to make sure you know how to keep the relationship between you and your tenants healthy. When you have a healthy landlord-tenant relationship, problems are less likely to occur. And more, a good relationship can directly impact your finances, comfort, and lifestyle. Below are the five best tips to have a good relationship with your tenants:
Tip 1: Fix The Rental Price Fairly
Overcharging tenants is not any way of building loyalty or earning lease renewals. Conversely, undercharging tenants can make you feel angry. For you to realize the best landlord-tenant relationship, the rent should be honest. That is, not too high not too low. Now, there are additional ways of deciding the rent amount. Maybe the most popular tool is comparative marketing research or CAM. Essentially, the tool helps determine what the going rent is in your area.
Tip 2: Screen Tenants Completely
This is a no-brainer. Screening tenants help you avoid leasing your property to the incorrect cluster of tenants. Generally, the screening method entails getting proof of financial gain, rental history, trustworthiness, and criminal background.
When screening a prospective renter, it pays to watch out for warning signs such as:
- Dishonesty: Prospective renters who lie to you are likely hiding something. If you discover the renter provided inaccurate salary, made up references, or gave false employment history, cut them loose.
- Scattered Employment History: This can be a significant warning call. A renter who does not appear to stay in one job for long may be a risk.
- Eviction History: Evictions are among the most famous red signs a tenant will have. To investigate, you may contact your nearest law firm. Express Evictions is a landlord-tenant law firm in California that offers free advice for both landlords and tenants.
- Bad Credit: Rent is the lifeblood of the rental business. As such, you would like to search out a tenant who can pay their rent on time monthly. The only way to guarantee this can be by running a credit check on all of your prospective tenants. Obtain their consent first before running a credit check.
Tip 3: Communicate with Tenants
In life, effective communication is the key to success. The reason behind several landlord/tenant relationship problems is attributable to someone’s inability to focus and listen clearly. When landlords communicate well with their tenant and the tenant does so too, it helps eliminate misunderstandings and may encourage a pleasant and peaceful relationship.
Below are some tips to assist you in this regard:
- Do not make assumptions: Are you questioning what your renter is doing lately? If so, ask. Do not assume.
- Respect their boundaries: Do not knock on your tenant’s door at any hour, or expect them to permit you to enter the unit without notice.
- Ask your tenant what their preferred technique of communication is. For some, that is a text or email. For others, it is a telephone call.
- Know when to talk and when to listen. One way to kill a landlord-tenant relationship is poor listening skills.
Tip 4: Respond to Repair and Maintenance Problems As Soon As Possible
As a landlord, the law requires you to keep your rental property in livable condition. There is nothing that frustrates renters more than landlords who are slow on maintenance problems. Tenants have the right to essential maintenance and repairs. Non-responsive support is, in fact, one reason for top tenant turnover. If you repeatedly fail to respond to repair and maintenance problems, landlord-tenant law gives your tenant the following options:
- Make the repairs and deduct money from the ensuing month’s rent.
- Withhold the total rent quantity until you fix the matter.
- Notify the local building inspector, who will order you to make the repairs immediately.
- Break the lease without having to continue paying rent.
Tip 5: Respect your Tenant’s Right to Privacy
You must let tenant live in their home without interference. You cannot simply barge in on your renters any time you would like. Your property is their home. If you would like to access the property, ensure you notify them well in advance. In many states, rental law requires that you offer your tenant a minimum of 12 hours’ notice if you intend on doing any repairs. For all other things, like property inspections and property showing, the law merely says the notice should be reasonable.
