The best way to maintain a landlord-tenant relationship is to know how to properly communicate with your renters. If they feel as though you don’t care about them or you often leave them hanging, your tenants may be hesitant to renew their lease. It’s good to have a standard communication form that you follow with all of your tenants. Here we outline a few ways you can achieve this.
Meet in Person or Talk on the Phone
If your tenant has any issues with their home, or there is something important you need to communicate, try not to do it through text or email. The lack of tone can cause words to become misconstrued, which can make a situation unpleasant. If there’s something important that you need to discuss, we recommend that you pick up the phone, or arrange to meet your tenant in person.
Follow Up in Writing
The above point being made, most verbal interactions don’t have legal grounding. As such, we highly encourage you to follow any communication you’ve had with a written confirmation of what’s been agreed upon. This will ultimately help not only you, but your tenant as well.
Give Reminders and Updates
Let your tenant know when someone will be coming for maintenance, or if the time to re-sign a lease is coming up. If you tell them something a few days ahead of time, give an additional reminder the day of. They’ll appreciate you keeping them up to date regarding what’s going on with their home.
Have Boundaries
There’s a fine line between too much availability and not enough. While you should respond to concerns and requests promptly, giving too many options for communication could potentially confuse everyone. If you check your email more often than your work phone, let your tenant know so they’re aware of how to get the fastest answer.
Additionally, it can become stressful to answer texts or emails from clients all day. Let them know that you have regular business hours and that you may not respond to any non-emergency requests outside that timeframe.
Let Them Know You Care
Your tenants should know that you care about their quality of living and that you’re there to make it as comfortable as possible. Don’t lead them to believe that you see them as nothing but a paycheck, but instead reassure them that one of the reasons you became a landlord was to provide individuals with good living experiences.
Ease Your Stress
If you own several properties, communicating with many tenants can be overwhelming and pull your attention away from other important aspects of your business. If this is the case, consider outsourcing to a property management company. The right one will have extensive experience communicating with tenants and tending to their needs. If you’re looking for property management in Atlanta GA, contact Excalibur Homes today.
