Insights and best practices for property managers

How to improve your relationship with your tenants

If you're a landlord who wants to keep your tenants happy, there are a few more things you could be doing. We've created a list of 10 easy ways that landlords can improve their relationship with their tenants. These are the things landlords should be doing to keep a positive relationship with their tenants and demonstrate care about their experience while staying in your property. 

1. Making sure the tenants have what they need

This is one of the most important things you can do to make sure that your tenants are happy. If they're unhappy, they're going to let you know. The only way to fix it is by making sure your tenants have what they need, and doing so promptly. Unhappy tenants can cause a lot of issues for landlords, like losing a tenant that pays rent on time, worrying about an eviction lawsuit, or losing another tenant altogether.

2. Being Respectful of their privacy

As a landlord, you need to respect the privacy of your tenants. This goes for both the things that are online and offline. There are plenty of sites out there dedicated to reviewing landlords, and they're not always positive. In addition to this, if you post something derogatory or insulting about your tenants online, they can sue you for libel! If this happens, it'll cost you a lot more than their rent. The only way to avoid this is by being respectful of their privacy.

3. Being friendly and polite

It's easy to be a tough landlord, especially if you are one that wants to maximize your income. It can seem more productive to turn a blind eye and not acknowledge your tenants at all. This rarely ends well for anyone involved. If you want to keep a positive relationship with your tenants, make sure that you are friendly with them and polite when communicating with them. The only way this will happen is by showing respect for your tenants.

4. Being open to their feedback

It is important that you are open to constructive feedback from your tenants and their concerns. This is a great way for you to improve the property, and helps your relationship with your tenant. If there are things that need improving, make sure you address them proactively instead of ignoring them. By staying open to feedback, you can get the most out of your relationship with your tenant(s).

5. Ask them about their experience

It's important that you ask your tenants about their experiences at your property. This will help you avoid many of the ills that can occur when renting, like poor communication and financial issues. If you let your tenants know that you want to make their experience a good one, they'll be more likely to tell you if there are any problems or concerns.

6. Being a good example to their tenants

It's always frustrating when your tenants leave negative comments about your property on the internet. No matter how good you are at keeping your tenant happy, if they're not happy with you, it can potentially ruin your reputation and prevent you from attracting high-quality tenants in the future. 

7. Being the best landlord you can

There are plenty of great landlords out there who are doing a great job. If you want to be the best landlord you can, then make sure that you're investing the time in educating yourself about how to achieve that. Like anything else, there is a learning curve to being a landlord. Make sure that you're working hard at it and staying accountable to your tenants!

8. Providing them with the best customer service

If you want to keep your tenants happy, you need to provide them with the best customer service. This includes communicating with them proactively and maintaining a clean property. You also need to make sure that you're doing everything in your power to make their experience a good one. This includes being available for things like repairs, maintenance, and more!

9. Treat them as would treat your top customers

It's important that you make sure that your tenants have a great experience by treating them as your top customers. Not only is this going to make them regular, paying tenants, but it's also likely going to give you a positive review online and offline. When you're renting out a property to someone, it's important that you think of them as customers and not just a source of income. 

10. Being excellent at maintenance and repairs

Repair and maintenance issues are the most important thing that you can do for a long-term positive relationship with your tenants. These issues can cause many problems if they're not dealt with promptly, including negative reviews and potential lawsuits. If your tenants have something that needs to be repaired, make sure you do it quickly and effectively!