It’s difficult to do anything without solid relationships in place.
Even in a digital world where we’re relying more and more on technology, automation, and even artificial intelligence, relationships are the cornerstone of our lives, whether we’re talking about professional lives, academic lives, personal lives, or spiritual lives.
None of us are an island. We work with people. We create with people. We learn from people.
This is true in Santa Rosa rental relationships, too. If you cannot create and maintain a strong relationship with your tenants, it’s going to be very difficult for you to successfully rent out a home.
One of the benefits of partnering with a Santa Rosa property management partner is that you leave the tenant relations to your property manager. We take care of lease enforcement, accountability, and ensuring that your residents have a great rental experience so they renew their lease agreement.
If you’re an independent landlord managing on your own, it’s in your best interests to build a great relationship with your residents. You’ll find it contributes to a better rental experience. A more profitable one, too.
Good tenant relationships can save you money and even help you earn more on your Santa Rosa rental property in the long term. Rent will be paid on time. That means there’s less of a risk that you’ll be pursuing eviction or engaging in conflicts over late fees and other consequences. You’ll find that when you have a great relationship in place with your tenants, they’ll do a great job of helping you maintain your property. They’ll follow the terms of the lease agreement.
Most importantly, you’ll have an easier time retaining those tenants.
One of the most important benefits to a good tenant relationship is lower tenant turnover. You want to keep your good tenants. When they renew their lease agreements year after year, you save money. The more stable your tenant, the more stable your rental income.
So, how is it done? How are great relationships built between landlords and tenants?
We know a few things about this, given our Santa Rosa property management expertise. Here’s what we can tell you is most important to do.
Make the Move-In Stress-Free
Tenants really care about their move-in experience, and that should make the move-in experience important to you, too.
How much do you love moving? Unless you’re inherently nomadic, you probably don’t like it very much. Neither do residents. Even if they’re excited about the idea of starting over, moving into a new home, or finally being part of the neighborhood they’ve been dreaming about for years, they still have to move. And the details around moving can be stressful.
But they don’t have to be.
A landlord concerned with creating a good relationship with tenants will keep the anxiety to a minimum. How can you do this? By being clear about expectations.
Provide a move-in process that’s transparent, easy, and effortless. It’s a simple way to make a great first impression on your tenants. If they feel supported while they’re dealing with moving trucks and unpacking boxes and trying to turn the utilities on, you’ll create a great foundation for a positive relationship moving forward.
- Answer all of your tenant’s questions about the lease and their responsibilities ahead of time.
- Make sure the home is clean, functional, and ready for them.
- Provide an introduction to how things work – show them how to turn the appliances on and where to find the air filters. These things will make a big difference during the early part of the tenancy.
Always keep a dialogue going around expectations. You want your tenants to know when rent is due, how it should be paid, and what you need from them when they’re making a maintenance request.
Lean on Good Listening Skills and Communicate Responsively
Communication is the foundation of any good relationship, and you probably know that already. It’s easy to get lazy around communication, though, especially when we’re sending texts or relying on instant chats. There’s always going to be a time and a place that’s best for quick texts, but if you have to discuss something that has context and requires depth, have a real conversation.
You won’t have a great rental experience with your residents if you can’t communicate with them. You can improve your relationship by being available and accessible to tenants when they have a question or a problem.
Make sure you’re transparent and accommodating when they need to talk. Don’t hide from them when they know they have a complaint, and don’t try to sugarcoat the truth when something unpleasant needs to occur. Communicate in a manner that’s direct and always be willing to listen.
That listening skill is especially important. Be an active listener. Instead of listening to respond, listen to really understand what your tenants need. Even if you cannot solve their immediate problem, tenants often just want to be heard.
Responsive Maintenance Plans Lead to Great Relationships
Tenants are going to quickly grow frustrated when their maintenance requests are ignored.
Don’t ignore them.
The longer you leave your residents waiting for a simple repair, the less patient they become, and the more you risk damage to your relationship. Maintenance is always a concern for both landlords and tenants. And, nothing is more important to your tenant relationship than the way you handle these repairs and requests.
- Responding to repair needs with a sense of urgency protects the condition of your property and shows your tenants that you care about their comfort and safety.
- Be willing to over-communicate when repairs are requested. Let your tenant know when you’ve received their request. Let them know what your plan is to fix the problem.
- Don’t make promises that you cannot keep. If you say you’re going to fix something, fix it.
- After the work has been done, follow up with a call or a text to make sure the tenants are pleased with the results.
These steps are easy to implement, and if you’re already communicating openly and easily with your tenants, they should be easy enough to implement.
It’s also important for landlords in Santa Rosa to be available in case there’s an emergency. A tenant is going to get very frustrated if there’s a major issue like a leaking water heater and you are impossible to get in touch with. Be ready to respond, and make sure your residents understand that you can be counted on to take care of both emergency and routine repair issues.
Balancing Relationships with a Right to Privacy
You want to provide resources and support to your tenants. You want to be available when they need you, and you absolutely need the freedom to hold them accountable to your property and their lease agreement. That doesn’t mean you should be in their business all the time. Tenants are entitled to their privacy.
Don’t show up at the property every few weeks for undisclosed reasons. It’s true that you own this home, but it’s your tenants who are living in it. Respect their space and their privacy. You won’t be able to maintain a positive relationship if you’re a pest. Even if your intentions are good, leave your tenants alone. You want to communicate and be available, but you don’t want to overdo it.
Let your tenants know that you’re available if needed, but don’t hover or be a nuisance. There’s no good reason to become friends with your residents. Establish and respect boundaries.
Provide Tenants with Convenience and Technology
The key to a good relationship is service. When you approach your contract with residents as one in which you provide them with a fantastic rental experience as well as a home, you’ll find it’s easy to create and maintain trust and respect.
Show them that you understand what they value the most. And we can tell you that today, the tenants you are renting to will be especially impressed with two things: technology and convenience. They want things to be as simple as possible. They want to pay rent online, for example. They want to make maintenance requests via an email or a text message so they don’t have to call you and try to explain their problem. They want keyless entry, maybe, and in-unit laundry facilities. They want pets.
Be flexible with your lease terms when it counts. At renewal time, one of your tenants might request a six-month lease instead of another year-long lease. Consider it. Invite smart home tech installations like video doorbells. When you allow your tenants to make their rental property feel like a home, it’s going to work well for your relationship.
These are just some of the suggestions we have for creating a great landlord/tenant relationship. It does not have to be difficult. If you do find that it’s more than you want to manage, however, we invite you to contact us at Prestige Real Estate & Property Management. We manage homes in Sonoma County, including Santa Rosa, Windsor, Sebastopol, Petaluma, and Rohnert Park.
