Losing good tenants is expensive.
To earn as much as you can on your investment property in Winston-Salem, you need to find and place well-qualified residents, and then you need to hold onto them.
Avoid expensive turnovers and long vacancies by increasing your tenant retention. We have 5 ideas that you can try right away.
1. Communicate and Share Expectations
Share your expectations with your residents early, and that will set you up for a positive and professional relationship that’s built on good communication.
When your residents understand their responsibilities and the requirements set forth in the lease agreement, they’re more likely to perform as expected and less likely to shy away from asking questions or reporting concerns. This is an important part of retaining those residents.
We reject the notion that landlord/tenant relationships are inherently adversarial. They don’t have to be. When tenants understand what you expect from them, there’s less confusion and little conflict. They’ll renew their lease agreement because you’re easy to work with and approach.
2. Be Responsive with Maintenance
Responsive maintenance helps retain tenants. When your residents are stuck waiting for weeks to have minor repairs addressed, they don’t have a good reason to stay in your rental home. When they need to remind you about maintenance requests they’ve made, they feel like you don’t care about their experience.
Increase retention by being proactive and responsive when it comes to emergency maintenance and even routine repairs. Have a system in place so tenants can report issues in writing. Then, get in touch with them right away so they know you’ve received the request. Explain what your plan is to take care of the issue. Always follow up after the work is done to make sure everything is satisfactory.
This will make a difference.
3. Collect Rent Online
You need to make it easy for tenants to rent from you.
One way to do that is by making it easy for them to pay rent. Tenants today are not interested in writing out checks and sending them through the regular mail or dropping them off to you. They want to pay on their phones or by swiping on their tablets.
Online rental payments should be available to your residents. Even if you don’t have enough rental properties where a property management software system makes sense, you can download a number of payment apps and accept your rent payments digitally.
4. Provide a Pet-Friendly Investment Property in Winston-Salem
One of the benefits of allowing pets in your property is that you’ll see higher retention rates.
Pet owners typically stay in place longer than tenants without pets. Finding a rental home that allows pets is sometimes a challenge. Tenants won’t want to pay another pet fee in a year. So, when you open your property to pets, you’re likely to keep your pet-owing tenants for longer than a single lease term.
5. Make Reasonable Rental Increases
Rents are rising, and your tenants will surely expect that when they renew their lease agreement, they’re going to pay more. In a less competitive market, tenants will generally wait and how much rent is going up before they decide to renew a lease.
In the current market, fewer tenants are leaving because rent prices are so high and inventory is so tight. But, you don’t want to increase the rent too much, or your tenants will start looking around. You also don’t want to price them out of their own home. If they can’t afford the rent, it’s going to cause problems for them and for you.
If you have any questions about property management services in Winston-Salem, please contact us at Capstone Realty Consultants.