Giving back to tenants?

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Giving back to tenants?

Michael Wentzel
Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2013 · 643 posts · 280 votes

Last year we tried something new. In early December, we sent both our tenants (we only had two units at the time) a Christmas card saying thank you and enclosing a $50 gift card. We did it mainly to say thank-you to people who are paying their rent and bless them during the Christmas season. Theoretically they might see it as a small perk of renting from us and stay longer, but that isn't the point.

Are there any more experienced investors out there (more years and more units) who given back to their tenants? Money? Gift Cards? Cookies?

Mike

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Ryan Pemberton
Investor · Newburgh, IN · Member since 2014 · 63 posts · 47 votes
11y

One thing I've seen a local apartment complex do that I hope to employ one day (once I make it to a buy and hold status), is provide a move in goody bag.  It's just left in the apartment prior to the move in date.  

Essentially, it's a gift bag with a roll of toilet paper, roll of paper towels, some granola bars and candy, a trash bag, a small gift card for a local restaurant, and some bottled water.  

It's all very useful stuff to have when you're going through that initial moving phase that can be a little stressful.  I thought it was a great idea..and all for probably less than $20!

Just wanted to share that!

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  • Jerry W.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Investor · Thermopolis, WY · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    12y

    I have not done gift cards. The closest thing I have done is when I see a tenant has done something considerate that benefited me, I try to do something for them. The most recent is I had a guy who needed a house as soon as possible. I had a tenant moving out who was a great tenant and always kept things very clean. I broke one of my rules and let her use the deposit as last months rent to help her move to go back to college. Turns out she asked her mom to clean the place for her and mom did no cleaning. New tenant notified me of cleaning issue( they practically moved within hours of each other) it took me a week to arrange for a cleaning lady to come and clean, but when I stopped by to tell the new tenant he showed me he had already cleaned and done a good job at it. I wrote him a note and told him to put it in his next months rent that instructed my book keeper to deduct a $100 from his rent. Those are the kind of things I try to do to reward good tenants. I also move them up on the list of who gets new appliances next.

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  • Engelo RumoraBusiness Member
    Investor · Toledo, OH · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    Hi Michael,

    I think its a great idea sending the tenants a gift card for Christmas, etc...

    Other incentives cal also be considered depending on how regularly they pay rent and also how long they stay.

    I dont think many landlords would do anything similar and this little sign of appreciation could potentially keep good tenants at the property longer.

    Thanks.

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  • Levi F.
    Real Estate Investor · soldotna, AK · Member since 2011 · 69 posts · 36 votes
    12y

    I also like the idea and will propose to my partner we do the same.

    Thanks for the tip!

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  • Brant Richardson
    Investor · Santa Barbara, CA · Member since 2013 · 658 posts · 315 votes
    12y

    I have given a $40 Trader Joes card at Christmas before.

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  • Andrea M.
    Real Estate Investor · Hampton, VA · Member since 2012 · 562 posts · 109 votes
    12y

    Around the holidays, I have sent Christmas cards or even given Visa gift cards or dropped of bottle of Wine/Vodka on Christmas Eve, since I most if not all of my tenants have children, I figured that the parents need something for themselves.

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  • Andrea M.
    Real Estate Investor · Hampton, VA · Member since 2012 · 562 posts · 109 votes
    12y

    Yes, around the holidays I have sent holiday cards or stopped by on Chistmas Eve given Visa gift cards or even a bottle of wine/vodka as a token of my appreciation.

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  • Ugochukwu Opara
    Real Estate Agent · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2013 · 150 posts · 59 votes
    12y

    @Michael Wentzel This sounds like a great ideal. I will def mimic what you're doing for my future tenants. Thanks for the insight.

    @Andrea M. I would love to be you're tenant if you are sending me Vodka and visa gift cards! Your retention rate must be insane. Well done

    1Reply
  • Andrea M.
    Real Estate Investor · Hampton, VA · Member since 2012 · 562 posts · 109 votes
    12y

    @Ugochukwu Opara Yes, my retention rate is pretty good , however I don't do both it's either one or the other

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  • Jennifer A.
    Sun Prairie, WI · Member since 2013 · 150 posts · 69 votes
    12y

    Last year we had a single mother with three small children going through a divorce. She was a great tenant. We bought her a Christmas tree. She really appreciated it.

    1Reply
  • Mark Bradford
    Property Manager · Greentown, IN · Member since 2013 · 111 posts · 10 votes
    12y
    We have been giving out Christmas cards and gift cards for many years now. We try to give out gift cards to match the tenants. Like for my tenant that was a single mom with kids we would give a gift card for the local pizza joint. My older single man tenant loved to eat at a local restaurant called Richards so we got him a card for there. I think knowing your tenants and making it personal helps even more.
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  • Dawn AnastasiPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    12y

    I prefer random gifts. If you give a gift every Christmas, then receiving a gift becomes a normal event. But if you give a gift out of the blue, people are pleasantly surprised.

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  • Sebastian Gast
    Investor · Denver, CO · Member since 2010 · 99 posts · 20 votes
    12y
    I've given my tenants holiday gifts and thank you gift cards during times of inconvenience regarding house repairs and such. It is very well received. The bottom line is: happy tenants, happy landlord!
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  • Michael Wentzel
    OP
    Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2013 · 643 posts · 280 votes
    12y

    Thanks to everyone for the feedback.

    Andrea M... I would like the wine or vodka gift. But how do you know if they want the alcohol or the gift card?

    Others... I appreciated that you knew your tenants well enough to help them out in a hard time or give specific gifts cards to specific people. Well done.

    I see that many of you are way ahead of me in this area. As property owners/ landlords, we sometimes go the extra mile because it is in our own best interest to have a happy tenants who stay a long time and pay on-time. I think this is understandable and a good way to manage a property.

    I also think there is a place for simple undeserved generosity. As I thought about this idea moving forward, I considering only giving to those who paid on-time over the course of the year or giving more to the tenants who had been there longer. But in the end I've decided to just give to every tenant regardless of the promptness of their payment or length of time in the unit. It is just a gift, no strings attached.

    Mike

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  • Michael Wentzel
    OP
    Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2013 · 643 posts · 280 votes
    12y

    Here's an example where serving the tenant and even the neighbors seems to be in the best interest of the investor. A real estate company in Oakland was not only fixing up their own properties, but the properties throughout the neighborhood...

    http://ncr.vt.edu/docs/Derek%20Hyra_WSJ_August%2013_13.pdf

    Interesting idea. I think it was primarily motivated by profit, but I imagine most neighbors appreciated the free work done on their houses.

    Mike

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  • Andrea M.
    Real Estate Investor · Hampton, VA · Member since 2012 · 562 posts · 109 votes
    12y

    @Michael W. I have a pretty good rapport with my tenants, so I know who drinks and who doesn't.

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  • Thomas Williamson
    Investor · atlanta , GA · Member since 2012 · 287 posts · 148 votes
    12y

    When I first started investing about four years ago, we gave everyone a free month of rent if they renewed (provided of course we wanted them back). We no longer offer that program except to a handful of original tenants who are still with us. Most people would think that's crazy, but I've got a handful of homes with long term tenants in them that keep renewing because of the free rent. I figure it's a lot cheaper than having to turn a unit or multiple units every year. I've made all of that money back in constant cash flow without all the turn over. We offer other perks now to newer tenants, and may go back to the free rent if we see we need it in the future. I always try to offer what others don't / won't in our area.

    1Reply
  • David Foster
    Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2012 · 20 posts · 6 votes
    12y
    We provide a large meal, turkey or ham and all the trimmings, on Thanksgiving to all our tenants in our 16 unit and for any neighbors, or family they want to invite. Its a nice easy to show them we care and appreciate them as tenants. Throughout the year, we do serve meals randomly, especially when our tenants have been inconvenienced with the loss of one or more utilities due to work we are doing around the property. As you may have imagined, this group of tenants are low or fixed income and can't readily afford to make other arrangements. We treat them as we would want to be treated. Because of this and other ways, we believe our tenants will continue to think twice before moving out. And the cost to do this is relatively inexpensive and far less than it costs for move out/clean outs. Our occupancy rate is 95+% most of the time and averages 85+%. Our competition is much less than that. That occupancy rate easily funds taking care of our customers. Btw, we train our tenants well and move quickly to correct any lease violations. It's definitely a Win - Win for all of us.
    1Reply
  • Michael Wentzel
    OP
    Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2013 · 643 posts · 280 votes
    12y

    @Thomas Williamson I really like your idea. It seems simple, but I haven't heard others share it in my limited time of educating myself on REI. I would guess there is a percentage (maybe 25%) that are going to move out no matter what and another percentage (maybe 25%) that are going to stay no matter what. So we're dealing with the people in the middle. The questions is, "How much is enough to pull them into staying for another year?" $100. $200. Half a month's rent. I really have no idea. I wonder if anybody has researched it.

    @David Foster Again, excellent idea. I guess it would be limited to medium or large multi-family properties. If I have 20 sfh's all over town, the group meal becomes a bit more difficult.

    I'm certainly encouraged to hear all of these ideas. It has given me some new ideas moving forward. It seems that generosity sometimes pays for itself in the form of lower turnover and less vacancies. That is great. It is my hope that I would also be willing to be generous in situations in which I receive nothing in return. I am sure there will be plenty of opportunities to practice both.

    Mike

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  • John Rooster
    Denver, CO · Member since 2013 · 409 posts · 105 votes
    12y

    When I win the Powerball I plan on giving all my good tenants a free year of rent

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  • Michael Wentzel
    OP
    Investor · Colorado Springs, CO · Member since 2013 · 643 posts · 280 votes
    12y

    @John Rooster With that promise, maybe you could get your tenants to pitch in for the Powerball tickets. Or perhaps just add a $5 Powerball fee to their rent each month. Again, I appreciate the creativity.

    Mike

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  • Roy N.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Fredericton, New Brunswick · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    12y
    Originally posted by Dawn Anastasi:
    I prefer random gifts. If you give a gift every Christmas, then receiving a gift becomes a normal event. But if you give a gift out of the blue, people are pleasantly surprised.

    I'm firmly in Dawn's camp on this one!

    We have many tenants (international students) who are not Christian, so a Christmas gift would be humours at best or offensive at worse. Similarly, we stay away from giving alcohol ... save "the old codger" we inherited with one building (he's been there almost forever), whom we gave a bottle of scotch on the occasion of a milestone birthday.

    When we give "appreciations" to our tenants, we also try to focus on locally owned businesses in the area where they live (i.e. the café around the corner, the pilates studio on the next block). In turn, we have received good referrals from these businesses for new tenants.

    In a recent appreciation for our student tenants we made an arrangement with a local taxi company, initially for the first two {party} weeks of the school year, whereby they could call a cab to take them back to their apartment {after an evening of celebrating} on us. It was so well received that, after consulting with our tenants, it is being retained as a permanent convenience service - with the difference being that costs (cab fares) will be passed though to the tenant

    1Reply
  • George Paiva
    Investor · Milford, CT · Member since 2012 · 592 posts · 285 votes
    12y

    Well I manage about 12 doors scattered among 4 properties. The only thing I give back tenants is a speedy response when something needs repair or appliance replacement. I keep rents just a little below market to keep them around longer. I have thought about a bottle of wine or even gift cards but honestly they value my hands on approach in keeping the places they live in clean and in good working order. At least thats what they tell me when I inquire or ask for feedback.

    1Reply
  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y

    We sent cards to all and a smoked meats food basket thing to students (it went well with beer) about 25 bucks I think. You know you're doing something right when you get cards from your tenants!

    At the tri-plex, (10-12 students) we'd do a BBQ in the backyard near the 4th of July, we were more like house parents than landlords. Average has stayed over two years almost three, depending on when they graduate, for graduation they get a Cross pen-pencil set. When a student is leaving the others usually throw a party, college = party, I'd stay long enough for well wishes and hugs. (Good time to check on things and tie up lose ends too.)

    Make tenants friends, to an extent, depends on them. Some you can make family. :)

    1Reply
  • George C.
    Involved In Real Estate · My City, NJ · Member since 2013 · 181 posts · 81 votes
    12y

    For long term tenants we give brunch gift certificates ($100) for a fancy place AFTER they renew their two year leases. I don't do Christmas cards or gifts with tenants, I just want to keep it business, not personal...As great as they are, I know they can go bad and I don't want the entanglements of "friendship" to hinder what has to be done.

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  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y

    I agree George, you can't go there with many, nor do many others want to go there, it's friendly but business with most adults, we just leased to a lot of kids, their parents guaranteed the lease, it's a different approach with them too. Can't put them all in a box. :)

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