Requesting feedback on a text to a tenant to raise rent

[Danielle Netko]

I own a condo out of state and in the past my dad handled most of the communication with the two tenants I have had. The current tenant I've actually never spoken to. He is the perfect tenant, he takes care of the place and pays on time every single month. I don't want to give him a reason to move by raising the rent too much but I want to raise it by a little bit every year. I'd never done this before so I wanted to ask here for some feedback on this text before I send it:

Hi James this is Danielle Netko. I know you usually communicate with my dad so you might not have my number saved in your phone. Some expenses have gone up on your unit including property tax and I’m going to need to raise the rent starting February 1. A rent increase of 2 to 4% per year is pretty standard but because you have been such a great tenant I want to keep it at the minimum, so I’ll be increasing it just by $25, which is a 1.8% increase. So your new total rent starting February 1 will be $1410. I really appreciate you always paying on time and taking great care of the place!

What do you think? Thanks everyone!

[Lisa Wascher]

Hi - Danielle - Just curious why you are not calling this guy since you have never talked to him. Seems like that would be a good thing to do to introduce yourself first and explain the situation and then send him the paperwork. I liked how you phrased things. And $25 is reasonable but you don't have to raise the rent any to keep a good tenant unless you really do have more costs. Don't believe all the people that say you have to raise rents every year. It's much harder (and expensive!) to turn over a place and get a good tenant than it is to keep one. But that's just my opinion.