Great tenants! Tips for keeping them

[Leo Lopez]

Hi everyone!

Just completed the purchase of my first rental and spread is great! My question is what are some tips and advice to keep renters renting? I have a tenant who is very respectable clean and pays on time every month. I want to make sure he knows I value him and want to keep establishing a great relationship. What are some tips? I know I’ve heard in podcasts to give them gifts on Christmas and birthdays (not gift cards) but what are some other things I can do? I know that if I can provide excellent customer service and a great relationship they will be more inclined to stay.

Thank you

[JD Martin]

Originally posted by @Joe P.:

@Jon Kelly I really like that idea, curious what other investors (@JD Martin would you weigh in, my friend?) think of it.

I think that's a win-win financial incentive. I've actually thought about replacing my existing exterior doors and light fixtures to something a little bit more modern/inviting/exciting. Why not tie it to a re-sign or good rent payments (give them a carrot) if you can, on top of providing good maintenance response.

I'm not opposed to doing upgrades - I think it shows you care about the property, and (hopefully) makes it more marketable in the future - but I'm not a big fan of letting tenants pick out what upgrades they should get. However, I can see it working in the context of something like this:

Landlord: "Hi, tenant! We are going to be upgrading [insert here: ceiling fans, landscaping, etc] in the next two years; we haven't decided which we will be doing first so I thought I might ask which you would find more useful [or more aesthetic, or least disruptive, etc] during your tenancy."

Tenant: "Wow, we would love to have ceiling fans - sometimes it gets a little hot in here!"

Landlord: "Great, we will make sure our contractor schedules those first and will coordinate with you to keep it as minimally disruptive as possible."

Tenant: "Thank you! I love it here, am never leaving, and can't wait to pay my next rent increase!"

OK, maybe the last line won't happen 😂 . But if you read it, you accomplish a couple of things:

1. You get to add value to the property without it being out of service (i.e. waiting for a vacancy);

2. You keep control of what upgrades YOU want to see happen to the property;

3. The tenant has a voice at the table, which makes S/he feel like they matter to the landlord;

4. Bad feelings surrounding improvements gone wrong are minimized.