Minneapolis, MN · Member since 2018 · 31 posts · 20 votes
This year more than ever we thought it would be appropriate to give something to our tenants. If you paid on time all year and had been with us since Dec 2019 we gave them $100 gift card to a local business. Half the year $50. Cost was only a few hundred dollars, but I think it goes a long way to saying thanks for being great tenants.
Unfortunately the gifts don't really buy you any good will. Tenants expect a landlord to be responsive to fixing problems, keep the property in good repair and stay out of their business. A tenant is no less likely to pay rent on time or stay longer at your property, just because you gave them a gift card.
If anything gifts can create problems:
1. It creates the expectation that every year they will get a gift and one year if they don't, they become unhappy. My wife had this at work. Every year they got $100 and thought nothing of it. One year they got nothing and everyone was complaining how greedy the company was.
2. It leaves the impression that a landlord has extra to give. This can send the wrong message to a tenant. For example, if you send a rent increase letter due to rising costs, they will not understand how you had money for the gift but now need to charge them more.
3. It changes the dynamic of the relationship, from a straight contractual relationship to one of friendship.
4. Some people can be offended by gifts. Maybe they don't celebrate Christmas or the gift is something they don't want. If you do give, it is better to give universal gifts everyone can enjoy like cash, Walmart or Amazon gift card.
As far as what I did this month, one of my tenants got a rent increase letter, one got some siding replaced and another got a new deck. We put money back into the properties, so they can have a nice home. They appreciate our responsiveness and proactive improvements. We treat tenants like gold, but we don't give gifts. Our tenants only move if they have job relocation or buy a home. In either case, I there is nothing I could have done to keep them.
We used to do Christmas gifts for Tennant's but stoped a few years back and now do gift baskets in the spring. Don't know why but our gifts had way less impact at Christmas time.
Love the thought of saying thanks to valued guests in our homes. Just make sure you do it in an appropriate way.
@Alex Corbishley That’s a great idea maybe start with a $50 dollar gift card from Walmart. I believe it goes along way in building a relationship with good tenants. However, make sure they are up to date with their rent payments.
This year more than ever my tenants need to buy me a gift for putting up with their crap ! I’m not interested in building castles in the sky or fireside chats with these folks so they’ll get the same thing as last year , nuthin
Thanks can be demonstrated in ways that are far more meaningful and appreciated. Promptly returning calls/texts. Addressing issues immediately. Building cash reserves so that their home remains secure. Investing in "unnecessary" capital improvements that benefit their tenancy. Running your business like a business.
While I am at times overwhelmed with gratitude in owning cash flowing buildings, I refrain from "thanking" a tenant for fulfilling the requirements of their lease. I thank them by being the best landlord they will ever have.
Also, without exception, each of my tenants drives a far nicer car then me.
Unfortunately the gifts don't really buy you any good will. Tenants expect a landlord to be responsive to fixing problems, keep the property in good repair and stay out of their business. A tenant is no less likely to pay rent on time or stay longer at your property, just because you gave them a gift card.
If anything gifts can create problems:
1. It creates the expectation that every year they will get a gift and one year if they don't, they become unhappy. My wife had this at work. Every year they got $100 and thought nothing of it. One year they got nothing and everyone was complaining how greedy the company was.
2. It leaves the impression that a landlord has extra to give. This can send the wrong message to a tenant. For example, if you send a rent increase letter due to rising costs, they will not understand how you had money for the gift but now need to charge them more.
3. It changes the dynamic of the relationship, from a straight contractual relationship to one of friendship.
4. Some people can be offended by gifts. Maybe they don't celebrate Christmas or the gift is something they don't want. If you do give, it is better to give universal gifts everyone can enjoy like cash, Walmart or Amazon gift card.
As far as what I did this month, one of my tenants got a rent increase letter, one got some siding replaced and another got a new deck. We put money back into the properties, so they can have a nice home. They appreciate our responsiveness and proactive improvements. We treat tenants like gold, but we don't give gifts. Our tenants only move if they have job relocation or buy a home. In either case, I there is nothing I could have done to keep them.
I’m normally against giving gifts. But... none of my tenants were even late during this “unprecedented” time. I dropped off cards with Amazon gift cards inside. All I wrote was happy holidays.
To family and friends $100 is $100. Or in common parlance, "just a hundred bucks"
To my business it is 1/8 an installed water heater, 1/4 a new gas grill, 1/2 a months landscaping, a plowed parking lot, a quarterly treatment by the exterminator, a needed repair, etc.
Interesting opinions. We are very responsive to our tenants and fix things when they go wrong. I think giving back improves the relationship, shows you care. Hah, is 1/4 of a refrigerator! While it is a business and we run it like one showing some kindness is why we chose to do it.
I think giving back improves the relationship, shows you care.
A landlord who is responsive and professional cannot "improve" that relationship, being the best landlord they will ever have shows that you care and that you take the lease very seriously. It also reinforces the terms, and conditions a tenant to respect the professional and legal relationship.
When I am left waiting for a waiter, the restaurant offers me a gift. When I am unsatisfied with a purchase, the manufacturer may offer me a gift... they are trying to "improve the relationship" because it needs improving.
If your professional relationships with your tenants need improving then you would be better served by retaining the cash and putting it toward capital improvements, a more responsive repairman, pre-emptive maintenance...
If, on the other hand you are so filled with gratitude because you have these cash flowing properties, your coffers runneth over and you feel like you stepped in sh*t, then spend it on your family. They deserve it and likely have sacrificed something along the way. Your tenant has merely upheld their terms of the lease.
I speak from the experience of having a wife and two young kids when we bought and repositioned our buildings. We had to take on new debt; I have been called away from games; we had weekends scuttled and more often then not had our personal conversations revolve around the buildings. And more than a couple arguments. As I type this, if a tenant texts me, I will immediately address the situation.
And I am going to give them my money??? No sir, my kids are now in an awesome school. Their 529's are regularly funded. They each have a Vanguard account that gets funded with the work they do with me. We travel the world (when we can). My wife gets to go shopping on Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Can you believe that? If you knew me in high school you would say, "No way!"
You know why we all get to do that, because we have all sacrificed for our buildings and by extension, our tenants.
I don't know of a more profound way of showing I care.
@Alex Corbishley I think this very generous of you to do so! We usually gift our tenants something small, with a handwritten note to show our appreciation for them.
I think giving back improves the relationship, shows you care.
A landlord who is responsive and professional cannot "improve" that relationship, being the best landlord they will ever have shows that you care and that you take the lease very seriously. It also reinforces the terms, and conditions a tenant to respect the professional and legal relationship.
When I am left waiting for a waiter, the restaurant offers me a gift. When I am unsatisfied with a purchase, the manufacturer may offer me a gift... they are trying to "improve the relationship" because it needs improving.
If your professional relationships with your tenants need improving then you would be better served by retaining the cash and putting it toward capital improvements, a more responsive repairman, pre-emptive maintenance...
If, on the other hand you are so filled with gratitude because you have these cash flowing properties, your coffers runneth over and you feel like you stepped in sh*t, then spend it on your family. They deserve it and likely have sacrificed something along the way. Your tenant has merely upheld their terms of the lease.
I speak from the experience of having a wife and two young kids when we bought and repositioned our buildings. We had to take on new debt; I have been called away from games; we had weekends scuttled and more often then not had our personal conversations revolve around the buildings. And more than a couple arguments. As I type this, if a tenant texts me, I will immediately address the situation.
And I am going to give them my money??? No sir, my kids are now in an awesome school. Their 529's are regularly funded. They each have a Vanguard account that gets funded with the work they do with me. We travel the world (when we can). My wife gets to go shopping on Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Can you believe that? If you knew me in high school you would say, "No way!"
You know why we all get to do that, because we have all sacrificed for our buildings and by extension, our tenants.
I don't know of a more profound way of showing I care.
Not at all, it was you who said it improves your relationship.
The perfectly honest answer which very few landlords on these "gifting" threads, give, is:
"I give a gift because it makes me feel good."
That is it, plain and simple. And if a landlord is honest enough to say that then I have no qualms. There is absolutely nothing "wrong" with someone saying that. There are pitfalls a-plenty as others have mentioned, but it is an entirely selfish thing and a very nice selfish thing at that.
Instead we have landlord after landlord contorting themselves to make it fit into some business model. "They are more likely to renew... They are more likely to pay on time... it will improve our relationship..." Instead of "I am so grateful that they paid on time that it will make me feel good to... I am so grateful that I have this opportunity that it will make me feel good to... It will make me feel good if I can show them I care..."
I do feel @Alex Corbishley that this conversation has had an adverse affect on our relationship... perhaps you could improve it? Show you care? My venmo is... ;)