As a rental property owner, you already comprehend that renter retention is one of the keys to long-term success. Not only do high turnover rates increase costs, but more importantly, they can also fully disrupt the stability of your investment property in other ways. For that reason, resident retention should be a top priority for landlords and rental property owners alike.
That being said, fortunately, a handful of simple, proven strategies can contribute greatly to keeping residents considerably contented and happily willing to renew their leases every year. Here are our best tips and notes for boosting resident retention and seeing to it your properties stay profitable and steadily thriving.
Establish Trust Between Renter and Landlord
In the rental industry, so much of what owners and landlords do is in regard to relationships with people. Fundamentally, effective communication and a sense of trust between a renter and their landlord is a basic and essential part of long-term retention.
As a property owner, you can quickly foster a strong relationship with your residents by communicating often (and positively) with them, organizing open lines of communication, reacting toward their requests early on, and checking in with them intermittently. Conceding that you don’t want to overdo it, staying responsive to your renter can help them feel like you really care when it comes to their gratification as well as well-being, and entice them to stay in their rental home longer.
Keep the Property Well-Maintained
Coupled with cultivating a positive relationship with your renters, staying on top of your property maintenance and repairs is, in like manner, critically important. Beyond doubt, these two strategies go hand-in-hand, specially when looking to improve retention rates.
Unacceptably poor property upkeep is among the top reasons why renters leave, especially if they have called for maintenance requests that have been carelessly turned down. Beyond that, proactive maintenance can reduce costs by avoiding costly emergency repairs and explicitly demonstrating to your renter that you want them to be living in a well-kept property. This, in turn, may induce them to take good care of the property, which can furthermore protect the value of your property.
Invest in Quality Tenant Screening
Needless to say, finding renters who will take good care of your property is easier said than done. Although, you can definitely screen your applicants before signing a lease. Screening renters is certainly important seeing as it can help you easily figure out if a potential renter is trustworthy, responsible, and a good fit for your property.
A suitable, quality screening should bring you a detailed look at your renter’s finances, credit history, and rental history and make you aware of any past problems. Just don’t forget to ask for and check their references, including previous landlords, as well as any criminal history in your State and any States in which they’ve previously settled.
Offer Renewal Incentives
A beneficial way to encourage lease renewals is to incentivize your current resident to do so. Sad to say though, quite a lot of rental property owners simply use the lease renewal to raise their rental rate or add requirements that make their renter unhappy or unwilling to renew. While a rental rate increase may not often be avoidable, it should be quite reasonable and supported by a description of the value the tenant will receive in return.
For instance, you might highlight recent property upgrades, as an illustration, new appliances, newly upgraded amenities, or improved security features. You may indeed want to think about offering your resident a small discount for renewing early, a free carpet cleaning, or even a minor unit upgrade, such as fresh paint or new fixtures. Even a small offering can be highly relevant toward making your resident feel valued and maintain a sense of trust.
When to Call the Experts
Acting on these proven strategies can immensely improve resident retention, resulting in reduced turnover costs, rising property values, and more reliable, long-term tenants. Surely, managing a rental property and resident relationships can be a real tough and complex challnge, as well as, not to mention, taking time and effort you may not have to give.
At Real Property Management Presidential, we seriously take into consideration the importance of resident satisfaction. Because of this, we implement all the above suggestions – and much more! Contact us today or call 434-422-5591 if you need expert assistance in augmenting resident retention in Charlottesville and nearby. Our team is ready to help you completely maximizee the success of your rental properties with specific solutions perfectly designed to fully meet your needs.
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