Tips for keeping tenants longer

If you have taken steps to make your residential lettings stand out from the crowd, you should get tenants faster and easily. However, with a few straightforward and effective strategies, you might be able to avoid tenants leaving early.

Create a relationship
Know your tenant on a personal level. This means always meeting them and having a conversation that does not involve just saying hello.
Agnes Nabatanzi, a landlady, says it is your responsibility to keep the property up to scratch. The last thing you want is for your tenant not to tell you of issues that arise because they feel they cannot talk to you. She further says in cases where there is a property manager, the owner of the property should visit once in a while to interact with the tenants and listen to their grievances.

The rent
Nabatanzi says rent prices should be reasonable. She says sometimes tenants will ask for a reduction with complaints of lack of some amenities and dilapidation of the facilities. “When this happens, the landlord should act accordingly rather than impose the prices or take drastic decisions that may force tenants out of the property,” she says.
She says rent prices should be increased on merit so that you have a good explanation for tenants when they ask why rent has been increased.

Renovation
Samuel Ochom, a landlord, says before tenants move in, make sure you inspect the house and renovate all that has been broken.
He also says in case the tenant has stayed in the house for so long and raises a complaint of an item which needs to be renovated, act immediately.
He says there are some renovations that should be done by the tenant because the damage happened due to their negligence.
“For such renovations, all the landlord needs to do is explain to the tenant why they will be the ones fixing the damage and just help bring the expert,” says Ochom.

Surprise them
According to Zamzam Wahab, a landlord, a good strategy that is sure to make your tenants feel special and stay for the long haul is by giving them a nice little Christmas present at the end of each year. A small note thanking them for looking after your property and paying the rent followed up with a gift voucher to maybe a supermarket for some home shopping. This is inexpensive, effortless and might even turn out to be a major payoff.
In keeping your tenants happy, always remember the golden rule. Put yourself in the tenants’ shoes and think about the things that would make you want to stay in the property.

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