How to Attract Long-Term Tenants

Drawing a tenant to your rental home is just the first step to succeeding in the rental business. Your goal should be to keep them satisfied so they renew their leases. After all, an occupied property translates to consistent earnings.

Having a long-term tenant is a surefire way of ensuring your investment property remains profitable. You get the income for its maintenance expenses and being longtime occupants in your rental means they’ll start to see it as their home. This means they’ll be caring for the property more diligently.

Now, let’s see all the ways you can encourage your tenants to stay longer in your rental property!

Keep Your Tenants Safe

Nobody wants to stay in a rental unit if safety is compromised. Even before affordable rent, renters want to know that they’ll be safe if they live on the property.

Here are questions to go over:

• Have I tested the smoke alarm?
• Do the doors and windows have solid locks?
• Have I installed a security camera or a sign that announces a security camera to keep intruders away?
• Is my property well-lit from the outside?
• Is there a need to install motion-activated lights to monitor external movement?

Safety can never be taken for granted and if the tenant feels safe in the property they’ll be more likely to stay long-term.

Conduct Regular Maintenance

State laws indicate that a landlord must ensure that the rental is habitable. This is one of the things you must prioritize as part of your landlord duties.

Here are things to consider:

• Have you conducted preventive and seasonal inspections?
• Do you have a regular schedule and a checklist to assess the current condition of your HVAC units?
• Are you making time to deep cleaning the property?
• Are you paying attention to small damages and fixing them?
• Are you evaluating the normal wear and tear of your furnishing?

A well-maintained rental makes renters stay longer. What’s more, if you respond to tenants’ maintenance requests promptly they’ll feel taken care of and will be more likely to extend their lease.

Provide Customer Service

One of the ways landlords stand out is by the level of customer service they give to their renters.

Here are ways to provide good customer service:

• Respond to tenant maintenance requests in a timely manner
• Provide status updates or follow up after a tenant’s request
• Provide notice to a tenant prior to property visits/ inspections
• Treat tenants fairly and facilitate open communication
• Listen to and address tenant complaints
• Customer service remains one of the top priorities for renters when considering a lease renewal.

Extend a Warm Welcome

Creating a good first impression is key in starting a new landlord-tenant relationship. Moving can be tough and showing up on the first day of your tenant’s move-in day provides reassurance to a new tenant.

Here are ideas you can follow to welcome tenants:

• Meet the tenant in person
• Bring some treats such as coupons, restaurant vouchers, or baked goods
• Schedule time to orient the tenant and show how appliances function
• Provide your contact information and a local map to help the tenants get their bearings
• Introduce the new tenant to other tenants or neighbors

Practice Being a Flexible Landlord

Different tenants have different needs so using rigid cookie-cutter rules can be a turn-off to renters. As a landlord, you want to offer a degree of flexibility depending on the priorities of certain renters.

Here are things to contemplate:

• Can you allow tenants with pets in your rental unit?
• Will you permit tenants to repaint the walls?
• Do you extend payment grace periods?
• Will you give permission for tenants to have pets? 
• Will you give permission to tenants to sublet the rental unit?
• Keeping an open mind ensures you’re listening to the needs of your renters.

Hire a Property Management Company

Professionals are often sought out for their expertise. If you want a professional type of management to operate your rental property, find a trusted property management company.

Property management companies offer great benefits that self-managing landlords can take advantage of. They will be able to manage the property and keep you informed so you don’t have to worry about the day-to-day operations.

Offer Incentives

You can incorporate incentives to sweeten the deal for tenants who renew. It’s hard and costly work to find new high-quality tenants and to prepare the property for new renters.

Here are ideas to mull over:

• Are you open to offering a month of free rent?
• Can you hire a professional cleaning company to perform a deep cleaning of the rental unit?
• Do you provide rental property upgrades?
• Can you cover utility or parking expenses for a few months?

Incentives or even renovations provide a win-win scenario that both the landlord and tenant can benefit from.

Summary

Take any suggestions from this article and you might just earn yourself happy long-term tenants!

Your rental unit can have the best amenities, location and you can ever offer an affordable rental rate, but the main things that matter to tenants are living in an excellently maintained property and having a good relationship with the landlord. It’s easy to be loyal when you feel respected by the landlord.

If you would like help managing your properties or would like more advice on how to secure long-term renters contact the experts at Halcyon Real Estate Services today!