Being a landlord is a difficult job made even more difficult when you have unhappy tenants. If you want an easier life, keep your tenants happy by following these tips.
Keeping your tenants happy can make your job as a landlord easier and more fulfilling. It also helps you avoid unnecessary litigation such as property disputes in London, Manchester or wherever your property is located. In this post, we’re going to help you achieve this goal by giving you 10 actionable things you can do to make your tenants happy.
What Are the 10 Easiest Ways to Keep Your Tenants Happy?
Having reliable, rent-paying tenants in your property is good for your businesses. You won’t have to deal with the costs of having an empty property, you’ll have peace of mind that the house is being taken care of, and your rent will continue being paid on time.
Keeping your tenants happy is key for this, so here are some things you can do right now to make that dream a reality:
1. Make your expectations clear from the start
If you want your tenancy to run smoothly from the start, make it clear in the tenancy agreement what you expect of them. This gives them the opportunity to decide if your requests are reasonable or if they even want to live in your property.
Once a tenant has read and signed the agreement, they know what’s expected of them but also what’s expected of you. If you meet your end of the bargain from day one, there’s a good chance your tenants will too.
2. Deal with maintenance issues as soon as possible
There’s nothing worse than having something break down in your flat and having to wait weeks for the landlord to look at it. Even if it’s just a leak or an appliance fault, if the tenants have found it challenging enough to have to contact you, you should get it seen to.
The best way to make sure this happens is to give them your direct line so you’re aware of any problems straight away. If you’re too busy to be rushing around tenants’ properties or to deal with their messages, you should consider hiring someone to manage it for you.
3. Respect their privacy
An easy way to turn your happy tenants into unhappy tenants is to drop by unannounced. You obviously have a right to inspect their home as it’s your property, but they need at least 48 hours’ notice before they’re be subject to any kind of inspection.
It’s standard practice to inspect your tenants’ home at least once every six months to make sure there are no issues with the property that you haven’t been made aware of. It also gives the tenants a chance to raise issues with you that they haven’t brought up before. That said, be sure not to take the micky.
4. Be proactive with renewals
Being proactive with renewals benefits you, and also keeps your tenants happy. Reach out to your tenant 90 days before their lease is up so they have time to consider their future plans and give you enough time to find a replacement if they plan on moving out.
If they decide they want to move out and you really want them to stay, you could ask them what it would take to get them to reconsider. It could be something minor that is more beneficial to you than spending money finding a new tenant and them not being as good.
5. Answer the phone
There’s nothing worse for a tenant than being locked out of their rented accommodation and not being able to get through to you.
Having your tenant’s numbers in your phone in case of emergencies is crucial to helping them out of a bad situation. The tenants who are locked out and facing a night waiting outside their home for a locksmith to show up are not happy tenants. Those who are saved by their landlord as soon as they’re in peril will be happy and will remember you for it.
6. Deal with disruptive tenants quickly
If you own multiple properties, or a multi-family residence, it’s important that any tenants who are unreasonably disrupting the others are dealt with. Obnoxious neighbours are the quickest way to lose good tenants.
7. Go easy when raising rents
If you’ve rented a property in a weak rental market, but the market has suddenly grown and you realise you can make more money from your property, be careful when raising your tenants’ rents.
Having good tenants is worth more than an extra ÂŁ100 a month, and keeping the rent low will give you a better chance of retaining them. This is especially true if they see how high the rent is for similar properties in the area.
8. Offer tenants incentives to fill vacancies
Offering your best tenants incentives for placing their friends into a nearby property will not only make them happy, it will allow you to fill your properties with nice, rent-paying tenants.
9. Invest in your properties
Turning your best tenants into happy tenants is easy when you invest in their properties. Replacing fixtures and fittings, not because they’re broken but because they’re not as good as the ones you’re about to fit, shows the tenant you care about them and trust them to look after the property.
10. Put hooks in the walls
Lots of landlords don’t allow their tenants to put nails in the wall to hang pictures. It’s understandable that a landlord wouldn’t want hundreds of holes in their walls, but if you pick a few key areas yourself and put nails in there, your tenants will thank you.
So, Will These Tips Make my Tenants Happier?
In this post, we’ve managed to cover 10 things you can do to make your tenants happier, and, in turn, your job as a landlord easier.
Hopefully these tips help you attract and retain good tenants, and keep the renting flowing for years to come.
*This is a collaborative post
It must be difficult at times making sure the tenants are happy but also not causing a nuisance to neighbouring properties as I can imagine you could end up being stuck in the middle of a dispute.