As a property investor, your property is your golden goose. But as your property manager, our most valued asset is your tenant. A happy, cooperative tenant may choose to extend their lease, and keeping down turnover will help to avoid vacancy costs and get you more return on your investment. Here’s how we work to ensure that your tenants feel valued so that you remain profitable.
Effective Communication
When the tenant feels neglected, not only may they be tempted to break their lease, but any bad word of mouth that results from poor communication can damage your reputation. Both can lengthen your vacancy periods, even with high housing demand. Here are a few ways we pride ourselves on thorough, systemized communication that keeps tenants feeling confident in their experience and our level of professionalism.
- Fair rent collection: No tenant will ever be caught off guard with an eviction or rent increase, or refused their due grace period. Rent procedures are steadfast. Any late notices are expeditious while being legally compliant with state and federal laws. Online and autopay options give tenants the ease and incentive of paying on time with a consistent method. We also make sure to send tenants helpful payment reminders and provide their payment history to add to convenience and cooperation.
- Regular onsite property visits: Scheduled inspections help to protect tenants from uncertainties; whether that means avoiding interruptions in their daily lives or avoiding property damages, they wouldn’t have noticed. Inspections also help to build positive tenant relationships: the schedule gives the tenant a sense of ownership over their living space, and maintenance leaves the impression that their residence is well looked-after.
- Open feedback: Soliciting feedback from your tenants, whether through surveys or at onsite inspections, gives us the data we need to improve your property experience and theirs. From modernization suggestions to new ways to streamline our management processes, everyone benefits from tenant insight. Seeking their input also helps them to feel valued.
Easy Processing
Smooth processing procedures – from submitting a deposit to receiving it after move-out – are respectful of your tenants’ time. They also help to make them feel like part of an exciting process, rather than an unknown number being vetted. Here’s how we keep each tenant-facing interaction during the leasing process approachable, supportive, and productive.
- Disclosure: To instill trust and avoid conflict, the tenant will never sign something they don’t agree with, or that isn’t compliant with local and federal law. From the very beginning, we provide the tenant all necessary disclosures about Fair Housing laws, any fees owed, and need-to-know policies about property usage, such as pets and roommates. We keep them in the loop about their application status, including their creditworthiness, employment verification, and the findings of their background check, so they’re not waiting long.
- Simplicity: Between walk-throughs and move-outs, we let tenants know that they can come forward with questions or concerns and that we will address those issues efficiently. If the tenant wants to vacate early, we help to make this process as seamless as possible per the lease agreements (a good relationship could always encourage them to come back). We also make lease renewals easy to carry over, so trustworthy tenants are rewarded for extending their stay.
Fast Maintenance
Speedy, efficient responses to emergencies give tenants peace of mind. They also protect your property by avoiding prolonged damages. Here’s how we ensure a respectful process.
- Urgency: From preventative maintenance to the midnight plumbing calls, we offer tenants open, 24-hour accessibility. They can expect a call turnaround within that same timeframe to let them know they’ve gotten through to the appropriate staffer, to inform them what actions can be taken (if any), and to give them a projected timeline of when those resolutions will take place.
- Transparency: We offer tenants online submittal for repair requests to give them the most efficient way to track maintenance status and scheduling. Email, text, and phone calls are also managed by staffers to give tenants their preferred method of communication. As the property owner, we keep you updated every step along the way, with photos and written documentation of any observations. When everyone is on the same page, it indicates everyone is a valued asset to property maintenance.
- Follow-Through: We then use our relationships with our vendors to coordinate landscaping, pest control, HVAC and electrical repairs, and more. Following up with the tenant afterward is vital to ensure the issue was resolved and that the tenant is satisfied. At the very least, it reassures them that we will work through the problem until we solve it. We also offer proactive tenant education in regular maintenance that they should oversee themselves.
Property managers like RPM Spokane County can also help to set your property rent and avoiding legal hassles. From pinpointing the creditworthiness of prospective tenants to scoring the actual market value of your property, we will help to keep you profitable.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
