Christmas Cards/Gifts

[wendyfernandes]

Hello Everyone,

I`m wondering if any landlords out there are doing anything special for their tenants for Christmas? I usually send a card with a gift certificate to Blockbuster or some similar place. What, if anything, do you do? What would you say is too much?

Thanks,

Wendy

 

[markl]

Hi Wendy we give a bottle of wine it is homemade(brew your own) with our company moniker on it.

It runs us around $4

Good Luck

Mark Loeffler
www.homeownersoon.com

 

[3Girls]

From the time we starting owning our RE we gave some form of chocolates at Christmas. The size was based on the number of people renting that unit ie. 1 bedroom vs. 3 bedroom. Costco has a big selection of different items for this. We have found renters to be very surprised and thankful when we hand these out. As a cost - very little when you compare it to the rent they have paid through the year.

Maurice Roberge

 

[Darlene]

For our "business partners" - our renters who pay the mortgage and other expenses while our properties increase in value, we want to acknowledge them at Christmas and a couple of other times a year.

We do something different each year for our clients so they don`t get repeat gifts. One year we gave them nice cuddly afgans in neutral colors - I got them at Costco for around $20-25 each. They were a hit!

Last year, we gave a series of three nesting seagrass baskets and filled the top one with wonderful seasonal goodies, wrapped with celophane - looked like something Martha Stewart would give. The baskets were great for storage after the goodies were gone. I got the baskets at Canadian Tire when they were on sale - instead of $30 they were $12 or 13 (one of those Canadian Tire deals). I bought all the baskets in two stores and had to make two trips to get them all home, and then again to deliver them at Christmas time.

This year we are giving nice rabbit ear wine openers with a bottle of Red and White wine. For our long term renters, I have purchased these great downfilled throws from Costco that are wonderful for our Alberta winters.

The best part of the gift is a personal card to each family letting them know we appreciate them.

The feedback we have received from our renters is so great - they so love the gifts and are absolutely blown away.

So for 30 or 40 dollars, and some of your time and thought, why not cement your relationship with your tenants - it`s such a great thing to do for your "partners".

Cheers, Darlene

 

[LeslieQuinsay]

Hi Wendy,

Last year I did a combination of things depending on the particular tenant. I did gift baskets with mugs, hot chocolate, and cookies/chocolates for some of them and for others we did starbucks or tim hortons gift certificates. I usually spend in the $20-$25 price range. Although it`s small we`ve found that most of the time they are just excited to have actually receive something from their landlord...

 

[TylerUzelman]

Those are some great ideas!

Over the years we have typically done hams and turkeys for our tenants, depending on the tenant. This year we plan on identifying our tenants into 3 categories. The first category will receive Christmas cards only. The 2nd category, Christmas cards and $15 worth of grocery gift certificates. The 3rd category, Chistmas cards and a $25 gift basket. This is a great time of year to show appreciation and really take a step to build relationships with your tenants("business partners"... well said)!

 

[robertmasson]

My wife and I decided to give each of our tenants the new Tim Hortans gift cards. We spent $10 per unit.

Regards
Rob Masson

 

[trudijohnston]

Gifts to clients!!

One of the gifts that we give to our clients is a subscription to Style at Home Magazine. It is around $20. for the year. We will also give to some people a gift coupon for the show with coupons for treats to take their children out for an evening of fun family time!!!

Trudi Johnston

 

[mikecunning]

Candles...that way if they burn it down we get a new one!

 

[jeremyfleming]

QUOTE (mikecunning @ Nov 30 2007, 06:46 PM) Candles...that way if they burn it down we get a new one!

Thanks for the laugh Mike - I might use that strategy with one set of tenants!!

Jeremy

 

[JefferyJohn]

If you are in Alberta, you`ve got to consider purchasing tenant gifts from www.littlehelpers.ca

Two young girls, 10 & 11 I believe, who put together gift baskets for tenants. They have them available at the Edmonton & Calgary REIN meetings; but if you need a bunch I would recommend calling them in advance to put in the order.

They look fantastic, and are so reasonably priced I don`t think you could justify making them yourself. I just ordered 10 to pick up at the Edmonton REIN meeting on Tues, and they were extremely accomodating . . . I did not provide them with much notice!

The icing on the cake . . . they donate to Habitat for Humanity with every basket purchased!

 

[wendyfernandes]

Thanks everyone for your help.
I definitely agree that the people renting your property should be thought of as business partners, but for the sake of using terminology that is widely interpreted the same way I used the term tenants because often think of business partners as people who share ownership in the property.
These were all great suggestions and I will be using some of them...well except for the candles

Thanks Again!
Wendy

 

[SonjaSkage]

Hi!

I have mostly young tenants and I usually give them a set of bath towels for Christmas. All young people seem to need towels. I watch for an awesome sale. If it`s female tenants, I`ll add bath stuff and chocolates - what woman doesn`t love this?? If it`s a family, I`ll usually do a gift basket with chocolates, cookies and other goodies. I usually spend about $30-40 or so and the response is always very surprised and positive.

Sonja

 

[DianneDachyshyn]

QUOTE (SonjaSkage @ Dec 5 2007, 09:19 AM) Hi!

I have mostly young tenants and I usually give them a set of bath towels for Christmas. All young people seem to need towels. I watch for an awesome sale. If it`s female tenants, I`ll add bath stuff and chocolates - what woman doesn`t love this?? If it`s a family, I`ll usually do a gift basket with chocolates, cookies and other goodies. I usually spend about $30-40 or so and the response is always very surprised and positive.

Sonja

This is a great topic and timely, since this will be our first Christmas as landlords. I have two questions:

First, how do you classify tenants into varioius categories according to the size of gift they will receive? That one stumped me.

Second, baskets and towels, etc. are nice ideas, but what works best from a distance? We live in Edmonton and our tenants are in Grande Prairie.

 

[edlabine]

QUOTE (Rascal @ Dec 5 2007, 10:13 AM) This is a great topic and timely, since this will be our first Christmas as landlords. I have two questions:

First, how do you classify tenants into varioius categories according to the size of gift they will receive? That one stumped me.

Second, baskets and towels, etc. are nice ideas, but what works best from a distance? We live in Edmonton and our tenants are in Grande Prairie.

Rascal - my 3 catagories - new tenants = card, good tenant = gift, bad tenant (I don`t have any but I`ve heard that they exist...) = nilch!

Ok, you`re in Edmt, they are 5 hrs away and building your retirement... Buy some gifts, and go for a drive - say thanks face-to-face! Tenants are less likely to screw you over if they know that you`re a real person that cares about them - what`s that worth?

Food for thought,
Ed

 

[DianneDachyshyn]

QUOTE (edlabine @ Dec 6 2007, 08:53 PM) Rascal - my 3 catagories - new tenants = card, good tenant = gift, bad tenant (I don`t have any but I`ve heard that they exist...) = nilch!

Ok, you`re in Edmt, they are 5 hrs away and building your retirement... Buy some gifts, and go for a drive - say thanks face-to-face! Tenants are less likely to screw you over if they know that you`re a real person that cares about them - what`s that worth?

Food for thought,
Ed

Thanks, Ed. These are brand new tenants (moved in this month). A card will be nice--maybe even a small Tim Horton`s gift card. We may be up there looking at properties befroe Christmas, and we will pop in, too.

Thanks for all the tips!

 

[JeffSmith]

For the pain in the a.. tenants Nothing says I care like a rental increase Letter with a gift card to Sears Carpet Cleaning!

 

[Nicola]

Any suggestions if you are overseas? I`d like to order something online and send it directly.

I`m thinking gift cards from either Canadian Tire, Coles/Indigo, Loblaws (Ontario) or Blockbuster - I think I can order all of these online (www.giftcard.ca). Any experience of which would be best? (I realize it depends to some extent on the tenant.)

Also, silly question, but how would you sign it if you don`t really have a relationship with the tenant? (they don`t necessarily know my name - they deal with the property managers) - "Owner", "Landlord"...?

Thanks,
Nicola

 

[RussellWestcott]

Great discussion thread, as we need to take care of assets (our tenants). I know it was mentioned earlier about the Little Helpers http://www.littlehelpers.ca/.
This is who I used this year for my baskets in Edmonton. They had a great medium Christmas basket (filled with cookies, smoked oysters, crackers, white hot cocoa, vanilla hot cocoa, earl grey tea, quality street candy, truffles, after eight mint sticks, macadamia nuts, wafers, bag of butterscotch Mactavish hard candy, creme` brule coffee and English toffee coffee.) Delivered to the tenants doors for around $52-$60/ each.

Plus they donate $1.00 from each basket to Habitat for Humanity... all this from 2 young entrepreneurs (ages 11, 12). I know this is an Alberta (Calgary based) company, and does not deliver to Ontario yet

. But I wonder if any Ontario REIN™ members have children that they would like to start this type of business?... just an idea, you would be quite impressed with what this little business has created. I bet the Little helpers may even be able to consult with them, or even open up a franchise operation

. Please note, I am not associated with this company, I have been very happy with the service they provide, and I applaud the initiative of these 2 young entrepreneurs.

Here is a gift for everyone if you are struggling what to write in your letter to your tenants. You can download the actual letter I used to personalize to each of my tenants. Click here to download this template.

Here is the text used for the letter if you would like to cut n, paste.

******************************
Seasons Greetings

Greetings (Tenant’s name here),

Myself, my girlfriend, her three beautiful children (Marcus, Emma and Avery), as well as your professional property management team at Realty Corp, would like to extend a warm holiday greetings to you and your family.

Over the course of the year we have been happy to provide you with a quality rental home, and we appreciate that you have treated this property as you would treat your own.

It sure has been a busy year, and we bet you are busy getting ready for the holidays, I know my family sure is!
During this busy time of year, we hope you take some time to stop and enjoy some of the sweet things in life. To help with this we have provided you with this special basket filled with treats and goodies to enjoy.

Sincerely,


Russell Westcott & Your Professional Property Management Team at Realty Corp.

P.S… These baskets have been provided by a company called Littlehelpers.ca. They are young entrepreneurs (10 & 11 years old). $1.00 from each of these baskets is donated directly to Habitat for Humanity. By enjoying these goodies (my favorite is the vanilla hot cocoa) you are indirectly helping a deserving family in Edmonton.

P.P.S… Myself and the team at Realty Corp property management look forward to working with you in the New Year.

******************************

You can decorate this text up by adding some nice festive type stationary and envelopes (see template that you can download).

Trust this helps when you are looking to take care of your assets this festive season.

Cheers
RW

PS... This year we decided to send a basket to all our tenants, including the ones on Santa`s naughty list. This is the best time of the year to start to build a new relationship with those tenants who have not completely followed your rules. We have always come from the standpoint of doing everything we can to give my tenant a chance to start again... but if they choose not to take that opportunity, then we may have to go our separate ways in the near future.

 

[Nicola]

Thanks for the great letter template, Russell!

Unfortunately, Littlehelpers.ca are sold out of Christmas gift baskets.

But good on them for doing so well!!