Property Management Tenants Love

[KeenanTameling]

Although the vacancy rate in Edmonton is low that doesn`t mean that it is easy to rent, especially to the best of tenants.

In an effort to bring the best tenants into our properties(owned and managed) I was hoping to get some feedback from the people on here about what they have done to attract good quality tenants and keep them?


Any feedback would be appreciated.

Keenan

 

[ApexQI]

Hello all, finding good tenants is the harder of the two. Keeping them is easy. We basically follow the REIN management system.

Finding: write good ads and post in locations that fit the demographic you are looking for. If you want students place ads at colleges/univerities. Nurses generally work at health centres. You get the idea...Great pictures help. When doing viewings and setting appointments, get the prospect to call or you call them, 1 hour before the the appointment to confirm they can still make it. This saves you travel time and such if they have cancelled.

Screening- actually do dilligence, I am amazed to hear that some REIN members still do not check references and employment. WOW. Call all employers, call previous landlords and pretend to be looking for a place to rent if the "landlord" hs no idea what you are talking about chances are he is not the landlord. Pull credit checks, $7 well spent.

Keeping them: As I said this is easy. We give them a move in gift. Lease renewal gift. Christmas presents. Birthday cards. The gifts do not have to be extravagant, but we do try to make it personal. If all else fails TicketMaster has gift certs, that can be used for any venue they promote. Above all else we respond to their concerns, we do not leave maintenance issues unattended. If they get the impression the manager/owner doesn`t care about the them or the property, guess what, that is how they respond as well. Get what you give. Even if you have a property manager, we always give out tenants our contact info as well, and we let the manager know this. Keeps everyone honest and diligent.

Yes we still get calls but we also have alot of long term 3+ year tenants, and yes we have had to use a bailiff, not every system is bullet proof...yet.

Gotta go. Hope this gets the ideas going.

 

[RebeccaBryan]

Keenan,

I think you have to go with that attitude that your property is better vacant than taking any tenant you can get. Don`t ever do that!

We make sure our properties are clean, neat, and freshly painted, if necessary. I make the places nice enough that I wouldn`t mind living in them myself. If I feel that way about them, I am more likely not to cut rent just because it`s been vacant for a couple of months. If I know the place is comfortable, I`ll get my target price. Don`t ever be afraid to be aggressive with rents, but be realistic. If you have your place appealing, you`re more likely to get what you want.

Example: We had a bungalow in Delwood rented last year for $2200/mo. to a construction company, 3 bedrooms up and a two bedroom suite down with a double garage. The tenants moved out Dec. 15. We needed to renovate the basement suite and do minor reno`s on the main floor. We were unable to rent it until Mar. 1. We rented the main floor for $1575 plus utilities, including the double garage and April 1 we rented the basement suite for $1050 incl. utilities. The utilites are in the upstairs tenants name and we have an agreement with them ourselves to pay the downstairs tenant utilites. That way they don`t have to deal with each other and we don`t have the utilities in our name.

I thought getting $2200 was great, now we`re getting $2625/month minus basement suite utilities. In the long run it will make up for the vacancy we had in January/February.

This property has a long story. I removed conditions on it the same time as another house and had a JV partner back out. We had to borrow private money to close on the deal ourselves. Well worth it!! It`s 100% financed and still cashflows over $400 and that will increase when we pay out our private lender at the end of the month.

I know I went off topic.

 

[mortgageman]

Treat them with respect and sincerity!!! But be firm when you have to.
They all have my cell phone and I answer immediately if possible or return the call as soon as possible.
I`ve never been called at an unreasonable hour unless there was truly an issue.

 

[PaulPoulsen]

I think that if the property is nice and the rent is reasonable, the defining factor as to whether someone wants to move in is what they think of the people they`re renting from.

We position ourselves as Edmonton`s Best Landlord (www.EdmontonsBestLandlord.com) and do everything we can to let prospective tenants know we hold ourselves to a higher standard than most. I think lots of renters have horror stories about bad landlords and we try to get the point across that we want to take care of our renters so they, in turn, take care of the property. We don`t hide the fact that we`re the owners and we stress the point that when there`s a problem, they get to talk to us and not a property manager or an answering service. It`s not SO long ago that we were renters ourselves and we try to keep our experiences (both good and bad) fresh in our minds.

 

[DaveRhydderch]

In keep my tenants, I remember when I was a tenant. I make sure that I:

1. Fix any problems ASAP.
2. Cash their checks on time (amazes me that this is a problem, don`t people want their money)
3. Give them their privacy. Yes its my house, but their space. I trust my screening procedures.
4. Always be considerate, ask them how things are going, etc.

Simple gestures go a long way.