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.
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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.
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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.