Communicating effectively with your tenants starts with the very first interaction – often a screening phone call. If prospective tenants call about a property, it is very important to describe your screening criteria in a clear but friendly way. This could support you in not only getting a sense of who your potential tenant might be but equally to start to establish expectations related to the landlord-tenant relationship.
When a tenant has successfully gone through the screening process, another key aspect of effective communication is checking the lease documents. Your lease documents are more than just a legal contract. They should plainly outline the responsibilities for both you and your tenants, also those things related to landscaping maintenance, parking, and pets, to note a few. Your lease should also detail how you will handle future communication. It’s a very good idea to start early and encourage your tenant to communicate with you regularly. This is something that’s now made so much easier with software, apps, and online tenant portals. By simply ensuring that your tenant clearly understands the lease documents and imparting them a chance to ask questions, you greatly encourage them to take their responsibilities most seriously.
Effective tenant communication doesn’t end when your tenant moves in, however. To consistently keep the lines of communication open, you ought to establish a set of guidelines for how and when regular communication will take place. As for instance, your lease will need to impart specific information concerning how much notice you will provide tenants with before entering the property or performing routine maintenance. Generally, this timeframe is specified in state or local landlord laws, but you can certainly increase the timetable as a show of goodwill. Various experts suggest providing one week’s advance notice before routine maintenance could be performed and delivering that notice in more than one format (a phone call and an email, as an example).
In the case of an emergency, effective communication takes on a new urgency. As a property owner, it is vital to ensure that your tenants can contact you in the event of a serious problem with the property. It is even substantial that your response is both prompt and proactive. You must be able to address emergency repair requests as soon as possible, but no later than a few hours instantly after the tenant contacts you. It is as well imperative to communicate more often with a tenant in an emergency, sending updates when and how repairs will be made and any actions the tenant should take. By maintaining and keeping the lines of communication open, you can foster your tenant’s trust and can prompt them to share better information when it comes to the condition of the property throughout their tenancy.
Finally, don’t forget to practice the golden rule in your relations with your tenants. Treating them with the same respect and courtesy that you expect from others can go a long way toward building good tenant relations and cultivating a culture of effective communication. And, without a doubt, hiring a trustworthy Chandler property manager is also a great way to ensure clear and effective communication with all your tenants. Contact us online or at 480-658-0869 today to learn more.