Communication is an essential part of your relationship with tenants, and here’s some additional good news: responsive communication can improve your return on investment (ROI). The way you communicate with your residents will determine whether you have a successful rental experience together or one fraught with misunderstandings and conflict.
In our experience as Virginia Beach property managers, we can tell you that transparency and accountability are huge cornerstones of good communication between landlords and residents. When your tenants know exactly what you expect from them, there will be less confusion and blame.
It’s also a good idea to remain responsive and accessible. Tenants who feel empowered to come to you with any questions or concerns will typically take better care of your property and do a better job of communicating proactively with you.
One of the benefits to partnering with a property management company is that you won’t have to worry about tenant communication at all. You can leave the entire relationship to your property manager.
But when you manage independently, you need to be the point of contact for your residents at all times.
We’re sharing some effective communication strategies today, which are sure to help you maintain a positive and respectful landlord-tenant relationship.
Communication During the Leasing Process
Your relationship with tenants begins even before they move in. Communication during the leasing process facilitates a clear explanation of responsibilities, lease terms, and expectations. Make sure your residents understand the requirements of the lease agreement, and most importantly, make sure they know when they should reach out to you. Tenants will need to communicate with you when:
Maintenance is needed
Rent may come in late
There’s a question about how something in the property works
Problems have arisen with a neighbor or another tenant
There’s an emergency
They’re deciding whether or not to renew the lease agreement
Let your tenants know early when and how they should initiate communication, especially around things like maintenance and rent. You want them to feel comfortable with communication. If they understand that you’d rather here bad news right away, there won’t be any unreported or deferred maintenance and you won’t be chasing down late rent, wondering when to expect it.
When expectations are out in the open, tenants can help contribute to a successful rental experience. There’s less confusion, and less work for you.
Investing in Technology for Better Communication with Tenants
Are you comfortable with technology? Because you will find that today’s residents are likely to prefer communicating via text message, email, or any kind of chat app that allows for instant notifications.
Technology has made communicating easier and more efficient. Your tenants aren’t going to be terribly thrilled with phone calls or in-person meetings. They want convenience and efficiency.
During the move-in process, ask your residents for their communication styles and preferences. When you’re able to share information and take questions in a way that’s easy for them, you’re making yourself more available to your residents. That’s going to improve the flow of communication and contribute to trust and good owner/tenant relationships.
Practice Your Active Listening Skills
Listening is a lot harder than we realize, but good communication actually starts with good listening. Be a proactive communicator by becoming an active listener. Even when they’re complaining and angry, many residents really just want to feel like they’re being heard. They want their experiences validated. You won’t always be able to solve their problems or provide the answers that they need. But, you can always listen and be supportive.
A good landlord communicates with empathy, kindness, and an interest in solutions. Communicate with residents as a partner. It’s much easier to solve problems when you’re collaborative. Stay professional, listen to what your tenants are saying, and ask questions to gather more information.
Always Document Tenant Communication
Good documentation is an important part of protecting yourself. We recommend that you document every conversation and every interaction with your tenants, just so you can remember what you promised or agreed to. It also helps you to hold your residents accountable to doing whatever they agreed to.
Written communication is always best when it comes to communication between landlords and tenants. It also helps you document the information that was exchanged. When you have an informal chat or a phone call, make notes.
A great way to ensure that your communication is documented is by using email. As property managers, we’re able to provide online portals for our residents, which is an excellent way to document and follow all communication threads. Conversations can be managed online, and we can also track payments and maintenance requests and ask questions and share resources with our residents.
You may not have a portal as an individual landlord, but you can ask for all correspondence to be sent via email so you have a clear record of what was shared and discussed.
Maintenance Communication is Especially Important
If there’s ever an appropriate time to over-communicate, it’s during the maintenance process. Tenants need to trust that you’ll make the repairs you promise to make.
If you promise to fix something on a certain day and you realize you’re not going to make it, get in touch with those tenants as soon as possible to reschedule. Don’t leave them thinking that you forgot or didn’t care.
Your time is valuable, and so is your tenant’s. Be considerate when you’re scheduling repairs, and contact your tenants before, during, and after the maintenance process. They’ll appreciate updates, they’ll want to be a part of scheduling vendors and contractors, and they’ll be happy to report whether the problem was fixed or there’s still a lingering issue.
Rental property owners who make maintenance a priority find that they have better relationships with their residents. Communicating with your tenants throughout the entire repair process will keep them in the loop and help them understand how long the repair will take or what went wrong to cause it in the first place. This will help you establish and build that trust, which is so important to your relationship.
We’d be happy to help you communicate better with residents. If you’d like to hear more about how to facilitate better communication and relationship strategies, please contact us at Rental Homes USA.
