Many landlords consider a long-term tenant to be the best variety. The reasons for this are obvious: long-term tenants keep the rental money flowing constantly, and they also tend to take better care of the property.
There are several strategies that you can employ to attract coveted long-term tenants to your rental properties. According to Apartments.com, these include being responsive and respecting a tenant’s privacy.
Responsiveness
Responsiveness has many facets. One of them is making sure that your tenants have your contact information and that they feel comfortable reaching out to you on a variety of issues. This will help strengthen the relationship between you and your tenants and make tenants stay around longer.
It also involves being timely when repair issues arrive. Not only will fixing things quickly make your tenants happy, it also lowers the likelihood that a small issue turns into a major maintenance problem. You may also consider going the extra step by welcoming tenants with gifts, like cleaning supplies and gift cards to one of your favorite restaurants in town.
Respecting privacy
Tenants want to feel as though your property is your home, and you can help with this by not checking up on the rental property without announcing yourself first. It is likely that this will make a tenant feel uncomfortable, and discourage long-term renting. Of course, it is perfectly allowable (and advisable) to engage in routine property inspections. Just make sure that you announce your intentions to your tenants well in advance.
If you are a responsive, respectful landlord that offers high-quality rentals at a fair price, the chance of attracting responsive, respectful long-term tenants is high.
