Tenant Management Tips

June 04, 2019

Improve Your Tenant Management Skills

If you’re considering getting into rental property investment whether through apartments, houses or multifamily blocks, it’s wise to understand how to manage your future tenants professionally.

Professionally means engaging with them using clear, helpful communication that encourages the behaviors you want to see. Friendliness and courtesy are great, but what you’ll also need is a tenant service process that covers all the bases. Our top 20 tips below are that process.

Good Landlords, Not So Good Landlords

I’ve had good landlords and property managers to work with and they were positive, clear, and made efforts to ensure I was okay in the apartment/condo. I’ve had some landlords too who didn’t communicate, were hard to reach, moody, didn’t maintain the property, and just wanted the rent money.

Recent data shows evictions are more common now. You have to wonder why in a strong, high employment economy. Yet, landlords who don’t emphasize good tenant management processes are more likely to suffer vacancy related and eviction type losses.

While we certainly believe ManageCasa’s tenant management software solution will help keep tenants informed and comfortable, communication is between you, your staff and your tenants.

Good Tenant Management Optimizes Cash Flow

Good tenants need to found and managed. Excellent tenants are the lifeblood of profitable rental property cash flow, yet poor quality tenants and poorly managed tenants can undermine your ROI.

Tenants are real people ruled by expectations, emotions and habits. Taking tenant management seriously is time well spent if you want to eliminate emergency costs and evictions, and have time to reduce all your other property management challenges.

Tenant Management is a Process

Approaching tenant management from a systems viewpoint is wise. Creating a repeatable, reliable process to keep tenants happy and oriented has ROI value. It makes you more confident and accountable to your landlords and investors.

The tips below describe a list of preparations we hope will help you create and maintain a great tenant. It’s your tenant management game plan.

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20 Tips for Better Tenant Management

know your property and its value proposition (its condition to the tenant and maintenance needed)
consider services/amenities (e.g., smart/keyless door locks, free wifi, free storage space) which might help you sign great tenants at higher rent prices and to keep them under lease
know your ideal tenant in detail, what they need, prefer, wish for, and can afford
do effective tenant screening using online services
conduct excellent renter interviewing
create channels and online tools for easy, open communication and keep your information, language and tone professional, conciliatory and courteous
setup online rent payment and let the tenant pay whatever way they want
set up a tenant portal and accounts for tenants to store their lease documents
utilize online property management software to be more responsive to tenants and their maintenance and repair requests and their questions
use online property management software to avoid working with paper and excel spreadsheets and avoid the time waste of misplaced documents
stay on top of issues using your software, keeping maintenance contractors ready and informed so expensive rework and surprises don’t happen
know fair housing laws in your city/state and convey a respect for the tenants rights
write a clear, concise lease agreement
carry out a thorough inspection and walkthrough to ensure all apartment mechanical items are in good working condition and that it’s safe
conduct personal onboarding with the tenant and ensure they understand their duties and responsibilities as a respectful tenant in your unit
ask the tenant to carry landlord insurance if you’re able to cover their assets
have a plan for evicting a tenant who can’t or won’t pay their rent, or who becomes troublesome and damaging to your unit
reward your tenants for good behaviors such as reporting important mechanical issues, paying on time, and being a trouble free tenant by giving them movie tickets, gas card, and lotto tickets
be prepared to offer the right concession
be warm, personable, and empathize with the tenant and their experience and use that knowledge to make all your tenants happier.

While much of the focus today is on Proptech and property management software solutions, we should remember the role tenant management plays in generating long term rental property cash flow. You might be wiser to call your ideal Proptech solution a tenant management system.

Read further on good tenant communications, how to keep tenants happy, how to build a tenant services plan , and how the best landlords and property managers do their work. See also our property management resources page for tips and helpers to build your professional technique and tips on how to reduce renter turnover.

Are you a property manager looking for property management leads and advice on property management marketing? There’s plenty of ways to improve your marketing performance including writing better rental ads.

See more Property Management Tips.