As a landlord, does it matter if your tenant trusts you? Definitely, a tenant who respects and trusts their landlord will less likely cause nonchalant damage to the property. They’re also more likely to communicate freely with you and work alongside you to resolve problems.
The relationship between the landlord and tenant varies from home to home. Sometimes, the connections form effortlessly, while in other cases, the two sides won’t just seem to agree on anything and will eventually have to move on.
Both sides take considerable effort to create and sustain a good relationship.
In particular, for the landlords, there are five ways you can follow to help build and sustain a healthy and respectful relationship with your tenant.
5 Ways To Earn Your Tenant’s Trust
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Add Electricity to the Rent:
You will build trust with your tenant if you help make life easier for them. Reducing the number of individual bills they need to pay will help immensely.
If you’re leasing your apartment to a couple or a single person, it’s easier to include all utilities in the rent, including electricity. Many tenants are looking for this option because they prefer to know exactly how much they will need to spend on housing costs per month.
But when there is fluctuation in the electricity bills, some tenants will have difficulty keeping up with payments. But with this covered, that’s minus one of the bills a tenant has to worry about.
Including electricity might cost them slightly more than their actual usage, but it doesn’t matter. Removing a bill removes uncertainty, and your tenant will be grateful for this. But, ensure you don’t overbill for electricity.
There are pros and cons to adding utilities to the rent. For instance, some tenants don’t worry about conserving energy, especially when someone else is footing the cost. But, it might be worth it depending on how your unit is set up.
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Add Yard Maintenance to the Rent:
No one has time for yard work these days. Most people work 9-5 jobs and even weekend work that requires long commutes. When these people come home from work, they want to shower, eat, and rest. Some tenants are so busy to spare time for mowing the lawn.
Adding basic yard maintenance to the rent gives tenants a well-maintained yard with no effort on their end. Yes, they could hire a maintenance crew whenever they remember; however, it would be nice for you to know your yard is being taken care of regularly.
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Employ Multiples Means of Communication:
When it comes to important information, use multiple channels to communicate them to your tenants. Often, landlords rely only on emails or written notices to relay necessary conditions, events, or deadlines to their tenants.
These can be easily missed, leading to undesirable surprises for your tenants. Taking your time to visit in person or call, plus sending a written notice, always builds positive relationships.
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Treat your Tenants like Customers:
According to the golden rule: tenants are first your customers. And if you do not take proper care of your customers, someone else will do that for you.
When you treat your tenants with respect, this will build trust, and when trust is built, your mutually beneficial relationship will work better for everyone. It’s a simple concept when practiced.
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Give Tenants your Reference and Background Check:
Because some landlords couldn’t pay the mortgage on the home they’re renting out, some tenants have been forced to leave. Now, these tenants know this could repeat itself.
Other tenants have been victims of unfaithful landlords who never returned their security deposit. You can build trust with your new tenants by showing them reviews of other tenants who have had a great experience with you as their landlord.
You can also provide them with information on a recent background check showing no liens, bankruptcies, or judgments against you.
Offering all this information to your tenants shows you consider trust a mutual thing. Your tenant will appreciate your honesty and transparency.
Need Someone To Help You With The Work?
It’s hard work to be a landlord. And we are here to help, so you don’t feel overwhelmed. As a property management company, we’ve got a team of experts with decades of experience who will help you handle everything from tenant screening to rent collection, maintenance, and repairs.