Tips for Finding Long-Term Tenants

May 6, 2020 admin

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High Costs of Tenant Turnovers

Whether your tenants sign a month-to-month or year-long lease, when it comes to the end of the lease term, it can spell stress for landlords. It has been reported that over half of rental properties turnover on an annual basis. When tenants leave, it can mean high costs for landlords. Costs associated with cleaning, marketing, and screening processes can mean loss of rental income. By retaining long-term tenants, it means that landlords can reduce the amount of time, energy, and money, not to mention headaches, associated with finding new tenants.

Advantages of Long-Term Tenants

It can be expensive to operate rental properties, particularly when it comes to the end of their lease. When you are able to keep your rental property occupied by good, long-term tenants, you get a consistent rental income. Being able to rely on that income can help to reduce your stress. Keeping long-term tenants also means that you will have to spend less time and effort preparing your rental for new tenants. You can also avoid the unpredictability that can come with new tenant leases.

Keeping Long-Term Tenants

As you can see, keeping long-term tenants should be the goal of any landlord. However, keeping tenants can be challenging, especially if the rental market is flooded with similar rental properties to yours. So, how can you increase your odds of your tenants deciding to renew their lease rather than look elsewhere?

Maintain Your Property

Take a look around your rental property the next time you are there. From the street, how does it look? Is it welcoming? Would you be proud to bring people over? If so, then great, you are on your way to long-term tenant retention. However, if the yard is overgrown or the paint is peeling, your tenants may be counting down the days until the end of their lease term. Sprucing up your rental property can help to make your tenants feel welcomed and happy to call your place home.

Tenant Communication

While your tenants are tied to a lease agreement for a set duration, maintaining effective communication with your tenants can be key in their decision come the end of their lease. Have you blown off your tenant’s maintenance requests? Such actions could work against you when it comes to lease renewals.

If you are up to speed on the needs of your tenants, there are other ways that you can help to make sure that they renew their leases. Consider offering a discount for signing a two-year lease rather than a one-year or month-to-month lease contract. Additionally, be proactive when working with your tenants regarding their upcoming lease renewal date. This way, you can know whether you’ll need to devote time and money in locating a new tenant. You can also mull over the idea of making your rental property pet-friendly, which can be lucrative to tenants, new and old alike.

Conclusion

Rental properties that sit vacant between tenants can cost you valuable time and money. Taking some steps can help to increase the odds that your tenants will stay for the duration of their lease. Or, better yet, sign a renewal! If maintaining tenant communications and property maintenance needs seems overwhelming, let the professionals at The Property Manager tend to these tasks for you!