How to Get Along with your Tenant
We’ve looked at how Tenants can get along with their Landlords, but what about the other side of this? As a Landlord, do you know how to get along with your Tenant? What can you do to make sure your Tenant is happy and content in your rental property?
Get along with your Tenant
- Once you and your tenant have completed the move-in condition inspection and they are getting settled, leave them alone. Your investment property is their home now, so let them get used to it. Chances are, if they discover a maintenance problem, they’ll let you know. You’ll want to do an inspection after the first 6 or 8 weeks to make sure everything is good, but if housekeeping isn’t a concern and there are no issues with damages at that time, then you can probably just do inspections a couple of times a year after that.
- Keep up with maintenance. If the Tenant reports a problem to you, fix it within a reasonable period of time. For general maintenance, if you get it dealt with in a few days, or even a week, the Tenant will be happy. Don’t ignore little problems until they become big and often expensive problems and if it’s an emergency, take care of the problem as quickly as possible.
- Understand that like you, your Tenants have busy lives. If you need access to the property, try to be considerate of their schedules. Unless it’s an emergency, you can usually schedule repairs or inspections at a time that is suitable to both of you. If a time can’t be mutually agreed to, then you can issue a written Notice of Entry, providing 24 hours’ notice that you and/or a service provider will be entering the home. You can go to the Residential Tenancy Office website – rto.gov.bc.ca – for specific instructions on how to properly complete and deliver the Notice of Entry.
- Communicate clearly with your tenant. If you have an issue, address it with them in a timely manner and follow up in writing. Often times just bringing something to the Tenants attention is enough to correct the issue as they may not even be aware of a problem. But, also having an issue documented will help you if the problem continues or gets worse.
- Be respectful in your conversations and correspondence with the Tenant. Being defensive, argumentative or demanding won’t usually get you very far, and at the end of the day, you all need to get along. Common sense and a little courtesy go a long way! The majority of Tenants are going to look after your investment property in a reasonably good manner. Put a little trust in them and there’s a good chance you won’t be disappointed.
Free consultation
At RE/MAX Rental Pros we take care of all of this for you. We’ll handle all of the little things that come up with tenancies and the big things. We’ll handle the day to day operation, including placing new tenants, dealing with emergencies, handling financial matters and ensuring maintenance is completed as necessary. We will even get along with your Tenant so that you don’t have to![su_divider]
Call us today for a free consultation at (250) 751-1223 and we’ll be happy to show how you can benefit using our professional Full Service Management.
