Finding good tenants is hard enough on its own, but keeping them around is a different thing! Finding someone willing to pay rent on time and take care of your property is great on its own, you still need to put in the effort to keep your end of the deal too! So here are 7 effective ways to retain good tenants with ease!

1. Be Responsive

Once you find new tenants, your job doesn’t stop there and it surely doesn’t revolve around gathering the monthly rent – a truly good landlord does more than that! A lot of things can happen, accidents can occur out of nowhere and your tenants might need someone to call and depend on. For whatever reason, and whatever concern they might have, you need to be fast and effective when it comes to responding, as keeping good communication is crucial in building trust!

2. Take Care of the Property

At the end of the day, this is your property, so you need to take care of it and not just let it be at the mercy of the tenants. As mentioned, accidents can happen, especially when it comes to property damages, it’s good to have a backup plan for something like property management in Portland, so you don’t have to lose anything, whilst still giving your tenants cover. This also shows your tenants that you are secure and a serious landlord!

3. Be Fair

There is nothing worse than expecting way too much and not giving anything in return! You need to understand that tenets are people, just like you, so there is no need to go out of your way to make their lives a living hell. Most of the time, tenants will seek average housing, for a fair price – and if your housing is not the best, but you are bumping up the rent for no reason…it will certainly leave you without any tenants!

4. Encourage Long Term Renting

Objectively speaking, the best thing you can do, both for your tent and yourself is to prolong the lease as much as you can. Make a contract that’s at least a year-long, this way you can keep the same tenant, and give them the option to renew the lease afterward! This way, it’s much easier to get to know someone and establish a good relationship, and to avoid switching tenants every few months!

5. Be Up with the Times

Things are constantly changing, even in the world of renting, it’s bound to happen. So it’s a good idea to see what the younger generations seek in renting, and what you can offer. This way you and they can be on the same page about certain things! It’s all about being able to adapt and offer a special treatment that will suit the needs of different tenants!

6. Set Reasonable Boundaries

There are certain rules every tenant should follow, some are unspoken and some are set by the landlord – so it’s your job to set boundaries right off the bat! If you are too swift and overlook some red flags, you might get into some bad situations, but on the other hand, you don’t want to be too harsh and set inhumane rules. It’s all about mutual respect and trust, you just need to be polite and direct when talking about house rules and try to hear out and compromise with your tenants as well – even if you are the authority in this situation, they should have a say too!

7. Be a Decent Person

Lately, it’s just important to keep in mind that being a decent person can get you far in life, regardless of what kind of career you are pursuing! Being a good, open person with lots of soft skills is already a plus in tenants’ eyes! There are so many horror stories of bad renters and landlords who are horrible to their renters, so you being exceptionally welcoming and nice is good enough! So make sure you are not a stranger, but more of a friend to them, and they will be more than happy to be just as good to you!

Talk to them, be friendly and patient with them, and make sure that they know that they are not alone in this and that they can rely on you at any time!

Nowadays, anyone can rent, but a lot of things will set a good renter from a bad one! You have to put in the effort to keep your tenant and to give them the service that they deserve. Starting with your ability to communicate openly and the efforts you put into establishing a good relationship – it all adds to your favor at the end of the day!