I talked to a dissatisfied tenant today. No she wasn’t mine. I was at a vacant rental house waiting to straighten out a vendor when a lady stopped her car and asked if I was the owner of the house. I allowed as how I was and invited her to look around.
Nothing special about that: tenants see a “For Rent” sign and if someone is there, ask if they can see the place. What was instructive about this situation is that the woman said her lease was up in two or three months.
I have written before about a study done a few years ago that found that the average tenant starts thinking about moving at least 45 days before the end of the lease. This woman was at least 60 days ahead.
Your tenants are talking behind your back. They are making decisions about moving without ever consulting you. And one day they will surprise you with a note saying they are moving. It certainly shouldn’t shock you. But many landlords don’t pay much attention once their tenants move in. It’s as if they think “Now I’ve got ‘em.” But then their tenants just aren’t grateful at all, and move.
Trouble is, tenants act without ever consulting their landlords first. People move for any number of different reasons, many of which have nothing to do with us as landlords. But often we have some control over whether they decide to move or not.
You can do several things to keep tenants – your good ones anyway – happy, and not thinking about moving.
How about the woman I spoke with today. I asked her if she was for certain moving at the end of her lease. “I don’t know,” she replied, “I’m just checking things out.”
Being naturally curious (and nosy), I asked what was prompting her to look for another place to live. Moving isn’t the easiest thing to do, you know. It entails a lot of work and expense, so isn’t undertaken lightly.
She told me she was just kind of dissatisfied with where she was. Nothing specific, she just didn’t think the landlord cared much. Your customers (tenants) don’t know you care unless you tell them.
What might it take to get this tenant and lots of others to stay where they are? (I’m certainly not waiting for her three months with a vacant house.)
It starts when your tenants move in. How about a gift basket or bottle of wine with a note thanking them for renting from you and hoping they enjoy their new home.
Then in a couple or three months, after they have paid the rent on time and been good citizens, how about a thank you note with a comment that you are glad to have them as tenants?
When they renew their lease, how about installing a new light fixture in the dining room or painting a decorator color on a couple of their walls?
Think any of those things would convince your good tenants that you really do appreciate them renting from you?
Here’s a tenant driving around looking for a new place to live and I’ll bet her landlord doesn’t even know she isn’t happy.
What can you do today to make your good tenants feel as if you care?
