One of the keys to any great relationship is communication.
And that holds just as true for the landlord-tenant relationship.
Proactive and clear communication is the foundation to attracting great tenants. And retaining those tenants.
In many ways, the success of your rental business hinges on your ability to communicate well with tenants.
Whether it’s a maintenance request, confusion about rent, or something else, dialogue is important.
Property management software is a particularly useful tool to help you communicate with renters effectively and efficiently.
The ability to do this will benefit you in a myriad of ways, including better reviews from tenants, better tenant relations, better retention of tenants, and more.
Communication is the Key
Many problems landlords face could be avoided with better communication. For example, let’s say you scheduled maintenance for a broken washing machine in two weeks’ time. At the appointed time, though, your maintenance team contracts COVID-19 and can no longer complete the request on time. Let your tenants know right away. This seems like common sense, but you would be surprised how easy it is for something like this to become a major issue. The key is proactive communication.
Property management software makes being proactive easy because it gives you a platform to converse with tenants. It provides a simple way to chat directly with renters, helping you build a stronger landlord-tenant relationship.
Communication History
At the end of the day, you manage people not just properties. Clearly stating your rules and expectations, enforcing late fees, and recalling previous conversations shouldn’t be left to your memory.
Property management software provides re-usable messaging templates, automated notifications, and a single place for every chat, so that you can develop rapport with tenants without losing your mind in the process.
Furthermore, because property management software stores everything in one place (i.e., leases, critical digital documents, maintenance history), it helps keep you and your tenants on the same page. When you and your tenants are working from the same information, it makes communication exponentially easier and more efficient.
The Lease and Other Key Documents
It’s the tenant’s responsibility to read and understand the lease. However, we both know that no tenant is going to memorize the lease verbatim, and a few months into the contract, they may forget important elements. If you think your tenants aren’t quite abiding by something you wrote in the lease, politely remind them before an issue comes to a head. This can go for payment due dates, maintenance requests, and parking rules. Don’t approach it like an interrogation because starting a discussion with negativity doesn’t leave much room for nurturing a healthy landlord-tenant relationship.
You also should provide your tenant with a copy of their lease agreement after signing. Printing them a copy and handing it to them is not a terrible idea, but they’ll also be prone to losing it. With property management software, you can set things up so that a digital copy of their lease is automatically sent to them after signing. This is an excellent way to ensure your tenants always have access to the important information they need. Additionally, it clearly communicates that the lease is complete and active.
Property management doesn’t just store leases, though. It can be a home for all of your crucial documents. This improves clarity with tenants exponentially. You can always refer to documents in a centralized location and won’t need to worry about
Mobile App
Most property management software worth its salt contains an in-app messenger makes it simple to communicate directly with your tenants without providing them your personal phone number. Once again, this is also useful because it keeps all conversation in a single location that you can easily refer back to.
Mobile apps additionally allow you to manage maintenance requests and perform many other key functions. All of this supports communication because it gives you and your tenants access to insightful information like past maintenance requests.
Automation
Many times, late rent payments or bad renter behavior can be solved with some handholding and a steady slew of reminders, but this doesn’t mean you have to do it all yourself.
Tenant communication can turn into a full-time job if you’re managing the entire process yourself, and even worse if your only communicating in person or through mail. That’s why it’s so critical to find a system that takes care of the simple, recurring tasks for you. A platform like Innago will send rent reminders to your tenants every month without needing anything from you. It’ll let your tenants know when late fees are begin to pile up, when their lease is expiring, and when a maintenance request has been completed.
Additionally, software like Innago equips your tenants with their own login portal where they can easily access past rental payments, look at their lease, and manage their rental. These automated reminders are good examples of things software can take off your plate to free you up to focus on the kind of landlord-tenant relationship that makes you an exceptional landlord.
Conclusion
Making tenant communication a priority will pay major dividends in the short term and long term. And property management software is a great way to make sure your communication is the best it can be.
Between a centralized location for key documents, a flexible mobile app, and automation that saves you time and money, effective software will take your business to the next level.
