Communication is crucial in any business, especially the real estate business. Not everyone fully realizes that tenants should be treated as business partners since they actually are. After all, they’re the ones who pay off your debt (if, of course, you’re using leverage).
The mistake we see most landlords make is that they don’t understand the significance of proper communication with their tenants, which ends up costing them lots of money.
Let’s talk about good landlord-tenant communication.
How to Become Better at Communication with Tenants
To know what your tenants are really saying to you, you should first understand the key patterns in communication with them. By being aware of these tips, you’ll push tenant communication to a whole new level and start understanding them like never before.
Be accessible
If your tenant feels like they can never reach you, they will be easily frustrated. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should be accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
You should have regular business hours when a tenant can contact you, for instance, from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. on weekdays.
Make it clear to your tenants that they shouldn’t contact you outside of these hours unless it is an emergency.
Listen carefully
One of the best communication skills, in general, is the ability to listen. It is a critical factor for successful property management.
You need to listen to what your tenant tells you and not assume they’re overreacting. Try imagining yourself in the same situation as your tenant. If you’d get mad, why cannot the tenant?
To calm your tenant down, you should consistently demonstrate to your tenant that you care by listening and taking action right when you hear there may be some issue.
Keep it professional
Remember, you should always conduct yourself in a professional manner. This is your business, and you shouldn’t emotionally respond to any concerns of your tenants.
If your tenant is screaming, don’t scream back. Do not put yourself in legal jeopardy by threatening or resorting to tactics like ignoring maintenance requests and so on.
Don’t be afraid to outsource
When you own a portfolio of 2 rental properties, you have enough time to handle all communication with your tenants by yourself, as well as handle and solve any issues on the way.
However, there comes a point in your life as a real estate business owner where you simply cannot handle it all by yourself.
After all, if you own, for example, 10 multi-family homes, it is much better to get help from a property management company since planning your next move with expanding your business is much more important than having to personally deal with a minor issue with one of your tenants.
This is why many owners of multi-family homes in NYC contact our company to help them handle all the hassle.