When you’re renting a single-family rental property, your tenants must have easy ways to contact you. Not only is this suitable for keeping an eye on your precious property, but more than that, it can also likewise help you nurture the best relationship with your tenant. But as a matter of fact, there are very good justifications not to give your tenants your personal phone number and email, not least of which is the temptation for the tenant to abuse the privilege. Then, what are the best solutions for tenants to contact you? Let’s probe some of the appropriate ways for tenants to get in touch with their landlords or Davenport property owners as recommended by the experts.
Phone and Email
In any case, you should have a dedicated phone line and email for your rental property business. This is true whether you have one rental property or a dozen. A phone number and email are the most professional strategy for tenants to make contact with you. Having a dedicated phone and email can see to it that all communications are routed through the proper channels, that communications are documented, and that nothing will be overlooked.
Emergency Maintenance Line
Another necessary communication tool to take advantage of is an emergency maintenance line your tenants can call after regular office hours. This line should be answered by a live person, not a recording, and it is important to clarify to the tenant that this is an emergency line only. This will help make sure that tenants only use this line for emergencies and that they are aware there may be additional charges for using this service.
Tenant Portal
Another efficient way to stay in touch with your tenants and make certain all communications are forwarded through the right channels is to maintain a tenant portal. A tenant portal is an online system that allows tenants to submit non-emergency maintenance requests, pay rent, and contact you all in one place. A tenant portal is arranged mainly for property owners and landlords, and most permit you and your tenants to send messages and information back and forth. By using a tenant portal, you can stay organized and be certain that all communications are appropriately documented.
Social Media
If you are quite comfortable using social media to promote your rental properties, you may likewise wish to take into consideration using it as a way to communicate with your tenants. This is the best solution to provide tenants with updates on maintenance, changes to the property, or any other vital information. They can similarly ask questions and enable you to answer concerns. If you opt to use social media for tenant communication, make sure to utilize a private messaging system or private page so that your conversations are not made public.
Set Clear Boundaries
Communicating effectively with tenants may call for more than one form of communication. Though it doesn’t matter which options you choose, it’s necessary to set clear ground rules about when and why your tenant should contact you. It would really help also if you had clear, pre-determined consequences for when tenants try to disregard your rules. One of the best solutions you can execute is to model and encourage respectful communication and consistently enforce your boundaries. By being clear about your expectations, you can help make sure that communications with your tenant are appropriate and sent through proper channels.
The bottom line is that irrespective of what method or combination of methods you choose for tenant communication, it’s vital to be professional, consistent, and clear. Another ideal way to handle tenant communications is to hire a professional property management company like Real Property Management Lakeside to do it for you. Contact us online to learn more about our tenant portal and other professional property management tools.
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