One of the biggest hurdles in property management is not only finding great tenants but keeping great tenants. Using quality tenant screening services will help you place a reliable tenant, but what are the best practices to ensure your dream tenant never wants to move out?
In this blog series, Tips From Your Tenant, we’ll cover ideas about what property managers and landlords can do to keep their tenants happy and limit property vacancies. As always, if you’ve had any great success in maintaining positive tenant relationship, let us know in the comments!
This first post for Tips From Your Tenant will focus on making a lasting first impression with a Tenant Welcome Package.
Think of a Tenant Welcome Package as a simple housewarming gift to your tenant. It is more than just a Welcome Kit folder, which typically contains paperwork highlighting rent payment policies, contact information, utility service providers and emergency maintenance procedures.
A Tenant Welcome Package is the “above and beyond” gesture that shows your tenant that you care about them and your property. You will make them feel special and reinforce their decision to move into your rental.
These packages can be simple or elaborate and can easily fit into any budget. Here is a list of ideas for items to include in your Tenant Welcome Package.
Free Items
- A personalized, handwritten note welcoming your new tenant to the property and neighborhood.
- A map to the closest grocery store, laundromat, and hospital.
- Coupons to local restaurants and retailers. A lot of towns send out direct mail coupon packs for free. Try contacting the provider directly to see if you can keep a stash of them to give out to new tenants. You could also establish a relationship with your favorite restaurants to see if they will create a custom coupon just for you and your new tenants. In my experience with the food industry, most restaurants (maybe not super expensive ones) will be on board with this idea, as they want to get a new customer in the door and make them regulars.
$5-$10 Items
- A small bouquet of flowers, usually under $5 from a grocery store, in a dollar store vase left on the counter with your handwritten note. What a great way to welcome new tenants and make them feel at home.
- Toilet paper, for that first night
- Cleaning Kit: a small bucket of sponges, glass cleaner, bleach, paper towels. You can find all these items at the $1 store and don’t need to break the bank. I love this idea because it sets the tone for wanting to keep your rental clean.
- Bottle water or soda pop in the fridge
- Gift card to a local coffee shop
$15-$25 Items
- Gift card to a grocery store
- A gift certificate to a local restaurant
- A bottle of wine or champagne-moving into a new place is a celebration after all!
- Gift card to a home improvement store or the local hardware store, they will most likely use it to make improvements to the property
What has your experience with Tenant Welcome Packages been? What other things do you do to maintain a positive, long-term relationship with your tenant?
You can read about my personal experience with a simple (and free) welcome letter that made a very positive lasting impression on my personal blog through ActiveRain by clicking here, Kaycee’s Blog.