Can You Be The Cause Of Your Tenant Problems?
By JD Esajian on April 14, 2014
Even the most experienced landlords will have problems from time to time. Regardless if you are renting your first property or you have a portfolio, it is always important to get to the root of your problems. What you will find is that even though you did not directly cause these issues, you may be to blame. Your lack of communication, follow through, stubbornness or policy could have lead you to have to deal with problems you probably should not have. If you are dealing with problems in your rental property, consider whether or not you are a potential catalyst.
Most tenant issues are caused by a lack of communication at the outset of the lease. In your rush to get your property rented and the tenant in, you rush the screening and lease review process. Take the time to set expectations and go over the ground rules, as these actions will set the mood for the term of the lease. This is your property and you should protect your asset by telling your tenant exactly what they can and cannot do. If you don’t allow pets or have parking restrictions, this is the time to go over the lease and let them know. Regardless of how seemingly obvious it appears, you never want to hear your tenant say they weren’t aware they couldn’t do that or they didn’t know that was how you want things done.
If you have a multifamily property or single-family with multiple tenants, you need to make it clear that any issues they have with themselves should be kept to themselves. If one tenant damages the microwave or is parking in a restricted area, they should talk amongst themselves first before calling you. Landlords will get beaten down by constantly putting out small fires between tenants. Yes, it is your property and you are the owner, but you are not a babysitter and don’t need to be taking calls in the middle of the night about petty stuff. Again, you should take the time to discuss rules and guidelines. If you let this go and fail to address issues as they are brought to your attention, problems may escalate.
Many landlords will go to extremes when it comes to taking care of the property. They will either try to do all of the work or they will hire a property manager and not want to be bothered. If you can’t do the repairs needed, you will just make the problems worse and irritate your tenants by having them wait a day or two to have it done. If you are reliant on your property manager and they aren’t doing the job, you won’t have a grasp on the issues and will scramble for help when it is needed. If you ignore even a small tenant problem, you are creating bigger problems by making them think they are not important to you. This could eventually lead to late or non-existent payments which will lead to much bigger problems.
Being a landlord is not an easy thing to do, but it can be made much easier if you communicate with your tenants and tell them exactly what is expected. There will always be problems, but you can certainly prevent many of them.