When renting a single-family rental property, your tenants must have simple ways to contact you. Not only is this great for keeping an eye on your significant property, but it can also assist you in keeping a good connection with your tenant. Simultaneously, there are reasons 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. So, what are the best ways for tenants to contact you? Let’s analyze some effective approaches for tenants to get in touch with their landlords or Emmett property owners as proposed by professionals.
Phone and Email
To begin with, you should have a dedicated phone line and email for your rental property business. This is correct whether you have one rental property or a dozen. A phone number and email are the most professional way for tenants to communicate with you. Having a personal phone and email can guarantee that all communications are routed through the proper channels, that communications are documented, and that nothing goes through the cracks.
Emergency Maintenance Line
Another vital communication tool to provide 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 should be obvious to the tenant that this is an emergency line only. This will assist with ensuring that tenants only use this line for emergencies and that they understand there may be additional charges for using this service.
Tenant Portal
Another great way to stay in touch with your tenants and ensure all communications are routed through the proper channels is to set up 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 designed especially for property owners and landlords, and most allow you and your tenants to send messages and information back and forth. By using a tenant portal, you can stay organized and ensure that all communications are properly documented.
Social Media
If you are comfortable using social media to promote your rental properties, you may also want to try utilizing it as a tool to communicate with your tenants. This is a fantastic method to provide tenants with updates on maintenance, changes to the property, or any other vital information. They can also ask questions and allow you to answer concerns. If you want to use social media for tenant communication, don’t forget to use a private messaging system or private page so that your conversations are not made public.
Set Clear Boundaries
Communicating effectively with tenants might demand more than one form of communication. However, no matter which options you choose, it’s recommended to set clear ground rules about when and why your tenant should contact you. It would help if you also had clear, pre-determined consequences for when tenants try to go around your rules. One of the best things you can do is to model and encourage respectful communication and consistently enforce your boundaries. By being clear about your expectations, you can help guarantee 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 explicit. One more incredible method to handle tenant communications is to hire a professional property management company like Real Property Management Nampa 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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