As a Landlord/Investor your objective is to maximize your income on your investment properties and one way of doing this is to maintain your tenants for a longer period of time vs a short period of time. With this said keeping long term tenants takes work and the best way in maintaining tenants long term is to keep the property maintained and in good condition at all time. The number one reason Landlords lose tenants is due to non maintenance of a property.
Items to keep on top of as a Landlord. Always have the heat and air systems checked on a bi-annual or annual period. Address any maintenance items immediately when it concerns plumbing or electrical as these type issues can and do lead to more costly repairs when not addressed upon notice being given. Always address minor maintenance items withing 24-72 hours. Conduct annual inspections on all property so as to be able to identify any issues, concerns or repairs needed. This also shows your tenants that you have a vested interest in maintaining the property for their benefit as well and again leads to maintaining tenants for longer periods or time.
Keep in mind as a Landlord you have certain duties and responsibilities to hold up as outlined in the lease as do the Tenants. If all parties adhere to the terms and conditions outlined as to maintenance outlined in the Lease this again can an often will lead to longer term occupancy of a Tenant.
These are just a few items to consider in maintaining and holding onto your Tenants for the long term.
Stay tuned for additional postings on this topic and may others in the weeks/months to come.
Also, if you have a topic or question(s) as a Landlord or Tenant you would like to ask feel free to send us a response and we will do our best to address it in one of our future Blogs.