As landlords know, keeping quality tenants in your property is ideal and good for cash flow. Less turnover is ideal. Quality tenants usually take good care of your property, are not difficult to work with and most importantly, pay their rent on time.
When renewal time rolls around you fully expect them to renew their lease. But sometimes they don’t. What could possibly be the cause for not renewing? There are numerous reasons why tenants decide not to renew. Let’s take a look at the top 5 explanations about why and what you can do to keep quality tenants in your property.
Lack of communication
Communication is key in any relationship. Communicating with your tenants on a regular basis is important, and that’s one reason you have utilized a property manager. It is important to have an outlet for tenants to express maintenance concerns easily and keeping them up to date via automated emails with important updates that they need to know. Most importantly, is to always give your tenants notice for any situation. Whether it’s an inspection or when renewal period rolls around, giving notice allows tenants to process the information and make time available for whatever needs to be done. Gulf Coast aims to keep your tenants informed and to be accessible to their issues at any time.
Problematic Neighbors
Unfortunately, this is an issue that may not have anything to do with you but is a common reason why tenants choose not to renew. Many of us have had experiences with less-than-ideal neighbors that made the living experience desirable. It’s not at all surprising if your tenants decide to vacate because of it. Although there is not much you can do about a bad neighbor, you can try talking to the neighbors prior to tenants arriving. Set expectations or air out any conflict that may arise. This may help simmer things down and reset their expectations of rentals. Listen to your tenant’s feedback, if they chose not to renew due to crime or negligence, chances are it will happen again with the next tenant.
The absence of attention
Tenants want their issues fixed in a timely manner. Even if the issues take longer than anticipated, tenants like to see the effort put forth to correct it. If you simply push off their requests without keeping them in the loop or ignore their issues, this surely will not win you any bitemnie points and it should not come as a shock to you when they decide not to renew their lease.
A steep increase in rent
While raising rent is plausible for industry standards, most tenants do not like the idea of paying more for the property they’ve been living in. Avoid raising the price more than 10% to evade running off quality tenants. When you do raise the rent we recommend to stay in range of about 2-5% a year.
Personal Changes
Life changes happen every day. It could be a new job, baby, divorce, marriage, etc. Whatever may be going on in your tenant’s lives can be a reason they choose not to renew their lease. While it does put a damper on things, remember giving adequate notice will also enable more time for you to get your property back on the market, hopefully with little turnover time.
When you consider the costs associated with moving out a tenant, rent-ready work, and re-marketing for a new tenant, things can add up quickly. That is why it is important to be aware of how you are treating and responding to your tenants. Be aware of these top 5 common explanations of why tenants don’t renew and build trust with them so that you have a good relationship. After all, they are the ones who take of your investment. Those are the real keepers.
Hungry for more? Check out the two blogs below or visit our Owner Resource Center here to find answers to all of your questions. Or give us a call at (941) 782-1559, we'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
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