Offer good tenants a property they'd like, or find new tenants

[Lovehound]

Not first chance. "A" chance.

I discussed this sort of subject with one of my tenants once and each email got worse and worse. I finally decided I was a dumb ass for ever even discussing the subject with the tenants. I decided in the future to just say nothing. I decided to quit giving advice. I decided there are only two reasons to talk to a tenant (1) your rent is late, and (2) you say what broke?

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

Not first chance. "A" chance.

I discussed this sort of subject with one of my tenants once and each email got worse and worse. I finally decided I was a dumb ass for ever even discussing the subject with the tenants. I decided in the future to just say nothing. I decided to quit giving advice. I decided there are only two reasons to talk to a tenant (1) your rent is late, and (2) you say what broke?

Funny! But a few other reasons to talk to tenants:

1. Letting them know you are coming thru on >>date<< for the semi-annual walk thru/inspection
2. Telling them they are being offered lease renewal and what the new terms will be
3. Letting them know you just drove by and noticed for the second time the lawn needs mowing/watering/trimming, etc. and if they are warned again you will be increasing their rent to cover yard service that you will contract for
4. Letting them know you received a notice from the HOA that is relevant to them
5. Telling them the fence is being repaired/the roof is getting work/the house is being painted per your maintenance schedule


........above are just some of the issues that come up.

[Lovehound]

What is a lawn? (Don't got none.) No point in renewal, my only non-lease tenants can't afford to move any more than I can afford a vacancy. I email them PDFs of the HOA notices. They understand I can email the citation notices too. I email them whenever work is being done. Usually being done because they asked me to do it.

All I ask my tenants:
1. pay the rent on the due date
2. take care of the house
3. contact me if something breaks

This is going to get better and better. By the time I have 0 properties I should be a perfect LL!

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by Lovehound

What is a lawn? (Don't got none.) No point in renewal, my only non-lease tenants can't afford to move any more than I can afford a vacancy. I email them PDFs of the HOA notices. They understand I can email the citation notices too. I email them whenever work is being done. Usually being done because they asked me to do it.

All I ask my tenants:
1. pay the rent on the due date
2. take care of the house
3. contact me if something breaks

This is going to get better and better. By the time I have 0 properties I should be a perfect LL!

Oh, I rarely phone tenants....all emails. If you are not maintaining the property or doing inspections, just asking for trouble. Agree, you probably shouldn't be a landlord.

[Lovehound]

I plead guilty of my ambiguous use of the word "talk." I prefer to use email in contacting tenants, but also note that sometimes it's better to not document your communication intentionally. I don't mean to imply anything untowards, but there are situations sometimes. 99% of the time email is MUCH better.

I told you, I'm out of state. You can't buy property in my home state and make any money. Only way you do that here is move out of a home and convert it into a rental when buying a new residence.

But anyway the HOA is so fussy they complain like hell if the slightest thing looks out of order. And with one exception (the tenant who took a runner out of state) ALL my other tenants have returned their rental SFRs in good condition, with minor or no issues. Good tenant screening!

And I do good maintenance. I make it clear and tell tenants often, if anything needs maintenance, repair, broke, whatever, let me know. I pride myself on having good looking properties, not only to keep my tenants happy but also to retain/improve resale value.