How to Attract Long-Term Tenants

Short-term tenancies can be tricky for your rental investment. Every time a tenant leaves, you’ll need to sink funds into filling the vacancy again. To maximize your rental income, you’ll need to put in place strategies that guarantee you long-term tenants. 

Long-term tenants offer a myriad of benefits, including guaranteeing a consistent rental income, minimal tenant turnover, and a strengthened relationship between you and your tenant. 

Attracting and retaining a long-term tenant isn’t easy, and it can be daunting for many. That’s why Peak Residential has compiled these 7 tips on how to attract long-term tenants to your rental property! 

1. Market Your Property Extensively 

Your rental property will fall vacant at one point during your career – it’s an inevitable reality. As a landlord, you’ll need to take proactive steps in order to re-rent the unit as quickly as possible. 

To remain a step above the rest, always market your property as much as you can. By doing so, you’ll be able to generate more leads from prospective tenants. 

However, for this to work, you’ll need to craft a proper listing. Use quality photos and a catchy headline, and ensure that the description is as detailed yet clear as possible. You can also consider taking video tours. 

Next, you’ll need to distribute the ad through many varied online platforms, such as listing sites and social media. Aside from doing this, also cater to “offline” prospective tenants by using yard signs, community bulletin boards, and flyers.

You’ll also want to review your ad properly before posting it. The goal here should be to ensure it doesn’t contain any unintentional discriminative language that can bring trouble to you. The last thing you want is to get in trouble with the Fair Housing laws. 

2. Make Necessary Upgrades to Your Rental Property

Yes, renovations cost money – it’s a worthy sacrifice you’ll have to make for your property to thrive. As a matter of fact, look at it as an investment that will pay off in the future. 

Quality tenants want to live in a quality rental space. If you provide it to them, more often than not, they will appreciate your efforts by caring for it and renewing their leases multiple times. 

In a competitive rental market, you’ll want to give prospective tenants reasons why they should choose you over the competition. Some of the upgrades you can make include:

• Repainting the unit 
• Replacing flimsy materials with solid ones 
• Adding more storage areas
• Upgrading the lighting 
• Improving the curb appeal 

3. Screen Prospective Tenants 

Sounds obvious, right? But you’d be surprised by the number of landlords who choose to skip tenant screening when renting out their property. It could be that they have had long vacancy periods or need the rental income fast. 

Whatever the reason may be, this can be a bad move from an investment point of view. You could, for instance, end up renting to an irresponsible tenant who can cause you a myriad of issues. One such issue is excessive property damage.

As a landlord, tenant screening isn’t an option – it’s a must-have. An effective screening process is one that examines a tenant on the basis of their creditworthiness, and income, as well as rental, criminal, and employment background. 

Your screening process, needless to say, should abide by the Fair Housing Act. 

4. Offer a Warm Welcome to New Tenants 

While moving can be an exciting experience, it can also be a stressful one, too. Some studies have even ranked it together with divorce!

As such, try everything you can to alleviate their stressful experience. You can do so in a variety of ways, including:

• Giving them useful home items or a welcome gift of snacks 
• Cleaning the home for them 
• Helping them with neighborhood information 
• Answering any questions they might have 
• Assuring them you’re available to assist them 

Offering a warm reception to new tenants can pay off in the future since it’ll help build a good landlord-tenant relationship.

5. Respond to Maintenance Issues Quickly 

Responding quickly to maintenance requests is a great way to minimize tenant turnovers and reduce frequent friction with your tenants. Otherwise, you might find yourself in more trouble than you bargained for. See, as a landlord, you have a responsibility to provide your tenants with a habitable rental property. 

If you don’t respond to maintenance issues, your tenant may have several legal rights to pursue. For example, in California, your tenant could choose to withhold rent, or repair the repair issue and then deduct it from the rent. 

Of course, such issues are bad for your investment. Luckily, you can avoid them by creating a maintenance program and following it through. Also, make sure to notify your tenant before making any entry to their rented premises. California requires landlords to provide their tenants with a “reasonable notice” prior to entry. 

6. Improve the Security Level of Your Rental Property 

They say prevention is better than cure! Put in place preventative measures to assure your tenants that they are secure in their home. A tenant will be more likely to stay long-term in an environment they feel is safe. 

There are multiple things you can do in this regard, including installing alarm systems, security cameras, motion sensor lights, window locks, and sturdy doors. 

7. Hire the Services of an Experienced Property Management Company 

Self-managing a rental property has its risks, especially if you lack certain skills, professional experience, and adequate time. A good property management company, on the other hand, has everything you need to prosper in your rental investment business!

When looking to hire a property management company, choose one that offers a comprehensive suite of property management services. Besides saving you time and stress, a good company will also help you minimize your expenses and maximize your income. Peak Residential can do all of this for you! 

Bottom Line

The points above are 7 proven ways on how to attract long-term tenants to your rental property. Long-term tenants will ensure you have peace of mind and you’ll benefit from recurring passive incomes year after year. If you still find this daunting, Peak Residential can help! Call us today to learn about how we can help you meet your goals.