When renting a single-family rental property, your tenants must have simple means to contact you. Not only is this perfect for keeping an eye on your valuable property, but it can also assist you in establishing a strong connection with your tenant. At the same time, 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. Therefore, what are the effective methods for tenants to contact you? Let’s discuss some ideal methods for tenants to get in touch with their landlords or North Richland Hills property owners as recommended by the experts.
Phone and Email
At first, you should have a dedicated phone line and email for your rental property business. This is applicable whether you have one rental property or a dozen. A phone number and email are the most professional method for tenants to reach you. Having a separate phone and email may guarantee that all communications are routed through the proper channels, that communications are documented, and that nothing falls through the cracks.
Emergency Maintenance Line
Another critical communication option to establish 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 must be apparent to the tenant that this is an emergency line only. This will assist in guaranteeing that tenants only use this line for emergencies and that they know there may be additional charges for using this service.
Tenant Portal
Another excellent approach to staying in touch with your tenants and guaranteeing all communications are directed via the right channels is to establish a tenant portal. A tenant portal is an online system that permits tenants to make non-emergency maintenance requests, pay rent, and contact you all in one spot. A tenant portal is built exclusively for property owners and landlords, and most enable you and your tenants to send messages and information back and forth. Utilizing a tenant portal lets you stay organized and guarantee that all communications are appropriately documented.
Social Media
If you are comfortable using social media to promote your rental properties, you may also need to try using it as a tool to communicate with your tenants. This is an excellent approach to provide tenants with updates on maintenance, changes to the property, or any other necessary information. They can also ask questions and enable you to reply to concerns. If you choose to use social media for tenant communication, remember to use a private messaging system or private page so that your conversations are not made public.
Set Clear Boundaries
Communicating effectively with tenants may take more than one form of communication. However, regardless of which options you choose, it’s imperative to set clear ground rules about when and why your tenant should contact you. It would benefit if you also had clear, pre-determined consequences for when tenants attempt to avoid your rules. One of the ideal things you can do is to model and encourage respectful communication and consistently enforce your boundaries. By being clear about your expectations, you may assist ensure that communications with your tenant are appropriate and sent through proper channels.
The bottom line is that regardless of what method or combination of methods you choose for tenant communication, it’s imperative to be professional, consistent, and transparent. One more ideal way to handle tenant communications is to hire a professional property management company like Real Property Management 360 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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