Having solid tenant retention strategies is extremely important for all landlords – retaining long term tenants eliminates the need to search for ideal new tenants, and lets you hang onto good tenants for as long as possible. High turnover is time consuming and costly, affecting your ROI as a landlord and real estate investor. It’s far more efficient to retain good tenants than to find ones to replace them. There are many ways for Toronto landlords to increase tenant retention, many of which are very easy to implement and will go a long way in improving relations with all existing and future tenants. Not only does taking these measures improve your retention rates, but they also give you and your properties a competitive edge over what’s being offered by other landlords in your area. Some of the best ways to improve tenant retention rates include:

Rethink the way you’re providing services to your tenants

The first step to improving your tenant retention is to analyze your current practices and how you can improve them. Are you a flexible and understanding landlord who is willing to work with tenants in order to solve problems and address issues, or are you an overbearing landlord who could be doing more to listen to and address the needs of your tenants? Looking inwardly and being critical of what you’re offering to current and past tenants will give you an idea of what you’re already doing right, and what you could improve on in the future. If you’re not sure about what you’re doing right or wrong, you could try asking current tenants what they would like to see improve, or seek the opinions of other landlords with high retention rates.

Better understand the needs of tenants

All tenants come with unique needs when it comes to their living situation. Some people are extremely easy to please and don’t require a great deal of work, while others will not be comfortable until certain accommodations are made. With this said, it’s important that as a landlord you understand the wants and needs of current and future tenants so that you could strive to meet them and create a more inviting space for long term tenants. This could be as easy as offering free WiFi or other utilities with your units, or evolve into more complicated matters like installing digital thermostats and locks, fully furnishing units, and more.

Make improvements and add value to your property

Do you have a furnace that constantly seems to be on the fritz? Do you often have problems with plumbing? Does the roof of one of your properties need work? All of these things can create long term issues that tenants don’t wish to continue dealing with over and over. Sometimes the best and most effective answer is to make the necessary long term improvements rather than investing in short term solutions to recurring problems. Making these necessary improvements will your tenants happier and will result in them requiring less attention from you, and adds a great deal of value to your property investment.

Stay on top of maintenance issues

While this might seem like an obvious thing to do when looking to retain long term tenants, many landlords fall behind on maintenance issues and allow them to drag out for longer than they should. This failure to stay on top of maintenance issues is frustrating for tenants, and repeatedly having to deal with the same issue without any sort of response from the landlord will quickly drive away even the most patient tenant. Promptly responding to maintenance problems as they arise will not only eliminate the issue early on while at the same time keeping your tenants satisfied, but it will also save you from having to deal with bigger problems stemming from the repair that may arise down the line.

Be personable, responsive, and communicative

Tenants want to be able to communicate with their landlord like they would speak with anybody else in a professional manner – being able to reach out with a question, concern, or problem that needs to be addressed and promptly receiving a personable response goes a long way. One of the easiest ways to improve your tenant retention is to simply be a better communicator – responding to issues quickly and effectively and being willing and open to working with tenants in the name of efficiently solving problems and creating a warmer, more accommodating place for them to live.

Improving tenant retention can be time consuming work, often requiring support from property management experts like the team at Highgate Properties, who work to create and foster long lasting relationships so that you can focus on other important things in your life. Our team prides itself on being able to create and foster positive long term relationships with tenants by working to recognize and meet the needs of your tenants, communicating with them in a friendly and personable manner to directly address any issues that arise while they’re occupying your property.

For more information about the property management and realty services offered by the experienced team at Highgate Properties, contact us today.