Renters Remorse Puts Owner Under the Knife
Friday, March 6th, 2009The prospect that you show your rental home to likes it. In fact, he loves it. He can afford the rent as the rent is less than 1/3 his gross income each month. He passes your credit check. He pays the deposit and the pro-in. Everything seems great.
Then next month comes. He complains that you charged him too much for the pro-in and wants to know how you calculated it. He complains that a crack is in the kitchen tile. He complains that the toilet flushes too slow. What happened?
It’s called renters remorse.
It doesn’t just happen with real estate. It happens with any big ticket item.
The psychology is that the original emotional high is gone and reality has set in. Your new tenant wonders if he got ripped off. If the rent is too high. If he inspected your home carefully enough before moving in.
The biggest mistake property owners make is that once the prospect moves in, they forget about them. Your value does not come from John moving in. It doesn’t even come from the $1,000 deposit and $900 first months rent. The value from John comes in establishing a relationship. The real value comes from having John as a good tenant for 3 or more years.
Tenant satisfaction and retention are the keys to success in managing your rental home.
You can get the relationship with your new tenant off to a good start by being thoughtful. You do this by making a positive first impression. A great way to do this is to prepare a welcome package when he moves in. Just a few inexpensive but thoughtful items is all I takes to start a profitable relationship with your new tenant. It also will help combat renters remorse, a psychological phase that all new tenants go through within their mind.
Your welcome package may include a bar of soap and a roll of paper towels in the kitchen. You could also include a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom. Another thing I like to do is to put a few bottles of water in the refrigerator.
Do you see the pattern? You want to include little, thoughtful items that are very handy in the first couple of days when your new tenant still has everything packed away in boxes.
If a family is moving into your rental home, then probably the best item you can include in your welcome package is a gift certificate for a free pizza. Most people eat out for about a week while they move in to a new place. They are unpacking and they haven’t had a chance to go to the grocery store yet. Kids love pizza. This is the surest way to inject yourself into the minds and hearts of your new tenants and get the landlord tenant relationship off to a great start.