OwnerSecrets.com

First impressions are so important when it comes to showing your rental home to a prospect.

Remember, your rental property isn’t the only one on the market. Your prospect has many options. You’re competing for the best renters with every other owner in the area that has a vacant rental property. You need to make a good first impression and you want to stand above your competition.

Part of making a good first impression is returning your prospects phone call as quickly as possible. The biggest mistake you can make when renting out your home is to not return prospect phone calls immediately. It is a big turn off to your prospect if they can’t reach you. Immediately they think that if you are hard to get on the phone now, what’s going to happen if you move in and have a maintenance issue? A very interested prospect will only call once or twice before giving up and moving on to another rental home.

Finally, you need to have your paperwork in order. Have your rental application and rental contract, with all addendums, ready for their review. The second biggest mistake you can make is to not bring your rental application and rental contract with you. If you tell a prospect who is interested in filling out your rental application that you forgot to bring it with you and that you will call him later when you find it, you will lose the prospect. You’ll call but the prospect will not call you back. He’s already gone on to another rental home.

In summary, first impressions are everything. Return prospect calls immediately. When you show your rental home, have a professional attitude. Wear professional clothing. Be organized. Bring your rental application and rental contract, with all addendums, with you.

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The 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.

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