Most landlords and property managers in San Antonio know it can be a challenge to locate tenants who pay on time and take care of the premises. So one of your priorities should be to keep your current paying tenants as happy as possible.
One of the most effective ways to hold onto good tenants is to respond to complaints immediately. Answer your phone when they call and listen to any problems they have in their apartment. It may seem as if they’re complaining about minor details, but ignoring them could encourage them to move out.
In addition to being communicative and responsible, you can keep tenants pleased by upgrading their units and the building regularly. Below are some affordable ways to do this which your San Antonio tenants will appreciate.
Are there areas of the apartments you want to stress for your tenants? You can do that by employing appropriate lighting.
The most critical is the general lighting that enables your tenants to feel safe and more at home. But there are many kinds of task lighting in the kitchen and living room which you can add to your apartments and make daily tasks easier.
Among the task lighting you might consider adding are nightstand lamps, pendant lights in the kitchen, kitchen cabinet lighting, and bathroom vanity lighting.
The kitchen will be the most essential space for most tenants in your building. If you want to keep them happy, then it’s tactically smart to invest some money on that area.
New, high-quality appliances in the kitchen immediately inform tenants that their landlord or property manager cares about their pleasure and comfort. When you invest in good stoves, dishwashers, and refrigerators, more tenants are likely to pay rent on time and stay longer.
The best part is that perking up your apartments’ appliances doesn’t have to empty your accounts. You could just start with upgrading the stovetop and microwave and thereby make dinnertime easier and more convenient.
Besides the kitchen, the bathroom is a space that plays a crucial role in dictating whether a tenant stays or goes when the lease expires.
You don’t need to make the bathroom a day spa with a sauna and jacuzzi. But minor cosmetic changes can inject new life into an older and outdated bathroom. Switch out leaky faucets, put in an oversized showerhead, and replace that old shower curtain.
When you upgrade your kitchens, you could consider replacing the cabinets. Sometimes, though, it’s simply enough to swap out the cabinet doors.
But you should use solid wood whenever you can. Then you can paint them however you like, though many experts recommend neutral colors.
When you replace the knobs and hinges, the kitchen will evolve a new appearance that may please current and future tenants.
It’s strange in some senses, but a new coat of paint can have the best ROI of any upgrade to a rental apartment. To get even higher return from your investment, try to purchase your paint in large quantities. If you do that, when you need to touch up after a single tenant moves out, you won’t have to worry about matching the paint.
If you don’t want to repaint, you can offer to let some tenants paint how they prefer. Just make sure you tell them whether you want them to stick to neutral colors.
Creaky floorboards annoy tenants and be enough to make some of them move out. Also, old flooring can make the apartment noisier from the neighborhood. To improve the flooring and make the apartment quieter, install cork flooring or quality carpeting.
Every tenant wants to feel safe in their apartment. It’s irrelevant if your building happens to stand in a better neighborhood, because break-ins and robberies can happen anywhere. Your facility ought to have an alarm service and robust safety locks.
By putting money into safety and security, you’ll show tenants you want them to be safe in your building. That goes a long way toward maintaining good relations.
You might be surprised by how effective new landscaping can be in attracting good tenants. Plants, bushes, and flowers don’t cost much. When the prospect is touring the property, if you’ve kept the landscaping looking good, they’ll see the property is well maintained.
We are referring to the outside of the building. Pressure washing every season is an affordable and effective way to make a building look fresher and newer. Also, consider pressure washing the porch, back porch, and entry to get rid of mildew and mold.
Not everything needs to be about spending money on new this or that. As a property manager or landlord, you should ideally have each apartment inspected for problems every three months or so.
You want to check for any issues with plumbing, HVAC, insects, smoke detectors, etc. Doing regular inspections helps you to catch problems early that might cost a lot more later. Plus, your tenants will understand you care about their comfort, and you seek to address issues promptly.
You can do all the items on this list, and certain tenants will demand more. You don’t have to respond to every minor complaint or request.
But if they’re a couple expecting a baby, for example, you might choose to go along and let them make a bedroom into a nursery – IF they’re responsible, promptly paying tenants. If they should move out next year, it’s easy to return that nursery to a bedroom with a fresh coat of paint.
Experience shows that cost-effective improvements in apartments can make a huge difference in retaining your best tenants. Making most of the above modifications will go a long way toward keeping and attracting the best tenants in the San Antonio.
If you keep the same tenants for several years who pay on time and are responsible, think about offering them a 5% or 10% discount on rent. But don’t present that incentive until you see the tenant is worth the cost break.
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