A good tenant is not that easy to come by. A vacancy is not always easy to fill in. Because of this, landlords often find it stressful whenever a good tenant’s leasing contract is nearing its end.
The reason why you should encourage lease renewal is to enjoy the following benefits:
- You don’t have to go through the tedious process of marketing your vacant unit and screening new tenants.
- Your vacancy rate would be low, so you can ensure a steady income from your business and maximize profit.
- It’s easier to deal with a tenant with who you are already familiar. Adjusting to a new tenant takes a lot of time and effort.
Related article: Increasing the Odds of Long-term Tenancies
Tips to Encourage Tenants to Renew
For tenants to consider renewing their lease, there should be an effort on your part to give them good reasons to stay longer. There are a few insights you should consider.
Remind them ahead
Most of the time, tenants lose track of how far they are in their tenancy. When the end of a tenant’s leasing contract is just a few months away, it’s good to remind them of it so that you can already get an idea if they are interested in renewing their lease.
Asking them ahead will make you know if they have hesitations about renewing so that you can come up with an offer that would remove their uncertainty. Even if they are firm in their decision to not renew, knowing ahead can give you time to look for potential tenants who are willing to wait for your current tenant to leave.
Be a responsible landlord
The same way a landlord wants to keep a good tenant, a tenant also wants to stay with a good landlord.
One reason why tenants don’t renew a lease is because their landlord is not responsive to their needs, doesn’t do maintenance, and sees them as cash cows rather than humans. Even if the property is in a convenient location or has useful amenities, a tenant will not stay if the landlord does not treat them right
Make an effort to perform your landlord responsibilities as agreed on the leasing contract: be accessible to your tenants and address their concerns promptly; consider them as partners in business rather than sources of income; be fair and reasonable when it comes to money matters.
Related article: How to be an Ethical Landlord
Offer incentives
If you offer discounts to entice potential tenants to rent, why not offer it to loyal tenants as well? If a tenant is on the fence about renewing because of the rent increase, you can waive the increase in the first month of their new lease. Or if they think they can no longer afford the pet rent for all their fur babies, then let some of their pets stay rent-free.
This will make them feel rewarded for their loyalty. This may cost you a little money, but compare it with the money you wouldn’t earn if the unit remains vacant.
Put a little pressure
If they are being indecisive, it’s not wrong to add a little pressure to help them decide. Set a deadline for them. If they don’t decide by then, let them know that you will consider it as a non-renewal.
It can only go two ways. Regardless of what their decision will be, it still would be an advantage to you if you learn it ahead of time.
DEALING WITH A VACANCY
There is always that possibility of non-renewal, so it’s best to be prepared for it.
If a good tenant has decided to not renew their lease, learn to be okay with it and let them go with no bad blood. It’s part of the rental housing business.
Thankfully, marketing your units is no longer as difficult nowadays because of the rise of the digital era. Most home hunters now look for rental spaces online. Uploading listings on listing syndication websites like Padleads, you can extend the reach of your listing to different rental websites with a wide audience.
Once you receive offers, conduct a thorough screening process. There are a lot of good tenants out there. You just need to know how to weed out the bad ones to find your ideal tenant.