Tenant Retention – A Property Management Company’s Main Focus

November 7, 2011

By: Michelle Torres, Property Manager 

In today’s market, landlords are experiencing a high turn over in tenants. A property management company understands the critical need to retain tenants to maintain the owner investment, and that tenant turnover is costly in both time and money.

The first and most important tenant retention task is contact. Good property management companies maintain regular, ongoing contact with their tenants and structure those contacts to affect a positive outcome. Property management companies can maintain a strong relationship with their tenants by addressing every tenant concern promptly, returning phone calls within a couple of hours of initial contact and completing any maintenance requests within one business day and following up with tenants to ensure the work was completed to the tenant’s satisfaction.
 

Another important aspect of tenant retention is keeping the property in good repair.  Keeping the landscape trimmed and the outdoor lights working means that you care.  Some property management companies go the extra mile to make sure the property and the tenants lease stays in first class condition. This may sound expensive. But bear in mind that if your building is well taken care of, the tenants and their visitors will notice. Visitors will comment, the tenant will be happy because they picked the right building and will extend their lease if they can, or ask the landlord if they have another building they can lease. Our tenants spend more time in our buildings than they do at home. It is their “home away from home” and that is why a properly run property management company can have so much impact.