Without tenants, a rental real estate business cannot cash flow. In our real estate business, our philosophy is to treat our tenants well. We do this not only because we believe in treating people well in general, but also because we understand the importance of having tenants stay in order to produce monthly income.
Some landlords take a cavalier approach when it comes to their tenants. They know that their rental property is an asset that they own, and that their tenants simply rent from them. Personally, we believe that having a big ego like that is dangerous.
We like to remember that an important piece of our business structure is creating a great home for an individual of family to live in. We have to remember our main purpose: to provide a home for families. We want our tenants to feel at home in our properties. Because of that, our relationship with our tenants tends to be flexible—it’s a give and take. We certainly set boundaries, and we don’t want to be taken advantage of.
As a landlord, you will get questions from your tenants. Some examples are, “can I have a dog?” or “can I trim back these bushes?” Sometimes, the property management company will discourage you from approving these requests. However, we tend to use one guiding principle to make these types of decisions: will fulfilling this request make our tenant feel more at home?
If a tenant feels at home, they are more likely to stay long-term. The longer the tenant stays, the longer we receive consistent rent from that rental property. It’s important to remember that a rental real estate business revolves around humans.