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Best Practices for Effective Landlord and Tenant Communication

Dustin Edwards • October 5, 2021

Communication is Essential for Success with Rental Properties

Effective Landlord Communication
Communicating well with your tenants is essential to being a successful landlord. If you can relate to your tenants, they will feel comfortable with you and will appreciate having a landlord they can rely on and trust. This trust will cultivate respect toward you and your Long Beach rental.

However, fostering strong and successful connection can be challenging, especially for new landlords. To help alleviate this difficulty, here are some of the best practices for effective communication between landlords and their tenants. 

Identify a Preferred Contact Method
One of the most important steps toward effective communication is finding a contact method that both parties are comfortable and proficient in. The most common contact methods are texting, emailing, or calling. All three options are fairly easy and require little transfer of information other than a phone number or email address.  

Since everyone has different preferences when it comes to communicating, you should have a conversation with new tenants about how they would prefer to contact you. Using their preferred contact method will better guarantee a response if you need to contact them. 

Additionally, it may be helpful to place a list with your phone number and email address on the rental’s fridge, calendar, or bulletin board. That way, if your tenants ever forget how to reach you, all they have to do is reference the list. This can be especially helpful in emergencies. 

Set Expectations on Response Time 
Once you establish a preferred contact method, it is important to set expectations on when your tenants should respond to messages. That being said, as their landlord you should hold yourself to the same expectations. Tenants will not respect a landlord who makes them follow a set response time but responds haphazardly. 

For starters, provide a realistic time frame that you and your tenants can use to voice minor inconveniences or inquiries, such as 9 AM to 5 PM. Furthermore, set a response time of one to two days. This gives you and your tenants plenty of time to curate a sufficient reply. Conversely, there should be no time frame for emergencies, and response times should be almost immediate. Emergencies can come up at any time, day or night, and you need to be available whenever they occur. It is your responsibility as a landlord to look out for your tenants and protect them from danger (such as fires or water main leaks), otherwise, you could be held liable for any injuries. 

Document All Communication
Whenever you communicate with your tenants, you should keep a log of the entire conversation. This is especially easy with texts and emails since they stay saved unless you take the time to delete them. Nevertheless, even when it comes to calls, try to jot down notes of your conversation. 

There are many benefits to documenting all correspondence between you and your tenants. For one, it can protect you from any liability if tenants try to twist your words or falsify incidents. Second, it can act as a reminder for you to complete a task or schedule a repair that your tenant requested. 

Moderate Word Choice
Moderating your word choice and avoiding harsh speech is important to bridging effective communication between you and your tenants. If you are rude and hostile toward your tenants, then they will stop coming to you with rental problems, and they will also stop respecting you. 

To better recognize bad behaviors in the future, it is best to first acknowledge and understand them:
  1. Accusatory tone - saying the word “you” (i.e. “What were you thinking?” or “You need to stop this.”).
  2. Foul language - cussing out your tenants or yelling expletives at them.
  3. Dismissive response - accusing your tenants of being overdramatic or brushing off their requests for repairs. 

These actions are some of the common bad behaviors that will prove unproductive when communicating with your tenants. They will act as nothing but a communication barrier, preventing your tenants from trusting you or feeling comfortable in your Long Beach rental. Respect is not earned by belittling or yelling. Rather, it is earned by being respectful. 

Understanding the best practices for effective communication is a complicated but necessary process to be a good and favorable landlord. If you would like further assistance with conversing and relating to your tenants, we invite you to call us today at (562) 888-0247 or you can fill out our Owner Application online. 

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Best 3 Things To Do During Tenant Communication

By Dustin Edwards • January 10, 2025
Having clear communication with your tenant is essential for maintaining a healthy landlord-tenant relationship. By being transparent in all relevant interactions, landlords can prevent misunderstandings while resolving repairs and disputes efficiently while improving tenant satisfaction. Having good communication with your tenant is beneficial for landlords too. Effective communication also protects your investment property. Remember that while your tenant is living in the property, landlords need to take care of the repairs. Below are the three best things to do during tenant communications. Prompt Responses Addressing tenant concerns quickly is essential for building trust and maintaining a positive relationship. Tenants feel valued when landlords respond quickly, knowing that their needs are being prioritized. Building this trust not only enhances your tenant’s satisfaction it lowers the possibility of conflicts or misunderstandings to arise. This ultimately creates a healthy and successful rental experience for you and your tenant. Some of the most common inquiries will oftentimes include repair requests, among others. As an example; if your tenant reports a leak under their faucet and the repair is delayed, this can be damaging to your landlord-tenant relationship, as well as your property. If left ignored, that leak can result in hundreds of dollars in water damage and a vacancy . Which can further affect our bottom line negatively. For landlords with multiple properties, this can become difficult to keep track of. A property manager can help with scheduling repairs and communicating with your tenant on your behalf. Document Everything Keeping a detailed record of all interactions with your tenant is an important element when managing a property. There are many choices for documentation including email, text, or written notices. Although many property management companies and landlords have opted to use apps or dedicated tenant portals to log communications. A great example, for instance, a tenant may claim they’d reported a repair issue that was never addressed, if everything is to be documented, both you and the tenant would have a copy of the request. Maintaining transparency with tenants. Having thorough documentation ensures agreements and requests between all parties are clearly tracked. Documenting communications with your tenant provides landlords with a foundation for addressing misunderstandings, or disputes if and when they arise. Provide Regular Updates Regular updates show tenants that their landlord is organized and has an attentive approach to managing their property. Giving tenants ample time for maintenance, inspections or policy changes is a simple way to build trust with your tenants while showing your professionalism. Giving tenants advanced notices reassures them that you’re aware of how changes can affect them and you understand that time might be needed in order to adjust. Surprises are best kept for birthday parties. Proactively notifying tenants of changes helps clear the communication channels and minimizes disruptions which helps tenants feel valued and satisfied. These small yet consistent efforts can contribute to a positive tenant stay, which can encourage lease renewals and long-term tenancy. Additionally, having a good relationship with your tenants can give you a great reputation which can provide you with leads when looking to fill a vacancy . It cannot be understated the importance of communication for a healthy landlord-tenant relationship. Even if your tenant may not agree with some of the decisions a landlord needs to make, by giving your tenants ample time to process the change tenants generally are more accepting of said change. If you’re having trouble communicating with your tenants or if you need help managing Beach City rental property, we invite you to call us today at (562) 888-0247 or complete our Owner Application online .

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