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Should my Long Beach Rental Become a Smart Rental?

Dustin Edwards • May 8, 2020

5 Smart Items to Consider for Your Long Beach Rental

Can Your Long Beach Rental Become a Smart Rental?
Renters have choices when they look to rent a property in Long Beach. Even as a mature city there are new apartment developments and freshly renovated homes for renters to choose from and attracting the best tenants often means your property needs to stand out among the sea of choices that are possible; especially when you want to garner a great rental rate. One aspect to consider to make your rental stand out from the crowd of choices is making your rental a Smart rental.

A Smart rental is one that integrates common appliances and functions with Smart hubs such as Alexa, Google, and Ring. You may think “well no one really needs that” but it isn’t so much about “need” as adding a great convenience for your tenant that keeps them happy for years to come. To help you see what is possible for your Smart rental we invite you to consider the following elements:

Smart Thermostat
This is one of the most common upgrades to make a property a Smart property as the thermostat can be used with even older AC/heating systems. One of the most popular is certainly the NEST system which integrates easily with Google’s systems. Products, like a NEST thermostat, optimize the heating and cooling needs far beyond just temperature guidelines as they can detect movement in a house for additional optimizations. An added benefit is one can control the temperature from a phone giving the tenant additional flexibility to control temperatures.

Smart Door Locks
One of the most common calls a property management company receives is regarding keys. Especially if you are managing your own property, taking time to invest in a smart door lock could save you many calls and the time required to organize a locksmith at the property. While there are many solutions possible consider a smart door lock system that integrates with an existing deadbolt to minimize investment and maximize the benefit. Systems such as those from August provide multiple versions that you can control from your phone and it can track who is using the digital keys. These systems can also come in very handy when it comes time to allow a handyman or other trade service in the property.

Smart Ceiling Fans
Ceiling fans probably aren’t one of the items in a rental that you put thought into...especially about making them smart. Ceiling fans though are a great way to help tenants optimize the temperature in your rental property and help keep the lifespan of your AC system going longer. Recently manufacturers have introduced smart ceiling fans allowing you the ability to control the ceiling fan from a mobile app (i.e. Hunter fans have a SIMPLEConnect app) or by using systems such as Alexa, Google Assistant, etc. 

Smart Sprinkler
A great looking yard makes for a happy tenant and attracts great tenants should one leave. To help keep your yard looking great and help your tenant optimize their water bill consider adding a smart sprinkler. For example the Rachio 3 Smart Sprinkler integrates a hyperlocal Weather Intelligence™ that takes into consideration 270,000 personal weather stations to ensure you are using water when it counts vs. just after a rain. With innovative water monitoring plus integration with systems such as Alexa, Nest, Google Assistant and more this is one of those items that should most certainly be on your list as you evaluate your landscaping.  

Smart Lighting
Tenants that feel like your rental is their home stay longer. You can enable smart lighting that ranges from security lights to landscape lighting. Effective security lighting and landscape lighting can help tenants feel at ease with those daily tasks such as taking out the trash cans or getting home late with groceries. Smart lighting systems from Ring easily integrate with Alexa making it a nice addition to the other smart features. 

Making your rental a smart rental is an approach to help you differentiate your rental on the market. When you want to find out if your rental would benefit from smart features we invite you to call us today (562) 888-0247 and we can share our experience. If you want to have a quick check to see how much your property could fetch in rent we invite you to fill out our Free Rental Analysis where we perform a comprehensive comparison to share your rental stacks up to the competition.

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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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