Atlanta Property Manager Offers 5 Tips to Get Tenants to Renew their Lease

Good tenants can be hard to find. So, when you have them, you want to keep them! With so many options available, they may decide to move when their lease is up – leaving you searching for new tenants. Life can cause these moves for many reasons. Some tenants need to relocate for work or family reasons. Others may have a growing (or shrinking) family and require different size living quarters. Yet, others may have been enticed with a lower rent, a more reputable Atlanta property management company, or a nicer space. While you cannot combat all of these reasons, you can strive to be the property management company in Atlanta that tenants want to rent from. 

Here are five tips to keep the good tenants you already have:

Offer incentives

There is nothing wrong with offering an incentive to entice your tenant to renew his or her lease. Most tenants like to feel special and feel as though they are getting a deal. The possibilities for incentives vary greatly. You could choose to offer a free month’s rent for a new lease agreement. Or, perhaps gift cards to local restaurants or stores, a new small appliance, or even a TV. You can get creative with your incentives. The key is to make your tenants want to stay to receive that special treat or benefit. Professional Atlanta property managers will be able to suggest to you which particular gift option is best for your rental property.

Choose not to increase rent

Is it really necessary to raise the rent by, say, an extra 3%? Financially, for some property management companies in Atlanta, this may not seem reasonable if it means the possibility of losing the tenant. Fact is, it costs money to market your property and go through the process of obtaining a new tenant. Review your options and see if the cost of raising the rent is worth it. Advising current tenants that their rent will remain the same may be all that is needed to keep them. 

Offer multi-year lease

Once you have reeled in a new tenant, why only allow them to sign the lease for a year? After all, your screening process is thorough and you have a good feeling about this tenant. Offering a multi-year lease may provide comfort for the tenant, knowing they have a place to reside without the possibility of having to go through the tedious process to load up and move again in a year’s time. 

Keep property maintained

Everyone wants to live in a well-maintained home or apartment. As a property management company in Atlanta, it is your responsibility to see that this happens. Responding to requests for service needs as soon as possible or checking the property occasionally for upkeep and repairs can entice the tenant to renew his or her lease. The way that a property manager maintains a property reflects on the tenant. Keep up with your property and make it look good – it could be the key that keeps your tenant for another year!

Talk to your tenant – and listen

Speak to your tenant. Find out what they have enjoyed about living in your rental property, as well as what they have not. If there are things that could be upgraded or changed to make the property more enjoyable for the tenant, you may just get them to agree to sign another lease. For example, if the tenant tells you that they love the place, but the air conditioner just doesn’t cool the place down efficiently enough in the summer, see if there is a way you can help. Perhaps making changes with the air conditioner, adding tint to the windows, or having the air ducts cleaned could help make the tenants decide to stay another year. 

Sometimes it is just a small annoyance that could mean the difference between staying or moving for a tenant. And many times, it could be cost effective for the landlord to adjust the annoyance to keep the tenant. However, the only way to find this out is with open lines of communication. 

If the Atlanta property managers cannot convince the tenant to sign a new lease by fixing the inconvenience, then at least they are aware of things that can be corrected to avoid losing tenants in the future. 

However you choose to approach your tenants to keep them for another year, make them feel wanted and welcomed. If you can tempt them to stick around for at least another year, then your worries of having to search for tenants is over! If you need help managing or leasing your Atlanta rental property, give us at ALH|Podland Realty a call at 404-937-1850.

Marina Shlomov, a managing partner at ALH|Podland Realty & Rental Homes Property Management is the author of many articles on Landlording, Property Management, and Real Estate Investing. A residential builder in the state of Georgia since 1999, Marina is an investor herself. Her property management company is intended “For Investors” and “By Investors” for a simple reason – she knows what investors’ goals are and she works hard to reach their goals. In her spare time, Marina likes to spend time with her family, friends, garden, read and travel. Check her out at www.alhpodland.com. You can find Marina’s articles and comments at @rentalhomesatl on Twitter, on Facebook, Google+, Blogger. and YouTube, Bigger Pockets and REI CLub and LinkedIn.