Good communication with your tenants is a key detail to being a successful Beech Grove rental property owner. But really, with so many options available, which is the best method of communication? Landlords are searching for and finding new ways to text, email, and call their tenants, but seriously, are all of these options the most effective way to go about staying in touch? It’s a reasonable question since the manner you contact tenants isn’t just about keeping them feeling comfortable and well-informed. There are also definitely real financial and legal issues involved with your chosen method.
Texting
A lot of tenants and property owners want the ease and convenience of texting. And for small stuff or just for staying in contact, texting can be a good way to keep the lines of communication with your tenant open. Contingent on what messaging platform you use, it is similarly allowable to send more than just text messages back and forth. Tenants can send photos to help you schedule repairs, and you can send links and attachments back.
There are drawbacks to texting, too. One of the biggest reasons is the ability to track and save your conversations. As a property owner, it’s significant to document your interactions with your tenant in the event of disagreements or when legal issues take place. You’ll need to ensure that you save the entire history of your messages back and forth while texting.
Besides saving messages, some tenants may further abuse the privilege of texting you whenever they want. If you make use of a personal or business cellphone for your conversations, tenants may reckon that you will immediately respond to them at all hours and get upset if you don’t. These problems should encourage you to think and plan carefully prior to putting into service texting to contact tenants.
Phone Calls
Calling tenants on the phone is a splendid way to be more direct and personable with them. There is no substitute for hearing someone’s voice and making a verbal conversation in real-time. By conversing with your tenants on the phone frequently, you can help promote a positive working relationship with them and more simply communicate your care and concern over their comfort and welfare. This, in turn, could lead to tenants staying longer in your rental.
In a similar manner to texting, the most serious difficulty to utilizing the phone to contact tenants is the hassle of documenting your conversations. Particularly if you discuss liability issues or sensitive information, you will need a way to record your discussions if a dispute arises. You will additionally have to keep in mind to answer your phone every time your tenants call. Getting a landlord’s voicemail any time they call will discourage your tenants from contacting you in the future, making phone calls a less useful communication mode.
Email is the middle ground between texting and phone calls. It is a considerably convenient method of communication, as various people utilize and are comfortable with email. But certainly, it likewise provides for you an effortless means to document your entire conversation with your tenants because many email programs permit you to save email chains for months or even years. Another nice advantage of email is that it grants you time to think and write carefully before responding to a tenant’s question or complaint. You can send documents and other attachments more favorably with email, all of which are date-and-time stamped, so you know what was sent to whom and when. This can all be very significant if you look for records of your messages later on.
But on the flip side, email isn’t as quick or convenient as texting, and tenants may not be in favor of writing out every message in email. Other people don’t prefer using email or may not check their inboxes constantly, resulting in delayed responses. Email is indeed more impersonal, and it can be complicated to manage your tone so that you sound warm and friendly.
In the long run, you may take advantage of various methods to be sure that your tenant communications are frequent, friendly, secure, and effortlessly documented. In any event, it’s suitable to work with your and your tenant’s communication preferences to have a way to stay in touch that you both want and will employ regularly.
Tenant communication can be a challenging and even tedious component of owning rental properties in Beech Grove. But, certainly, Real Property Management Indianapolis Edge can help! We can contact tenants on your behalf and make sure your tenants have someone they can rely on when issues arise – without disturbing your daily schedule or your good night’s sleep. For more detailed information, contact us online or call us at 317-420-8500.
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