So many times we only deal with a situation when it is brought to our attention, but what if we changed that train of thought and started "Staying Ahead of the Game"?

We might find that those 'situations' don't happen as often or at least aren't as bad when they do.

Management -

  1. Keep in touch with your residents.  Make sure they know that you care about them all year round and not just during their renewal time. 
  2. Sending birthday cards, get well cards, thank you cards, etc throughout the year will let them know you have taken the time to learn things about them.  Make sure you make the cards personal, put their names on the cards.
  3. If you have to raise their rents, don't just do it, talk with them, have a resident meeting to discuss it, etc..  Let them know why you need to raise their rents.  Thank them for understanding and let them know you appreciate them for staying. 

Leasing Agents -

  1. Know what you are going to say when you are faced with a stumbling block from an applicant. Make even the negatives, look like positives.
  2. Make sure you follow-up with anyone you have spoken with and/or received an application from. 
  3. Be prepared with packets of information about not only your complex, but your town/city.  

Maintenance -

  1. Do preventative maintenance.  This will help you evaluate what needs to be repaired or replaced and you can budget for it before it goes bad.
  2. Leave a note or door tag that tells them you were there and what you did and let them know if they need anything else, how they can get in touch with you.
  3. Once a month, send out a “Maintenance Needed?” notice to your residents.  This can be something as simple as a checklist that allows the residents to check off anything they might be having a problem with, so you can fix it.  Making it easy for residents to let you know what is wrong, will help you keep things in working order.
Porter -
  1. Keeping the grounds and the buildings clean will make the resident’s proud to call your complex their home.
  2. Offer carpet cleaning (if you have your own steam cleaner, this will make it easier to do).  Your porter can clean the carpets of residents who pay their rent on time…say all year long if rent is paid on time, your complex will clean their carpet, etc.
  3. Porters can also do preventative cleaning.  Do you have open breezeways, have your porter clean the light globes so the light can shine through making the building safer, etc.

All Staff:

  1. When you see a resident, applicant, vendor on the property...wave, say hello ask how they are and if they need any help.  Let them know you care.

Doing a few simple things can help turn your property around.  If you are on top of things, bad tenants won’t stay.  If you can prevent bad things from happening (or at least cut back on them from happening) then your good residents will appreciate you and they will stay.