A Multi-Family Home

2 Ways To Attract And Keep Great Tenants In Your Apartment Building

by Arnold Gomez

As the owner of an apartment building, you have to walk a fine line between doing everything you can to make a profit on your property while still providing excellent tenant services in order to attract the right kind of tenants to your building and keep them there. Your tenants have a lot to do with your success as a building owner, so it is in your best interest to act fairly and positively toward them. Here are some ways you can bring reputable people to your building and make sure they want to stay there.

Don't Under- or Overcharge Tenants

Your first impulse as a building owner might be to set your rates much higher than other apartment buildings in the area. You may feel that your building is nice enough to warrant high rates, and you might think that you'll get people who are more wealthy than others and, as a result, have a great bunch of renters.

However, this could backfire on you. No one likes to pay much more than they feel things are worth; tenants will do a diligent job of searching for good apartments, and if they feel your units are wildly overpriced, they may stay away. In fact, the only people who may want your highly-priced units are those who have bad rental histories who cannot rent a unit elsewhere.

Just as you don't want to charge too much, avoid charging too little below market value as well. You may want to offer your units to hard-working people without much money, but when you don't charge very much, there may be a perception that something is wrong with the units because you're pricing them so low. When you go to sell the building, prospective buyers may look at your rent totals and may not think your building represents a good investment.

Perform Adequate Maintenance

One of the things that is important to retaining good tenants is to be accessible for any repairs or maintenance that needs to take place in your building. If a tenant can call you with a problem about their plumbing and reach you right away, they are going to be more likely to renew their lease. If you make sure that the walkways and the parking lot are plowed quickly after a snowstorm, your tenants will not want to go to another building. Attention to details like these can build loyalty.

Now that you have a couple of pointers for attracting and keeping good tenants, use the information above to help you do so. Talk with a property manager about how they may be able to provide enhanced tenant services so that your tenants continue to be happy in your building.

Share