If you are thinking of becoming a landlord, you will need to know how to effectively communicate with tenants to resolve issues and complaints. As many landlords will tell you, there are good tenants and then there are bad tenants. Bad tenants tend to make your job as a landlord difficult, stressful, and all-around just a headache. Most property owners will deal with a bad tenant from time to time, and it’s not easy. Follow some of the tips we have listed below to try and make the situation easier for you and the tenant.

Calmly Listen

This is often easier said than done. One of the best qualities anyone can have is to be an effective listener. When listening to your tenant you really need to understand what they are saying and try to reason that they are not overreacting. Stay calm no matter what they say because at the end of the day they are saying it out of frustration. When you stay calm it makes the tenant want to be calmer when explaining their issue. Do not let your personal thoughts or feelings become clouded by emotions when discussing issues with your tenant, as a landlord you need to be the voice of reason. Below are a few tips on effective listening.

1. Take notes

1. Ask follow up questions to fully understand the issue

Be Available

One of the biggest tenant complaints in regards to their landlord is that they can never reach them unless it’s time for the landlord to collect rent. Don’t be that landlord! Set up clear hours on when you will be available to your tenants. You don’t have to be available 24/7 but set clear standards for when you will be. For example, you can be available on Monday – Thursday from 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM. With that being said, make sure you always have an emergency plan for water leaks, fires, etc.

Outline Rules and Restrictions

From the very beginning of the lease outline, exactly what is expected of the tenant. One of the worst feelings for a tenant is thinking that they can do one thing only to be told months later that it was not okay. When you sign a lease with a new tenant you can hand them a short list of rules and regulations for the property that they are occupying, this can specify quiet times, parking spaces, interior painting, wall hangings, etc. It’s better for everyone if the expectations are clearly outlined from the start, this will cause less conflict down the road.

CTTO Article Source: www.biggerpockets.com