As a landlord, developing and maintaining a successful relationship with your tenant will have a major impact on the success of your rental property. You want to be professional and respectful, but not too friendly. We have some tips to balance your landlord/tenant relationship and keep the performance of your property a priority.

Treat Your Property as an Investment

Always remember to treat your property as an investment. When you treat your rental property as the investment you want, you avoid getting emotionally attached to the property. Many landlords have trouble with this. However, you need to remember that tenants are going to hang pictures on the walls, they’re going to leave the house lived-in, and sometimes damage will occur. At the end of the day, if it’s tenant damage that is causing problems, you can withhold some money from the security deposit to make any needed repairs.

Handle Maintenance Responsibly

Another important component of your relationship with tenants is your responsiveness. Make sure you handle maintenance promptly and make all the necessary repairs, upgrades, and renovations. This will make for a happy tenant, which leads to a longer tenancy and more money in your pocket due to reduced vacancy and a higher return on your investment.

Avoid Becoming Friends with Tenants

There’s a happy medium to every relationship, including the landlord/tenant relationship. Know your tenants well enough that you can communicate with them and hold them accountable to the terms of the lease, but avoid becoming too friendly with your tenant. This can cause a strain on the business relationship and you might find yourself being taken advantage of. It’s difficult to follow up on late rent when you’ve become great friends with your tenants.

Protect Your Privacy

As an investor avoid giving your tenant any of your direct contact information. This is one of the best reasons to hire a property manager. You don’t want the tenant to bypass the property manager and contact you directly. Let the management company do its job so you can enjoy the benefits of your investment.

CTTO Article Source: www.biggerpockets.com