Hi all,
Just want to ask you if it is a good idea to get to know your tenant or not. A friend of mine said that you should stay away from the tenant because then if something goes wrong they come more to you rather than the agent. But some people say the opposite and that you should build a business relationship with the tenant.
Please advise
vluu
Hi vluu I think that you have answered the question yourself as you said
“you should build a business relationship with the tenant”
a business relatonship is different to a friendly relationship as it is probably based more on mutual respect and understanding which would be ideal.
The tenant is to my mind a business partner and in any business its best that all partners are happy they pay rent and you maintain the property.
remember in Steve’s book he is always striving for the win win situation.
It really comes down to your own personality as to the level of direct involvement you want with the tenant. I don’t go out of my way to meet my tenants (some I’ve never met), but I certainly don’t avoid them either. Those I have met, usually when doing an inspection or some minor maintenance, don’t have my direct contact details. So if they want to contact me they need to go via the agent.
Rod.
Should you get to know your tenant?
No.
I’ve assumed that this refers to knowing more than what’s required to maintain a business relationship.
Other than that, no.
Michael
Thanks for your replys.
My opinion is no because:
They will try to get away with things whereas a property manager keeps the distance between you and the tenant.
But
I have still had to tell a PM that I want a notice served on a tenant when the PM has been reluctant too.The problem with mixing friendship with finances is if something goes bad….it usually goes REALLY bad.
After mixing family with finances I decided (for me) there just has to be a line you cant cross. The familiarity is not always a good thing.Its up to indiviuals tho….because some people are happy knowing their tenants well and some even live next door to each other and have few hassles.[8D]
We have meet a number of our tenants but always just introducing ourselves by our Christian names. The meetings have not been planned, generally we are having a last minute check through the property but we wish them an enjoyable tenancy, answer any questions they may have on coffee shops, theatres, rubbish collection days etc and remind them to contact the PM if they have any problems. After all that’s what you paying the PM for.
Bribie
Hi,
There is some good advice here. Ultimately you need to trade the passive:active nature of yourself with the passive:active nature of your rental manager.
The problem that I see investors making is that they think buying the property is the hard part. Any chop can sign a contract, the real skill kicks in when you try to achieve above market rentsor secure a good tenant looking for a place to call home.
Sadly, many investors leave that tricky task to a rental manager and this rental manager is rarely if ever ‘qualified’ by the investor before getting the business. Instead the % commission is the driving force.
Well, my aunt says that if you pay peanuts then you should expect to attract monkeys.
That’s why I recommend that, unles syou trust your rental manager, keeping a hand in qualifying your tenants is a wise thing to do.
As such, you need to get to know them, but never get caught up in personal issues other than sending Xmas and birthday cards.
Afterall, you are a landlord, not a life coach.
Cheers,
Steve McKnight
**********
Remember that success comes from doing things differently.
**********Steve McKnight | PropertyInvesting.com Pty Ltd | CEO
https://www.propertyinvesting.comSuccess comes from doing things differently
If you get overly friendly with tenants you’ll run into problems such as where they don’t think you’ll mind if they are late with paying their rent, etc. OTOH they may come running to you for reduced rent.
I think there’s something in Dolf de Roo’s topic along these lines. Of course it doesn’t mean that you want to be rude and abrupt to your tenants and treat them like crap.
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