There are a lot of ways to improve the curb appeal of a rental property. But maintaining curb appeal is a different story, especially if you have a long-term tenant renting your property. To help make sure the curb appeal of your Sandy Springs rental property is nice and good, one of the best pieces of advice is to ask the help of your tenant. Keeping your property in good condition greatly relies on having conscientious tenants. The best tenants are the ones who are as interested as you are in keeping the property in good condition. So, with the help of good communication and implementing some simple strategies, you’ll be well on your way to increasing and maintaining your Sandy Springs property’s curb appeal — one tenant at a time.
Start with Your Lease
Clear communication begins with the lease documents. It’s in these documents that you write down your expectations about property maintenance. All rental property owners would love to have a tenant who will take good care of the property. But even if you think you’ve lucked out with the best tenant ever, it’s important to make those expectations clear and in writing. Many landlords will see to it that any mess that the tenant makes will be cleaned up promptly. But what about prevention? Maybe you could have stopped those messes from being made in the first place! For example, what if your tenant parks their vehicle in the driveway and proceeds to do some vehicle maintenance? If they change the oil there, most likely, it would leave some oil stains behind. That wouldn’t look good at all. But if you can discourage them from doing oil changes on the driveway, or performing any messy job for that matter, then you’d be solving the problem before it even begins. No oil stain on the driveway means that your property will continue to have a clean and attractive front exterior. So, by writing down clearly which tenant activities are permissible and which are not, you are guarding your tenant-landlord relationship from any unnecessary friction. This is a huge step toward collective success.
Encourage Cooperation
There are different ways to encourage your tenant to cooperate with keeping up the property. Get to know your tenant a little bit. You may discover that they have the skill set that’s valuable to you. For instance, they could be a great help for your property’s landscaping. If your tenant has a knack for landscape maintenance or has a green thumb, you can enlist them to help out with the front yard. They can also pitch in to help with the other areas of the property. They may appreciate the fact that they have a say in the appearance of the rental house. With this additional investment they make, they are more likely to be willing to put in some extra effort to keep the place looking neat and tidy.
Offer Incentives
Another way to encourage your tenant to help you increase your property’s appeal is to give different kinds of incentives. If your tenant is handy, maybe you could offer a lower rental rate in exchange for them doing the basic maintenance on the property. Or, think of the alternative: for a bit higher rent, they can have a professional hired to do some of that work instead. Depending on who your tenant is, they may opt to pay more rent if it means that they don’t have to weed flower beds and mow the lawn every week.
No matter what decision you make, always keep an eye out for exterior maintenance issues that are starting to develop. Then offer encouragement and help before they become problems. Have positive and frequent communication with your tenant. This can help alert you if maintenance tasks were not done.
Finally, know that it’s only when you model a behavior, that other people would more likely follow your lead. That means, if you show your tenant that you care about the property and its maintenance, they will, likewise, care for it as well. Responding to repair requests promptly and scheduling regular maintenance and updates helps motivate your tenants to maintain your property’s appeal.
Would you want to know more about developing your property’s curb appeal? Give Real Property Management Greenway a call at 770-364-9668! Our Sandy Springs property management professionals can offer suggestions and assistance with everything from property maintenance to tenant relations. Contact us today!
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