Like the best-selling book, How to Win Friends and Influence People, you want your property to be the most popular property of its type on the market and you want to give your tenants reasons to stay.

Attracting and keeping tenants isn’t that hard. Here are 7 ways in which you can win potential tenants over and influence them to stay.

Present your property well

A well-presented property will make a good impression on a prospective tenant and encourage them to keep it in the same condition. Make sure it is clean, well maintained and give it a lick of neutral-coloured paint. Quality fixtures and fittings, such as blinds, shutters and flooring also help present your property in a good light.

Offer some extras

Given a choice between two similar properties in similar locations for similar rent, tenants will generally go for the one that has a few extras thrown in. We’re not talking about anything major like building a swimming pool, but putting in a dishwasher or installing air conditioning or a fan in the bedroom could be the deciding factors.

Keep your tenants safe

Everyone wants to live in a safe and secure house, and tenants are no different. As well as ensuring you have good locks, consider installing security screens and/or lighting and locks on ground floor windows. Extra security features will be more attractive to tenants as not only will they feel safe, these features could reduce their contents insurance.

Good communications

Good communications at the start will start the relationship on a positive note. Respond quickly to potential tenant enquiries. Once the tenant is in, attend to repairs quickly. A good property manager will not only field calls but also manage maintenance and ensure all is running smoothly. Plus they will quickly diffuse any situations which could snowball into a major issue.

Low-maintenance garden

Not everyone is into gardening, or has the time for it. If your property does have a garden, make it a low maintenance one. Alternatively, it may be possible to incorporate the cost of a gardener into the rental price.

Reasonable rent

Be realistic about what you can charge for rent and any subsequent rental rises. Tenants will do their homework and will not be interested in an overpriced property, and they will leave if they consider any rent rises unreasonable.

Allow furry friends

If your property allows it, it might be worth considering allowing tenants to have a pet. Properties that allow pets are often in short supply. You can make stipulations like adding to the lease that the property be sprayed for fleas and the carpet be professionally cleaned when vacating.

We manage properties with fantastic tenants who keep the property immaculate and have stayed for years because they can keep their pet there.

If you want to know more ways of how to make your property the best on the market, come on in to our Cardiff office for a chat or give us a call on 02 4956 9777.

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