Tips to minimize tenant turnover rate
Hi, welcome to another tips for landlords and property managers video sponsored by Fast Evict Law Group. In today’s episode, we’ll go over some tips on how to minimize tenant turnover rates and costs. Remember, the contents of this video shouldn’t be considered legal advice.
What is tenant turnover?
Tenant turnover is the time your rental property remains vacant after a tenant moves out. It’s an important metric to keep track of for landlords and property managers for budgeting purposes. It can also help determine if you have issues in your screening process, management, maintenance, etc.
Why is minimizing tenant turnover important?
It’s important to keep an eye on turnover rate because there are many costs associated with turnover. Some costs to consider are:
Loss of rental income (rent)
Cleaning, maintenance
Marketing
Hours spent viewing, showing or answering questions about the rental unit
Time spent screening potential tenants
What causes tenant turnover?
There are many reasons why a tenant may want to vacate your rental property. It may be due to personal, professional, family, health or safety reasons. Here are some of the top reasons why tenants move:
Tenant is looking for a better/bigger home
Tenant has decided to relocate for a job/business
Tenant purchased a home of their own
Number of family related reasons
Tenant was looking for cheaper housing
There’s not much a landlord can do about some of the reasons why a tenant may decide to move. There are also a number of things a landlord can do to help minimize tenant turnover.
Communication - healthy communication with your tenant can help prevent misunderstandings and major issues. Any time you send a notification, offer your time to answer any questions they may have.
Notify your tenant about rent increases with plenty of time and never do it mid-lease. You’re bound to receive negative feedback when it comes to rent increases, so you should consider the following question: Should I negotiate rent increase with my tenant or take on the task of finding a new tenant?
Screening - take the time to properly screen all candidates. This is your first step to help you minimize tenant turnover rates.
Be a good landlord/ property manager - it’s surprisingly not difficult. Take care of maintenance issues quickly, conduct inspections, offer incentives, make regular improvements, etc.
Be open to change - Times change and it’s important your policies do also. Take a look at what other rental properties in your area are doing and consider revising your policies, like pets, insurance, roommates, etc.
Exit interviews - If possible, organize an exit interview with your tenants to learn more about why they have decided to leave. Offer a positive reference letter for an exchange to a positive review on yelp or other social media platforms.
Do you keep track of tenant turnover rate? What do you do to help minimize it? Tell us about it in the comments. Please like, share and subscribe if you have found this video useful. Thanks for watching, we’ll see you on the next one.
