As a rental property owner, you know that being the best investor you can be carries more benefits than simply being a 'nice' person. Providing excellent service to your renters encourages them to stay in your Sarasota rental homes longer with renewals—and it boosts your return on investment.
However, that's easier said than done. In most cases, being an excellent rental property owner means:
- Providing timely responses to maintenance requests or emergencies (when they happen)
- Staying on top of routine rental property maintenance (when they don't)
- Handling rent collection professionally (including offering online options)
- Keeping in touch with your renters to schedule everything from inspections to repairs.
With that last point in mind, the way you communicate with your renters can quickly make or break your investment.
A great example of terrible communication skills between Bradenton renters and their landlord was forever immortalized in the media during the pandemic when a certain apartment complex sent out a rudely-worded letter to residents that quickly went viral.
If you don't want this to be your experience as an investor, you need more than technology to communicate with your renters; you'll need to be professional at all times. That said, with so many options at a rental property owner's disposal for communicating with their renters in the Sarasota area, which one is the best?
If you aren't working with Sarasota property management services to manage renter communications via online portals, then you might be surprised by the answer.
If You Haven't Been Texting, It's Time
It's been discussed time and time again that the majority of renters that property investors will interact with these days are millennial-aged or younger. Therefore, your potential residents are already steeped in the advantages of a text message over an intrusive phone call or unreliable email.
- In the order of importance for this age group (or below), text messaging gets prioritized responses over email or phone calls.
- Additionally, a text allows your renter to communicate with you on an issue unobtrusively—and at their convenience.
- With so many work meetings taking place over Zoom and other platforms these days, not getting a phone call in the middle of client negotiations is a huge relief for your residents.
That's not to say your renters won't respond to an email—but texting is:
- Faster for both you and your renter with relatively quick feedback rates (think read receipts)
- Easier for the majority of your renters to use when communicating with you on scheduling
- Capable of housing attachments faster and easier than email (like photos and video)
- What the majority of your renters want to use when it comes to communication
- A great way to save time if you used to rely on ineffective voicemails
- Potentially more personal (and engaging) than an email and less aggressive than a phone call
- A great way to store conversations you've had with your renters for documentation purposes
- A cost-effective way to resolve issues at any time (24/7 service potential).
These are just some of the reasons that make texting renters ideal for Sarasota property owners who aren't working with Sarasota property management services to professionally keep in touch with renters on any of the above issues.
That said, there are still some things to keep in mind when it comes to texting with your renters if this is the route you decide to go—and the same logic applies to phone calls or emails.
Do Not Use Your Personal Line to Handle Business Communication
Whether you choose to communicate with your renters by text, email, or phone call, you should have a dedicated business account for each method of contact.
Sharing your personal phone number or email address with your renters is an easy way to expose your information to risk—or to be spread all over the internet if you make a misstep at some point in your career as a property investor. To avoid this, take some time to set up an alternate line for texts and calls and an alternate address for emails.
For property owners who take their own real estate photos to market their Sarasota rental property, it can benefit you to combine all of these elements into one professional device that's reserved for work calls, texting, emails, and photography. That's multitasking, efficiency, and potentially some savings for you—all rolled into one.
Alternatively, if you don't want to be the direct go-to for your renters (and their requests), then it's likely time you brought in a Sarasota property management company to handle these issues on your behalf.
As a Full-Service Property Management Company, We Handle It All
Whether it's a message through our online portal to request rental property maintenance or a call to our office directly, we handle all forms of contact for the property owners we serve. Essentially, we act as your professional buffer for everything from rent collection to tenant screening services!
Professional communication is just one way we serve you as the best full-service property management company in Sarasota! However, it's not the only way your property manager should work hard on your behalf as an investor.
If you're interested in more of the services and benefits we have to offer, you can get in touch with us by phone, email, or even by sending us a Twitter message. We're here for your success!
.png)