Managing a rental property is one thing. Managing tenant relationships is something very different.
Tenants can often be more challenging than the physical property. They might be prone to complaints. They might want to talk – a lot and about everything. They might need constant help, whether they’re setting up utilities, tinkering with the thermostat, or figuring out how trash is collected.
There are also the disputes and the claims. Maybe you have a tenant who isn’t paying rent on time. Maybe someone has moved in with an unapproved dog or a couple of new roommates you didn’t know anything about.
Some landlords will want nothing to do with their tenants, and that creates resentment and distrust.
Other landlords will be too friendly, establishing relationships with their tenants that make it difficult to hold them accountable.
If you want to be a profitable and effective landlord, it is important to maintain professional boundaries with your residents. You don’t want to get too friendly or too involved with your tenants. You don’t want to make it impossible to enforce the lease or collect rent on time.
This is how professional Kansas City property management can help. When you partner with a property manager, you can maintain professional boundaries with your tenants. You can let your property manager handle all tenant communication. It’s easier for you, and ultimately more profitable.
Let’s take a look at why this is important and how you can get comfortable delegating the tenant communication and the tenant relationship to your management partner.
Avoiding Conflicts of Interest with Tenants
Maintaining professional boundaries allows you to avoid potential conflicts of interest with your tenants. If you become too involved with your Kansas City tenants, you will risk making decisions based on personal relationships rather than business interests. For example, you may find that you hesitate to evict a tenant who has become a friend, even if that tenant is repeatedly late on rent payments or hasn’t paid in two months. When a Kansas City property management company handles tenant communication, they can make decisions based solely on business interests, avoiding conflicts of interest.
You need to treat your rental property like a business. That means allowing a professional, experienced third-party to take care of the logistics around your tenants. You won’t feel compromised or conflicted, and there will be business decisions made instead of personal or emotional decisions.
Property Management Improves Tenant Satisfaction
When tenants rent a property, they have certain expectations from their landlords. They will want you to be clear about your expectations and they will want to understand their own responsibilities while living in your property. When a landlord becomes too involved, those expectations are likely to change. For example, if a landlord regularly attends social events hosted by tenants, tenants may begin to view the landlord as a friend rather than a business owner. This can lead to confusion about the landlord’s role and expectations.
By letting a management company handle communication, tenants can be assured that their expectations and requests will be handled professionally. They’ll understand the relationship that’s in place, and they’ll feel like they can trust every process that a property manager implements. This transparency and accountability is a sense of security for tenants. You’ll have happier tenants and you’re more likely to retain those tenants.
Better Communication and Response to Property Maintenance and Repairs
A relationship between landlords and tenants with blurred boundaries can also harm tenants. When landlords become too involved with their tenants, they may be tempted to let things slide. Maybe you won’t respond to a maintenance request as quickly as normal because you can shrug it off. You’ll expect your tenant to understand that you’re busy.
Sometimes, landlords who are too close with their tenants will want to do their own property maintenance and make their own repairs. This always takes longer. It can also be a mistake, especially if you don’t have the necessary skills or experience to complete these tasks properly.
Even worse? Allowing tenants to complete their own repairs. Maybe you don’t have solid boundaries in place with a tenant and they ask if they can replace the water heater themselves, and then simply deduct what they spent from next month’s rent. If you agree to that, you’re setting yourself up for a lot of liability and a potential disaster.
A management company can ensure that all property maintenance and repairs are completed in a timely and professional manner, protecting tenants and landlords from harm. Your property manager will ensure that communication flows freely between property owner, tenant, and licensed and insured vendors who are needed to complete the work.
Kansas City Property Managers Provide Increased Legal Protection
It’s easy to violate rental laws when you’re determined to be the point of contact for your tenants. The way you speak to tenants matters. The words you use and the policies you put into place and enforce may one day be under the microscope if a tenant decides to file a claim or a complaint against you. If you have more than one tenant, consistency is especially important. You cannot let one tenant get away with paying late but not another tenant. That could look like discrimination.
Property managers will be exactly the buffer you need to ensure there is consistency in both process and communication. This protects you from potentially expensive legal mistakes.
Finally, let’s think about your time management. Maintaining professional boundaries with tenants can save you a lot of time. When it’s a property manager – instead of you – who is answering calls and fielding questions and solving problems, you have a lot more time to focus on the things that you do best.
Maintaining professional boundaries is essential when you want to earn more and spend less on your Kansas City rental property. By letting your property management partner handle tenant communication, you’ll find you’re avoiding conflicts of interest, improving tenant satisfaction, ensuring proper property maintenance and repairs, and protecting yourself legally.
Consider partnering with a Kansas City property management company. You’ll take your rental business to the next level. We’d love to be part of the solution. Please contact us at Please contact us at Key Partners Property Management.
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