Texting
Many tenants and property owners love the ease and convenience of texting. For “small talks”, texting is a good way to have your lines of communication open with your tenant. What’s more, messaging platforms offer other services aside from text. It would be convenient for tenants to take photos so you can see them ahead then schedule repairs for later.
But texting has its limitations. How do you manage to track and save your conversations? As a property owner, be wary of disagreements or legal issues, so be on the safe side and document your conversations with your tenant. Never delete even one message since the time you started texting.
Aside from saving messages, not all tenants are considerate and they could just text you anytime. If you use a personal or business cellphone, some tenants expect to be able to text you anytime they want and get upset when you don’t reply to them right away. Weigh these things properly before you decide to use texting to get in touch with tenants.
Phone Calls
Calling tenants using the phone gives it a personal touch. Nothing compares to hearing a human voice and having a verbal conversation in real-time. If you talk to your tenants over the phone, you establish a solid working relationship with them and you will be able to communicate your concerns more clearly. This would result in tenants staying longer in your rental.
But just like texting, it is difficult to document your conversations with your tenants through phone calls. More so if your topic is about liability issues or sensitive information, you need to find out how you can record these should a dispute develop. Also, take into account that you will be obliged to answer your phone whenever your tenants call. But if tenants frequently find themselves ending up in their landlord’s voicemail, they would most likely stop using the phone to contact you altogether.
Email does what texting and phone calls cannot. It is a relatively convenient method of communication, as most people use and are comfortable with email. Email can document all your conversations with your tenants as the program saves all these by default. Another advantage of email is that it gives you time to think carefully before you write and respond to a tenant’s question or complaint. You can send documents and other attachments through email, plus they are date-and-time stamped. All of these bits of information are crucial for record-keeping.
The downside of email however is that it’s not as fast or convenient as texting and some tenants prefer not to write everything through email. Most people don’t often use their email so that means their inbox does not get checked that often. Email also makes it difficult to achieve a warm and friendly tone.
It doesn’t matter what methods you choose but you have to remember that tenant communications should be frequent, friendly, secure, and properly documented. Finally, talk with your client and find out which communication method will work best for both of you.
Tenant communication can be a challenging aspect of owning rental properties in Chelsea. But Real Property Management Victory can help! We can contact tenants for you and you can be assured that your tenants are well taken care of. You can then free up your schedule and rest easy to get that good night’s sleep. For more information, contact us online or call us at 205-793-0700.