Improving Tenant Retention in Charleston, SC

If you’re an owner of multiple properties — congratulations! Owning multiple properties is no easy task, and we’re sure that once you’ve found a good tenant, you want to keep them for as long as possible! The comparison between a great tenant and a stressful tenant comes down to your own sense of personal peace while they live at your property. If you currently have fantastic tenants at your Charleston properties, we want to ensure they remain happy there to help save you the headache.

Is Keeping the Same Tenants Really Important?

You may be asking yourself why keeping the same tenants is so important in the first place. Is it really that big of a deal if a tenant leaves? Well, to put it bluntly — absolutely! If you have a fantastic tenant who is respectful of your space and property, it can be quite overwhelming to have that tenant be replaced by someone who acts in a disrespectful manner and disturbs the peace.

Vacancies = Unnecessary Money Spent

Keeping current tenants on a lease means that your space is constantly remaining occupied. Vacant spaces in between leases can be very costly and this comes out of your pocket as you cover the fees that would ordinarily be covered by a tenant. Vacant spaces can also be quite stressful when there is no indication of when a new tenant will take over. Finding the right tenant can take a long amount of time which further adds to your stress. While it’s true that the rental market in Charleston is hot, hot, hot, this is still never a guarantee that a space can or will be filled 24/7. Keeping one tenant in the same space ensures that no vacancies occur and saves money in the long run.

High Tenant Turnover Rate Isn’t a Great Look

You don’t want to be the property owner that cannot keep a tenant. On average, tenant turnover can cost around $1,800+ when accounting for rental income loss, screening costs, showing costs, advertising, cleaning, repair, leasing, and legal costs. If you are constantly turning over tenants you are likely taking quite a dip in profits, not to mention, word of mouth is a very powerful tool. When you begin to have a reputation of high turnovers, some prospective tenants may be turned away from wanting to rent with you, which is why it's important to try to implement strategies to keep these tenants at your property.

Picking the Right Tenant from the Get-Go

Keeping tenants can be an easier process when you’re picking the right tenants from the very beginning of the move-in process. Understanding your tenant and their rental background, criminal background, credit history, and who they are as a person can ensure you’re getting a reliable and respectable tenant in your property. Doing this work at the beginning can surely save you a headache after the fact if your tenant ends up being disruptive or not a good fit. Luckily, at CREC Property Management we do our due diligence to ensure only the highest quality tenants are moving into your home. This is why we perform an extensive and thorough tenant screening process on all applicants over the age of 18 moving into your home to ensure you feel comfortable.

Create Good Relationships

When you know your tenants on a name-to-name basis, this is helpful in just about every way imaginable. Close relationships allow both tenant and owner to become more comfortable with one another and the tenant will likely view you as someone they can truly trust to help with repairs, maintenance, and general guidance when it comes to the property, increasing their likelihood of staying at your property. To start the relationship off strong, we’d suggest leaving a small house/apartment warming gift upon arrival and sending newsletters/emails every now and again to touch base and keep the connection strong. Genuinely wanting to learn about who your tenants are will allow a human-to-human connection that is rare to find these days.

Keep Raise Rentals As Small As Possible

Since Charleston’s rental market is hot, the prices have certainly increased quite a bit over the past few years! While raising rental prices may be inevitable in order to compete with the market, keeping these rental raises as small as possible for your pre-existing tenants is often vital. From a tenant’s point of view, it can be quite crushing to love where you live but not be able to afford to continue living at the property if the rental price increases significantly with little-no warning beforehand. You may be able to price higher for new tenants, but if at all possible, try to make your price increases within reason for active tenants to avoid stress and/or souring a good relationship with a tenant.

Be Proactive About Lease Renewals

If you plant the seed early about lease renewals you may be more likely to have tenants take advantage of this option. In general, even if the tenant does not plan to renew, touching base and asking where their head is at allows you to know how you should prepare in the event that they do not want to renew their lease. If they agree to renew early enough, you can increase the incentive for them in some way such as slight rent reductions compared to other tenants. — Overall, keeping a great tenant is important and can certainly afford you a more peaceful life. We hope that these tips give you some clarity about finding and keeping fantastic tenants and why this is important. If you need help finding a great tenant or managing your property, contact our passionate and dedicated team at CREC Property Management: (843) 574-9100 or email us at [email protected].