3 steps to improving your relationship with tenants

It's always a good idea for commercial property owners and their tenants to have a strong relationship, to avoid hard feelings: When owner-tenant relationships deteriorate to the point of being little more than countdowns to the end of the lease, it's detrimental to all involved. However, there's often more to be done on the "landlord" side of that equation than you might think. A happy tenant is one who sticks around for longer and generally is more pleasant to deal with on an ongoing basis.

So how can you, as a property owner, build that better relationship? The following ideas should help:

1) Reach out on occasion

One of the best ways to build and maintain a stronger relationship is to be in touch with some regularity. Property Me advises that simply texting or calling a tenant every once in a while to see if everything is going well with the property could help them feel like you're more engaged and willing to help. It will also keep you advised of any issues you might want to address sooner than later.

2) Don't let those small issues linger

Indeed, if you're talking to a tenant and you hear that there's a minor problem with the plumbing system or small annoyance with the Wi-Fi, you might want to dispatch a handyman to sort it out pretty quickly. That helps keep your repair or replacement costs relatively low, and also ensures those issues that are not big deals right now don't become huge deals a few months down the line. Doing so may lead to downtime at your property or, at the very least, an upset tenant.

3) Be transparent and fair

Ideally, your owner-tenant relationship will last for years, and when you have to make changes (such as raising the rent) it's important to be clear about why you're doing it, according to the Forbes Real Estate Council. That way, even if the tenant does have some hard feelings about your decision, they at least understand where you're coming from, and that you're not just trying to squeeze them for every dollar you possibly can.

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