How to Be a Good San Jose Landlord

There are some very good reasons why you should strive to be a good landlord. For starters, it’s just nice to have a good business relationship with your tenants. There’s also a huge economic reason to be a good landlord. When you follow the rules and make an effort to be the best landlord you can be, you’ll be able to retain high quality tenants for a lot longer, and you won’t have to worry about vacancies. It’s true that a tenant who is happy will stay with you longer. At Aborn Properties, we really respect great tenants and we don’t want them to go anywhere when their leases end. We want them to be comfortable with a great landlord relationship. Those tenants will not think about moving out because they can’t be sure the next landlord will be as good.

There are a couple of rules to being a good landlord that you should pay attention to:

Make sure everything works. In your own home, you probably have things that don’t work, and instead of fixing them right away, you simply work around them. Maybe the thermostat is off by 20 degrees, but you know that and you live with it by working around the problem. You won’t keep tenants happy when they have a lot of work arounds. Everything has to work to be a good landlord and avoid vacancies.

Provide a clean property. Before you even let a potential tenant see the property, make sure it is clean and in excellent shape. Most of the tenants we meet are perfectly willing to clean up their own dirt, but they don’t want to clean up any dirt or messes left behind by a previous tenant. Have that place clean.

Remember that tenants expect a peaceful habitability. They are entitled to it. It’s the law and it’s good landlord behavior. Leave your tenants alone. At Aborn, we inspect properties twice a year and we think that’s enough. It’s your property and you want to make sure it’s being treated well, but no one wants Big Brother – or the landlord – looking over their shoulder.

Think about what your landlord performance looks like publicly. With social media, there is a really good chance that your tenants will review you as a landlord, and that review will be online in places like Yelp and Google. You want people to see that you are a really good landlord, and people will know what to expect when they rent from you.

You are providing tenants with a place to live, maybe even a place to raise a family. It feels good to have a positive relationship in place and to be the best landlord you can be. For additional advice and property management tips, contact us at Aborn Properties.