Tuesday, June 8, 2010

A Landlords Insurance Holders Guide to Keeping Good Tenants

The most important asset in a landlords insurance holders portfolio is not their property, but the tenants living in that property. Finding the best tenants and keeping a hold of them once you have them is the main struggle landlords face. Following this guide should make such worries a thing of the past.

For most landlords insurance policy holders, the worst thing that can happen is for their property to become vacant. Empty properties are not only a massive risk for the landlord, they also cost more to insure, and to make matters worse, they don't bring in any revenue. While some vacant periods are unavoidable, many are not, and by improving relations with their tenants, many landlords could save themselves a lot of hassle as well as some money on their insurance premiums. The following four steps should help landlords to both find good tenants and hold onto them as well!

The first step to having a good relationship with your tenants is making sure you've picked them out wisely, you could be the greatest landlord the world has ever seen but if your tenants are bad, you will suffer for it. A good tenant referencing agency and a legal expenses and rent guarantee insurance policy can help bring to light any potential problems before they become actual problems as well as giving you a safety net just in case the worst does happen.

While nice guys may finish last, there is no denying that your relationship with your tenants will be greatly improved if you treat them kindly. No one likes being treated as an inferior, especially when they have to pay the other person every month! Treat your tenants badly and they will eventually leave, leaving you out of pocket. In addition to leaving, tenants who are treated badly are more likely to treat your property with the same amount of respect you treat them, getting over a bruised ego costs nothing, repairing the damage caused by tenants can be very pricey indeed.

Conversely however, your relationship with your tenants is likely to be better if you don't let them walk all over you. Fair but firm is the motto to go by, remember, you are your tenants friendly landlord, not your tenants friend. At the end of the day both parties have obligations to one another that come above any friendships. Another relevant saying is "give them an inch and they'll take a mile" or allow them to pay late once and that will quickly become the norm.

The final tip for keeping a good relationship between you and your tenants is to keep your property in great condition. If you make your property somewhere you would want to live, your tenants are likely to want to stay there too. This can have a knock on effect, increasing the overall value of your property and encouraging further good tenants to want to move in if the situation arises.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you, wise words for any situation but particularly apt with regards to the relationship between landlords and tenants. Follow these tips and your landlords insurance policy should be nothing more than a safety net if the unimaginable happens, rather than a clean-up policy for unwanted tenants.


Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com

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