Increasing Curb Appeal One Tenant at a Time

There are various effective ways to increase the curb appeal of a rental property. Although maintaining curb appeal is a different topic, specifically if your property is home to a long-term tenant. To help keep the curb appeal of your Elgin rental property in tiptop shape, the best way you can bring this about is to enlist the help of your tenant. Keeping your property in good condition is heavily dependent on finding conscientious tenants who will be just as eager in keeping the property in a pristine state as you are. With some healthy and good communication and a few manageable strategies, you can increase and maintain your Elgin property’s curb appeal – one tenant at a time.

Start with Your Lease

Clear communication of your expectations with respect to property maintenance effectively starts with your lease documents. All rental property owners are looking for a tenant who will take good care of the property, but even if you assume yours will, it’s imperative to precisely explain those expectations in writing. Various landlords will say that any messes the tenant makes should be cleaned up immediately. But really, what if you could prevent those messes before they start? For example, you have a tenant who wants to do their vehicle maintenance in the driveway. If they change the oil there, the odds are definitely high that they will leave unsightly oil stains behind. But certainly, if you can discourage them from doing messy jobs like oil changes on the driveway, those oil stains will never happen at all, thereby keeping the front exterior of your property clean and nice. By detailing which tenant activities are allowed and which are not, you can help establish your tenant-landlord relationship for collective success.

Encourage Cooperation

You can encourage your tenant’s cooperation in keeping up the property in many other effective ways. Try to get acquainted with your tenant a bit, and apply their skill set to help you maintain or increase your property’s landscaping. If your tenant has a good eye for landscape maintenance or a green thumb, enlist them to help you spruce up the front yard or other areas of the property a bit. They may be totally open and excited to have a say in the appearance of the rental house, and with more investment in it, be more agreeable to allot some extra effort to keep it looking tidy.

Offer Incentives

Another way to invite your tenant to aid you to increase your property’s appeal is to offer different variations of incentives. If your tenant is capable, take into account giving a slightly discounted rental rate in exchange for basic maintenance performed on the property. Or, think about the alternative: for a bit higher rent, offer to hire a professional to do some work for you. Depending on who your tenant is, they may be willing to pay more to avoid weeding flower beds and mowing the lawn each week.

Whatever you do, classified among the effective things you can do is to keep a lookout on things and offer encouragement and help if you notice exterior maintenance issues starting to come up. Communicate frequently and positively with your tenant, which can help effectively alert you if maintenance tasks are left undone.

One final matter, take note that the best way to encourage your tenant to tend to the property is to clearly show to them that you care about the property. Scheduling regular maintenance and updates and responding to repair requests immediately can be of great importance toward motivating your tenant to help you keep your property’s appeal strong.

Would you like more information on increasing your property’s curb appeal? Give Real Property Management Northwest Chicago Suburbs a call at 847-892-4040! Our Elgin property management professionals can offer suggestions and assistance with everything from property maintenance to tenant relations. Contact us today!