There are different methods of increasing the curb appeal of a rental property. But making sure your curb appeal is maintained is another matter. This is especially true if your property is being rented by a long-term tenant. To be certain that the curb appeal of your Bixby rental property is stable, one of the things you’re strongly advised to do is to get the help of your tenant. Keeping your property in good condition relies heavily on the tenants residing in the property. The best thing for you is to have tenants that want to live in a home that is in tip-top condition. This way, both of you are interested in maintaining the home’s condition. So, with some good communication and some easy tips, you can level up and maintain your Bixby property’s curb appeal — one tenant at a time.
Start with Your Lease
The clear communication of your expectations begins with the document that starts everything– your lease documents. In it, the terms of property maintenance, and what to expect with regard to it, can be laid out. All rental property owners would love to have a tenant who will take good care of the property. But even if you think you’ve lucked out with the best tenant ever, it’s important to make those expectations clear and in writing. Many landlords would stipulate that they want any messes the tenant makes to be cleaned up right away. But what if you could have stopped those messes before they made them? For instance, what if you have a tenant who likes to do vehicle maintenance in the driveway? If they changed the oil there, they would be leaving some oil stains behind. That would look bad in your driveway. But if you can discourage them from making oil changes on the driveway, or doing any other messy jobs for that matter, then you’d be preventing the problem from ever occurring. No oil stains on the driveway mean that the front exterior of your property continues to be clean and attractive. So, by clearly listing which tenant activities are okay and which are not, you are starting your tenant-landlord relationship well. There is a clear and mutual expectation for each other’s responsibilities from the onset, and that is a huge step towards collective success.
Encourage Cooperation
There are other ways to encourage your tenant to cooperate in taking care of the property. Get to know your tenant better. You may notice that they have a skill set that could benefit you. You could tap them to help out with, for example, your property’s landscaping. If you notice that your tenant has a green thumb and a natural skill for landscape maintenance, then you could enlist them to help a bit with the front yard or other green areas of the property. They may be happy that they get a say in the appearance of the rental house. This additional investment that they put in would also give them more incentive to put in some extra effort in maintaining the place and keep it looking nice.
Offer Incentives
Another way to encourage your tenant to help you increase your property’s appeal is to give different kinds of incentives. If your tenant is naturally adept at doing maintenance and repair work, you could consider offering them a slightly lower rental rate in exchange for their services. They could do the basic maintenance tasks for the property. Or, consider this alternative: hire a professional to do some of the work but pay a slightly higher amount of rent. It depends on who your tenant is, really. Some tenants would be very willing to pay an additional amount if it means not having to weed flower beds or mow the lawn each week.
No matter what decision you make, always keep an eye out for exterior maintenance issues that are starting to develop. Then offer encouragement and help before they become problems. Also, have frequent, positive communication with your tenant. This helps alert you if maintenance tasks were neglected or overlooked.
Finally, remember that if you lead by example, you’d more likely influence other people. So, if you show your tenant that you do care about the property and their well-being, they will also grow to care for it as well. Scheduling regular maintenance and updates and dealing with repair requests promptly really helps motivate your tenant to keep your property’s appeal high.
Would you like more information on elevating your property’s curb appeal? Give Real Property Management Tulsa a call at 918-532-7020! Our Bixby property management professionals can offer suggestions and assistance with everything from property maintenance to tenant relations. Contact us today!
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