The purpose of a real estate investment in a rental property is to create positive cash flow, build equity and create a return on your investment. Making sure that you keep a high occupancy rate is the best way to ensure you accomplish these goals.
Why Do You Want to Keep Occupancy Rates High?
If you have a high vacancy rate, or high tenant turnover rate, you could easily burn through any profit you have made over the years with your rental property. You could even pay out of your pocket and end up having a negative return, which means it costs you money to have renters.
Keeping your tenants in your properties allows you to build positive cash flow instead of using that money for the expenses that come along with unwanted vacancies. This includes advertising the property, doing pre-move in touch-ups and or paying the rent yourself when no one is in the unit. That is why it is key to keep your vacancies minimal and tenants in your properties.
Why Do Tenants Move Out?
There are numerous reasons that tenants choose to move out of your property and not all of these circumstances are avoidable. In your time as a rental property owner, you will have tenant turnover. The key is to limit the amount as much as possible. However, people will move out. They may move out because of:
A new job in a new part of the city or a different city altogether.
They may be looking to increase the size of their home because they are expecting children or are having a parent move in.
They may be downsizing because they have had children move out or their income has decreased, making their rent unsustainable.
They may be moving to be closer to a better school.
Etc.
These reasons, among others, are out of your control. The truth is, the reasons that are most often given for moving out of a rental unit are these.
The tenants do not feel appreciated or valued
Their maintenance requests are not handled to their expectations or are handled late.
These are definitely within your control!
How to Make Sure You Retain A High Occupancy Rate
At Centurion Property Management, we look at our clients and the tenants as assets. We understand your concerns as an owner. You want to keep your expenses low and limit the amount of outgoing cash flow. Understandably, this is a logical position to take.
The tenants want to feel like they are valued and want to have their maintenance needs met promptly and by professional and courteous staff. They also expect that their needs will be met to their satisfaction, every time.
How do we manage both of these priorities?
We educate owners on the value of taking care of good tenants and maintaining their property. By maintaining your physical asset (the property) you are maintaining your other asset (the renters). Remember, the cost of having a unit empty for a month or two, coupled with the cost of advertising the property and screening new renters are great. They can easily outstrip the cost of a maintenance request that may have kept the tenant happy and in your unit.
We educate the tenants on how and when to reach out if there are issues that they see. We discuss with them what can be done and also make suggestions for them to aid in the maintenance of the property.
As the property management company, we respond promptly to requests and we make sure that the tenants are satisfied with the service.
We utilize property maintenance and management software to streamline this process so we can be as efficient as possible.
We Value the Process
By ensuring that the tenants are taken care of, Centurion Property Management is taking care of the owner’s interests in the long term. Keeping a safe and well-maintained property leads to consistent and happy renters. This in turn reduces costs for the owners by reducing vacancies and their associated costs.
By treating the tenants like an asset, we make sure that your asset, your rental property, maintains and grows its value in the long run. At Centurion Property Management, we make great decisions today to lead to an even better tomorrow. Reach out today to see how we can help you maximize your rental property.
