As much as property managers would like for tenants to stay forever, many occupants are tenants because they are not staying in the area for a long time.
However, a good property management process can control when they have tenant turnovers. Here are some tricks to make your tenant turnover as low impact as possible.
The main job of a property manager is to manage your rental property.
This includes the tenant as well. Sometimes a bad tenant slips thru the cracks of your screening process and requires you to evict that tenant as soon as possible, which could be at the slowest time of the year. Of course, you want to keep good tenants as long as you can, but if they decide to leave, wouldn’t it be nice to control when they leave? This can keep you from getting stuck with too many empty rental houses in the slow season. The good part is that it’s not too hard.
Most property managers will say the best time for tenant turnover of a rental house to a new tenant is from May to August. Most renters move around the same time anyway and for the same reasons (job and school). Renters want to move while the kids are out of school. Since all schools get out for summer break around the same time, the game of musical chairs (changing tenants) starts about the same time for all renters. Many businesses and employees, if they have control of the situation, many times try to hire around October and January. Although not as busy, this will be your second push for new tenants. These are the times you want your current tenant to leave (only If they have to, of course) when you will have the largest crowd of new prospects coming into town looking for a rental house. Next, how do you insure that your tenants will be gone when this dance of musical tenants begins?
One trick we found is to have an open season. The contract can have a renewal period that best suits your area. Spring and summer months work well for northern states that have harsh winters that don’t attract a lot of traffic.
When a tenant moves in during an off peak time. Prorate the contract renewal date to the favored time. Many good tenants like to comply with the rules once they are agreed upon. There are also ways to “reward” the tenant for terminating the lease agreement during the preferred time period. Attract the tenant to your way of thinking. This will help minimize down time on your rental property and make your property management go smoother. If you need any help, Contact us.
Good Luck