Communication between landlord and tenant is essential for a good business relationship, but it isnt always easy to develop. Quite often, the difficulty arises from a tenants perception of you as a person. Consider the tenants position. Hes barely making it from paycheck to paycheck, and he must confront you, the landlord, the owner of rental property. In the tenants mind, you are rich and seccessful. Maybe you are, and maybe you arent but the tenant will believe that you are, and that makes you someone to either fear, distrust, envy or admire. Consequently, when the tenant approaches you, hes not going to feel as casual and relaxed as if he were going to ask his friend drive him to the store. If hes afraid of you or doesnt believe youll pay attention to his problem, his request may come out sounding like a harsh demand. When you receive a call like that. Its easy to become offended. You know youre a nice landlord. You know you like to keep your property in tip top shape. Whos this jerk mouthing off at you, and just who does he think he is? Youll show him by not taking care of his problems until he learns how to ask nicely. Then there are the tenants who hold you in awe. They become tongue tied and their thoughts fly right out of their brains when they speak with you. Theyre the tenants who mention that their car has been vandalized twice and then move out at the end of the lease because you didnt install a dusk to dawn security lamp. You would have, if you knew there was a problem, but they were so intimidated at the thought of asking you to do something for them, that they didnt realize they failed to communicate. In their minds, you should have known that they wanted the light installed when they told you about the vandalizing.
Posted on: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 23:52:20 +0000