Increasing Curb Appeal One Tenant at a Time

There are lots of effective ways to increase the curb appeal of a rental property. But maintaining curb appeal is a whole different ball game, primarily if your property is home to a long-term tenant. To help preserve the curb appeal of your Grand Junction rental property staying in top condition, one of the best things you can actually do is to enlist the help of your tenant. Keeping your property in good condition depends largely on finding conscientious tenants who will be just as invested in keeping the property in top form as you are. With some open and good communication and a few uncomplicated strategies, you can increase and maintain your Grand Junction property’s curb appeal – one tenant at a time.

Start with Your Lease

Clear communication of your expectations regarding property maintenance begins, first and foremost, with your lease documents. All rental property owners like a tenant who will take good care of the property, but even if you suppose yours will, it’s essential to very clearly explain those expectations in writing. Lots of landlords will say they desire any messes the tenant makes to be cleaned up fast. But, on the other hand, what if you could avoid those messes before they start? As an illustration, you have a tenant who wants to carry out their vehicle maintenance in the driveway. If they change the oil there, the chances are high that they will leave unsightly oil stains behind. But really, if you can discourage them from doing messy jobs like oil changes on the driveway, those oil stains will never arise in the first place, thereby keeping the front exterior of your property clean and still in fine condition. By describing clearly which tenant activities are allowable and which are not, you can build up your tenant-landlord relationship for collective success.

Encourage Cooperation

You can, however, encourage your tenant’s cooperation in keeping up the property by other means, also. Try to become acquainted with your tenant a little bit more, and utilize their skill set to support 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 get excited with an opportunity to have a say in the appearance of the rental house, and with more investment in it, be more inclined to give some extra effort to keep it looking tidy.

Offer Incentives

Another way to motivate your tenant to help you to increase your property’s appeal is to provide different forms of incentives. If your tenant is quite handy and skillful, look into offering a slightly discounted rental rate in exchange for basic maintenance performed on the property. Or, deem negotiating the alternative: for a somewhat higher rent, offer to hire a professional to do some work for you. Conditional 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 decide to do, among the best approaches you can execute is monitor closely 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 greatly help alert you if maintenance tasks are left undone.

One final important matter, take into consideration that the best way to encourage your tenant to attend well to the property is to simply show them that you care about the property, also. Scheduling regular maintenance and updates and responding to repair requests quickly can certainly be very essential 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 Now a call at 970-314-7123! Our Grand Junction property management professionals can offer suggestions and assistance with everything from property maintenance to tenant relations. Contact us today!