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Landlords, how do you incentivize your tenants to cooperate with showings?
Whether you are selling and you need to show the property in order to sell it or you’re trying to bring in new tenants, you need to show the property. You can’t sell a property without showing it to prospective buyers or prospective tenants. We’re running into this a lot we’re getting landlords that are reaching out saying, “How would we do this?” Where I’m seeing agents asking, “How do I do this?” Guys, I’ve been saying the same thing for 15 years, what is in it for the tenant.
Us consumers, all of us humans we care about “what’s in it for me?” I know it sounds selfish but it’s true. We often run into is landlords saying, “They should just cooperate, it says it in their lease they’re supposed to cooperate and let us in.” Well it doesn’t quite say, unless it explicitly says that they should just let droves of people in to look at their apartment whenever you please. That’s not the case.
I’m going to tell you a little trick that I’ve done over the years, put something in it for them. What I’ve said to tenants and I’ve literally done this probably a half a dozen times, put something in it for them. If you want to be able to show the property because the tenants are moving out on August 31st and you want to get it re-rented right on September 1st, so you need to show it in advance of that. Tell the tenants, “If you cooperate with all the showings, let people in, let’s you and I agree to what days and what times are acceptable to bring people in to see it. If you cooperate and let people in and keep the place looking decent, I’ll give you two free months’ rent. When the new tenants move in and you move on, I’ll credit you back two months.” Same thing that I’ve done on the sales side. I’ve given up as much as a month. Sometimes people hear this and they go, “You’re crazy, why would you do that?”
Guys I have news for you, giving up one months’ rent when you’re selling a property is like giving up pennies compared to how much a tenant can cost you. If a tenant doesn’t cooperate with showings when you are selling, they can literary cost you thousands and thousands of dollars. Put something in it for them. That’s what every consumer thinks. “What’s in it for me?” Put something in it for them, proactively talk to them, explain what’s in it for them, tell them what you’ll do for them, put it in an email. Say, “Look as long as you’re cooperative, I’ll credit you back a month at the end, I’ll credit you back two weeks, I’ll credit you back a week.” Whatever it maybe, I don’t know what the incentive is but come up with something. Because you will have a lot more luck getting them to cooperate than going over there with a stick, and arguing, and trying to talk about laws. Because at the end of the day, we’re in Massachusetts, tenants most of the time have more power unless they completely don’t pay their rent, that’s a little bit different. But most of the time, the tenants have more power than the landlords.
Try that you’ll get more bees with honey, thanks my friends.