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6 Secrets to a better tenancy

Creating personal wealth through rental income is extremely rewarding. Being a landlord on the other hand, isn’t easy. The journey can often become complicated when faced with challenging properties, strained tenant relationships, or, as we are all experiencing right now, a global health pandemic. We are in a time that has created immense financial strain for a great number of owners and renters across the globe and this can affect tenancies.

Although times can often change, the fundamentals of being a good landlord remain the same. Our advice at Sycamore Property Management is to create and maintain tenant relationships that last so that your rental property continues to see an income from great tenants rather than a vacancy. 

1. Hire a professional property manager
Being the ‘best property managers in the business’ biases us when saying this, however, hiring a professional is by far the single best decision one can make towards maximizing the potential of their investment property. Being a successful landlord is essentially a people business that merges communication skills, knowledge of rental law, experience with preventative and emergent maintenance and excellent administrative skills. Property Managers do this for a living and we can assure you, a professional will always net you a healthier and longer-term tenancy.

2. Small Investments can go a long way
We certainly don’t advocate for spending large amounts of money on vanity projects for a rental, especially in this time of economic uncertainty. What we do encourage is spending ‘time’, which is just as valuable a currency. There are plenty of small scale and affordable projects that can be done with the help of family and friends that can raise the status, cosmetic appeal and even add a few dollars to the rental price all while keeping your tenants content in a pleasant living space. Things like a fresh coat of paint, higher luminescence bulbs, power washing of deck space and drive-ways and a shampooing of carpets or buffing of floors can add tons of a appeal to a rental space without breaking the bank.

3. Honest advertising
Being honest about the strengths and opportunities of your rental goes a long way to starting a relationship off on the right foot. Pictures, specifications and listing plans should clearly highlight features that would attract your desired renter while letting them know exactly what kind of space they are renting. Be clear on price and what is included as this can avoid strained communications in the future.  Additionally, your rental property should be showcased across the correct mediums and platforms based on both location and needs. There are a number of portals that are often ignored for the ones that are the most popular or easiest to post on.

4. Be open to alternatives
These are especially tough times. Quarantines, work stoppages and business being unable to operate can make both rent and mortgage payments difficult. Having an open and honest conversation that includes discussions around government supplements, rent deferments and/or payment plans that suit both parties can go a long way to ensuring that you have a great tenant remain in your property while gaining a portion of your rental as compared to a vacancy as well as doing your part to providing an individual with safe housing during these difficult times. At the end of the day, we are all in this together.

5. A rental is a business, repairs are a business expense
Staying on top of repairs is a powerful gesture that lets your tenants know that you care about their tenancy and respect them as individuals. Of course no landlord wants to hear that their washer and dryer need to be replaced but a house is a sum of many moving parts and eventually, even with careful usage, repairs and replacements need to be done. Having these responded to and fixed in a timely manner is a surefire way to ensuring a pleasant and long-term tenancy.

6. Respect privacy
Often overlooked, landlords must understand that some tenants do not enjoy face-to-face interaction and although it is nothing personal, they would like to have as least contact with you as possible. A pleasant tenancy is one with the least amount of required interaction, which would give rise to a tenant feeling that a space is truly theirs. In the event that a visit is required and/or an inspection needs to be completed, we urge to always give proper notice and never intrude. Additionally, email is a great way to stay in touch as the communication is already automatically documented.

If you are a property owner that is currently facing a challenge with marketing your rental property or have questions about navigating this rather complex environment we would be happy to get connected and see where we could help. We are currently offering incentives on our services to assist during this challenging time.

We are truly grateful for the opportunity to continue to work with our clients and tenants. At this time we would like to take a moment to applaud the tireless efforts of our front line essential workers who, through their bravery and commitment are allowing our beautiful city to continue functioning. We will all see each other soon.

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Property Management in a time of COVID19

Business as ‘unusual’ has been a common sentiment as companies across Canada adjust, re-tool and update their models in the hopes of continuing to bring their vision to customers in what is a previously uncharted space.

Property managers are deemed an essential service to the economy and in a city like Vancouver that is heavily reliant on rentals for a significant portion of its residents, renters will continue to require quiet enjoyment of their existing homes or need to find spaces to live or move into. In a business that has long been face-to-face, the challenge, that continues to remain fluid, is how do we work towards:

– Ensuring the safety of everyone that interacts with us?
– Doing our part to flatten the COVID-19 curve
– Maximizing exposure for our client’s rental listings
– Engaging transparently and showcasing properties to potential tenants
– Delivering an experience for all our customers that we can remain proud of

At Sycamore Property Management, we strive to be seen as far more than just your agent and we have been implementing the following practices that have helped us continue to deliver a level of service that will remain unmatched.

Remote Offices
We believe that social distancing is one of the key components in our control to limit the spread of the virus. In our effort to do so, we have taken the range of office services we provide, online, so that clients have access to us and their information from anywhere in the world without requiring a face-to-face meeting.

 Safety First
As a business, we are committed to ensuring the safety of all current and prospective clients & tenants. While we continue to be available to show rentals in person, we employ recommended hygiene practices including, but not limited to, sanitization, eliminating open houses, applying strict viewing protocols around the number of visitors, ensuring vacancy and maintaining distance while viewings are in progress as well as engaging the use of protective masks and gloves where necessary.

Technology
In an effort to minimize the amount of face-to-face interaction as well as the requirement to travel, we utilize video tours, 3D point of view walkthroughs of our spaces and video conferencing applications that allow maximum exposure at minimum risk, all while engaging a completely online, verifiable & time-stamped application and lease execution process. The ability to view, discuss, and apply for a property in real-time from the comfort and safety of one’s home is priceless in this current climate.

 Knowledge is Power
We communicate with our clients and tenants on a consistent basis, sharing critical rental industry updates that apply to existing and future tenancies. Through years of experience and a study of the provincial resources available to us, we provide crucial information in a concise manner to help create an informed and fair dialogue amongst owners and tenants that in turn creates positive exchanges during this challenging time.

If you are a property owner that is currently facing a challenge with marketing your rental property or have questions about navigating this rather complex environment we would happy to get connected and see where we could help. We are currently offering incentives on our services to assist during this challenging time.

We are truly grateful for the opportunity to continue to work with our clients & tenants. At this time we would like to take a moment to commend applaud the tireless efforts of our front line essential workers who, through their bravery and commitment are allowing our beautiful city to continue functioning. We will all see each other soon.