Do your tenants call you at 11pm at night to complain about a housemate stealing their milk? Are you often drawn into bickering amongst the tenants? Are you left to organise the rubbish each week, or end up popping into the houses to give them a quick clean between visits by the professionals?
If you answered yes to any of the above, I say stop it right now! Just stop!
Doing these little things might seem harmless to you at first, but this kind of involvement in your properties will eventually drag you down to a state of exhaustion, resentment and utter despair. There’s also a deeper (and more damaging) message you are unconsciously sending to your tenants by doing such things… You are communicating a lack of healthy boundaries.
Left to their own devices, tenants will happily call the shots and run riot in your houses – just like an unruly, sugar-fuelled toddler. So you need to be the one to guide them on how to behave with you, and in your houses.
Setting boundaries is essential in all relationships, but in business (or a landlord/tenant relationship), clearly defined boundaries also help to manage your customer’s expectations. Boundaries will protect your sanity too!
There’s no denying that adding a personal touch to a business relationship, building rapport and going the extra mile will create a more enjoyable experience for your customers, but it is only when these attributes are balanced with professionalism and boundaries that your customer service truly becomes great, and your customers will respect and value you.
Here’s how to create and set boundaries with your tenants:
1. Get clear on your personal boundaries.
Get specific – write down the things you are willing to do, and the things you are not willing to do. Plan how you want to communicate with each other. Think about payment boundaries (I give an overview of mine in the blog post “The secret to receiving 100% of your rents due” . Think about how you want to handle conflict. Put all of this into a set of guidelines for your tenants.
2. Set expectations early.
Your tenant will sign a tenancy agreement when they move in, but they will also need further guidance on how to co-operate with you and their housemates throughout the tenancy, in your preferred manner. So educate them on your policies and procedures (the guidelines I mentioned above) – which can be delivered in a Welcome Pack or Book of House Rules. I would suggest sticking to these rules for all new tenants, but be ready to negotiate/make exceptions on the odd occasion for a longer term tenant who has already proven themselves to be reliable and respectful of your methods of working. Be careful, however, of how far you will make allowances, and to how many people you will allow exceptions.
3. When a line has been crossed, address it immediately.
And do it in a calm, clear, respectful but firm voice. Be assertive. One of my house rules is respect – respect to your housemates, to me and to the property. A tenant once messaged me over the Xmas period while I was visiting family in Australia to report that she had had no heating for three days and would withhold the rent until I fixed the problem. My first priority, of course, was to address the lack of heating (which turned out that she had tampered with the settings and switched the heating off as a result), and as soon as that was resolved, I told her in very clear terms that I do not take kindly to threats of non-payment of rent, and that I would have expected her to recognise by now that I did not need threats in order to carry out my duties as a landlord – my moral obligations were a strong enough motivator for that. She apologised profusely, and never displayed that behaviour again.
4. Stand firm.
If you are setting new boundaries with existing tenants who previously had access to you 24/7, be aware that it may be difficult for them to adapt to your new boundaries at first. They might at first try to manipulate or control you, but remain firm. You are not responsible for their feelings or response, so don’t apologise, justify or get angry. And don’t give in to feelings of guilt, anxiety or fear either. If you feel selfish at first, it’s normal, and it will pass as you become more at ease with your new boundary setting.
5. Change is a process.
If you’ve had loose boundaries, they won’t suddenly become healthy overnight. Keep working on it. Enforcing boundaries isn’t easy at first, so expect to be tested until you have developed a habit of maintaining healthy boundaries.
Successfully managing a portfolio of HMO’s takes more than just a few good systems and a nice looking product. People and business management skills are absolutely essential, as well as some of the other, more ethereal qualities like having the right attitude, and having and demonstrating good boundaries.
So know and respect thyself! Be transparent with your tenants, and communicate your rules calmly, clearly and with confidence. You are the authority of your business – so be the one to make the rules.
“When you create good boundaries, you gain your time and freedom back”.
Want more?
Did you know SenecaRooms offers HMO business consultancy services? We’ll help you improve the performance of your HMO landlording business – increase your profits, increase tenant satisfaction, and increase your freedom and enjoyment from the business too!
Book a free initial chat with us here: https://senecarooms.com/contact-us/