5 Ways To Make Personal Connections With Your Student Renters

By Elana Goodwin on August 6, 2016

Students looking to rent an apartment or house off-campus have a lot of options to choose from when it comes to picking their home away from home. In order to attract student renters to your company and keep them renewing their leases, it’s important to really connect with your tenants.

Here are some ways to make personal connections with your student renters.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

1. Work with student housing services.

Student Housing Services often hold a few fairs over the course of the year to help students find off-campus housing. Many landlords, property managers, and housing companies will attend those fairs with information about their rentals so students can stop by their booths and pick up brochures or flyers.

You can already start making personal connections with potential renters by attending these fairs and getting to know students. Be sure to market your rental apartments or houses well and offer the students some incentive to live at one of your properties with you as their point of contact.

2. Give a warm welcome.

A great opportunity to make a personal connection with your student renter is after they move into your rental apartment or house. Go over and welcome them to their new home and perhaps even give them a small welcome gift.

When you stop by to welcome your renter, you can also reiterate important information they should know about the place, the process of paying bills, or making maintenance requests. You’ll also create another opportunity for yourself to show your face and let them know you’re always happy to hear from them, thereby establishing a great foundation for your relationship to be built on.

3. Be responsive.

A personal connection won’t last very long if you fail to be responsive and available to your renters. No matter what time of day or what the problem is, it’s important to be available and helpful to your renters. When they make a complaint or ask a question, you need to respond quickly and efficiently in order to maintain a good relationship.

Let your student renters know the best way to reach you and promise them you will always respond within 24 hours. Make sure they know you’re here for them and want their experience living in your property to be the best it can be — and you’re willing to do whatever you can (within reason) to facilitate that.

4. Organize tenant social events.

A great place to make personal connections with your student tenants is at social events. Organize a move-in mixer, holiday parties, or other fun events so your tenants can get to know each other and meet new people, and you can put in some face time with each of your renters. Not only will your tenants appreciate your efforts and think you’re cool, but they’ll also be grateful to feel as if they’re part of a community thanks to your property.

Perhaps you can invite your tenants to a garden day and have them help you plant flowers and other greenery by their apartments or houses; they may be more likely to participate as they’ll get some benefit out of this and you’ll be able to get to know your tenants better as you all get your hands dirty.

You don’t have to spend a bunch of money on these social occasions or even necessarily throw a party; you can also facilitate volunteer opportunities or other fun outings with little to no cost to yourself or your tenants — just opportunities to get together, hang out, and make personal connections.

5. Communicate.

Perhaps the easiest way to start building or maintaining a personal connection with your student renters is through communication. Wave to your tenants and stop by to chat when you’re on the property, take a few minutes to ask about school when you’re on the phone with them, or send out emails to wish them good luck on finals or a fun time on break.

When there’s maintenance happening in the building, send out a message beforehand so they know what’s going on and can expect noise or unfamiliar people to be around. If you’re going to be incommunicado over the holidays or for some other duration of time, give them another number they can call with issues. Hear about a great deal on cable or Wi-Fi or know something else going on locally? Share it with your tenants so they can save some money or take advantage of a great opportunity. By communicating with your residents, beyond when is strictly necessary, you can easily strengthen your personal connection.

So if you’re looking to make personal connections with your student renters, consider using these five ways to do so — not only will you be making personal connections, but you’ll also be building good, lasting relationships with your student renters and guaranteeing they recommend you to their friends.

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