I had an idea, but not sure it is a good one....

[Allen Gross]

Listening to various podcasts, one of which is BP Podcast 356 with Joe Asamoah, that talked about landlord and tenant relationships got me thinking. Joe gives out gifts and flowers and such to his tenants. I really like that mentality of providing a service for our tenants. I think this is simply amazing.

Now, I am wondering if say you were doing well in your cash flow from every door you owned. Hypothetically +250$ per door, and you took 1/12th of the tenant's monthly rent, each month, and put it somewhere in your LLC. (in other words your bottom line allowed you to work a little bit harder to get some more doors and still live off your passive income) Then at the end of the year (I would choose December 1st, or maybe November 30th) you gifted them the amount back for the previous 12 months, do you think that would:

A. Build Extreme tenant loyalty (technically a month of free rent)?

B. Maybe anger them if you didn't tell them you would do it and the way the system worked. (Which would be since the day of lease signing, each month you set that 1/12th aside to pay out that November or December with a note stating: Thank You for being a superb tenant! (or something more personal)?

C. NOT ASKING FOR LEGAL ADVICE.... possibly be illegal in some states or areas?  I think gifts are not illegal anywhere. Obviously I would have to go over this with legal counsel before I ever even thought about doing it. 

Anyway, I ask because I had a conversation with a co-worker that I would always try to work with someone that hit on tough times if I could, and a crazy idea like this might really put a smile on my tenants faces and better yet, provide even more loyalty to produce less tenant turnover. 

Now overall this would obviously mean I was charging less than current rental rates because even if I was at the current rate for my property, I would be giving them back 1/12th their rent per month at the end of the year, but if they stayed loyal and took care of my property and also with this gift every year would likely feel less upset over annual rent increases.

Thoughts?

[Corby Goade]

You can build great tenant loyalty by being fair, honest and responding to reasonable requests in a reasonable way. There's no need to discount your services- when your mechanic fixes your car, do you think they did a terrible job if they didn't give you a discount? Nope- you are happy if they charge what they said they would, answer your questions in a timely and understanable way. 

If you are worried about vacancy, you are probably investing in the wrong area. Great tenants are easy to find if you are providing a quality product in an area that people want to be. 

Best of luck!