Is it necessary to meet tenants in person?

[Eric Brown]

Many of the tenants I've had are ones moving to the area from out of state. The last tenants at one of my SFH rentals were comfortable securing the property remotely based on the photos and video tour, signed the lease electronically, and sent all move in funds to me electronically before they moved to the area. I provided them keys via a lockbox at the property, so I never met them in person throughout the tenant screening process or to get the keys to them. They stayed with me for two years, paid on time every month, were fantastic tenants, and I never met them in person once.

These tenants just moved out and I just had a new set of tenants placed with a very similar situation. They are moving in from out of town and were comfortable securing the property based on photos and the video tour. My question is should I make a point of meeting these tenants in person to give them the keys when they get to the area, or just provide them the keys the same way via the lockbox? Since they’ve already already signed the lease and put the deposit down, is there really any reason or benefit of meeting them in person at this point? Or does it really not matter?