The yearly question of landlords giving gifts
The holidays are officially here! People are generally more festive and you might want to show your appreciation to your tenants. This is by no means an obligation, and the more tenants you have, the more of a budget decision this will be for you. If you do choose to give gifts, they should be simple and inexpensive. Or perhaps just send a holiday card thanking them for choosing your property to call home.
Last year, I was a little creative and made pasta jars for my tenants. Basically it was a “soup in a jar” recipe where I layered all the ingredients to make a pretty presentation. All they had to do was add water or broth and whatever else they like. I’m honestly not sure if anyone actually used it, but I did get polite thank you’s. This year, I created holiday cards with my company’s logo on it. The card informed them about the company Facebook page to follow for announcements and also gave a $20 discount off their January 2016 rent. In my opinion, if you offer a gift or discount, it should be to all tenants even if they are behind on rent or not on good terms. This shows unbiased professionalism.
Here are a few other easy ideas to spread holiday cheer:
- Small gift card to a nearby restaurant.
- Small gift card to Home Depot or similar store.
- Baked goods.
- If they have pets, perhaps a small gift for the pets.
- Christmas ornament.
What are some other unique tenant-appreciation gift ideas that you’ve used?
Comments (1)
I just sent Christmas cards with 20 bucks to the nearby grocery store to all of my tenants. I figured the ones who are behind on rent need the groceries more than the others anyway. Hopefully my accountant tells me I can write off the cost as an expense, but if not it will still spread some Christmas cheer at my houses.
Russell Fugitt, almost 9 years ago