Choosing to own an investment property is not only a major financial decision, it also takes a considerable amount of time to ensure the success of the investment. 

Your property manager’s role is to ensure that your investment is working for you and a large part of that is managing tenants. Whether it’s communication regarding rental payments, inspections, maintenance and repairs, your property manager is the first point of contact for conversation between tenants and landlords. 

There are landlords who like to be kept up-to-date regularly and are open to frequent communication about what is happening with their property and tenants, and there are others who may be happy to be kept informed on an ‘as-need’ basis. There is no right or wrong in deciding what kind of landlord you are here. 

Occasionally there may be a situation or request which falls outside of the lease. 

Navigating this can be tricky. Understanding whether it is reasonable or not is where your property manager can help, ensuring whatever it is, it is managed effectively.

There’s no doubt that different circumstances and situations may call for different outcomes. Understanding the line between giving tenants a little grace and laying down the law, can be delicate. 

So, when is okay to not feel guilty? Let’s look at three cases.

When rent is late. Your tenants were made aware from the beginning of the lease when rent is due. Refusing to acknowledge this can spell disaster long-term.

Hiding pets. If you’ve made the decision to keep your property pet-free, it’s likely you’ve put a lot of thought into that decision. If you do decide to allow your tenant’s pet to stay, it may be worth adding mention of that to the lease should there be any unfortunate cause for concern or any damage through the course of the tenancy.

Permanent changes to the property. While tenants may see a fresh coat of paint to the living room an improvement, this may not be the case for you.

As a landlord, you must be happy with the state of your property and the quality of your tenant while respecting the effort placed on keeping the tenant happy. 

While your property manager works to take as much stress out of the process as possible, ensuring the majority of tenant concerns/questions are handled in-house, quickly and efficiently, there are times where, as a landlord, your direction is needed.