Building a Positive Relationship With Your Landlord

There are few things in this world that can be more frustrating than a grouchy, demanding, or vindictive landlord. Not having a good relationship with yours can cause undue stress and anxiety, especially around the time that rent checks are due. Being friendly and proactive can help to diffuse any landlord anxiety before it even begins.

Laying the Foundation

The first step in a good landlord-tenant relationship should occur on the day of move-in. Let your landlord know who you are and a little about yourself by introducing him or her to your family or roommate. This will help them put a face to a name and helps to humanize your room mate which will help your landlord connect to you as not only a customer, but as a person. All mature, professional business relationships begin with an introduction and a firm handshake.

Being Proactive

Paying your rent late or not paying your utilities on time is a great way to get on the bad side of your landlord. By reducing or eliminating late payments and misunderstandings, your tenant-landlord relationship will be as positive as possible. A great way to show your landlord that you take renting from them seriously is to meet with them once a month, about a week before your rent is due to go over any charges or issues that may have arisen from last month or the month approaching. By scheduling a meeting, even for only 20 minutes at a local coffee shop, your landlord will know that you are serious and mature enough to be proactive in your business relationship and that you want to â??check inâ? periodically to make sure everything is running smoothly.

If meeting once a month is not practical, at least make a phone call to ensure that everything having to do with rent and your obligation to pay for any services agreed upon at the time of move in is taken care of. By being proactive with your landlord it creates an environment where, if in the future, something comes up and you can not pay your rent on time, the landlord is more willing to be lenient and understanding of the situation since you are always updating them on the status of your payments and rental agreement.

Taking Responsibility for Your Actions

Taking responsibility for your actions is not only about getting credit for things that you have done to improve or maintain the property, it’s also about understanding your responsibilities should something break or go wrong with your rental. Just like being proactive in your tenant-landlord business relationship will improve the level of respect your landlord has for you, informing them as soon as possible of any tricky situations or issues will save you stress and headaches further down the road. Own up to your mistakes and take responsibilities for your errors as soon as you realize something has been broken, misused, or is in need of repair. Not telling your landlord about a door or window you have broken my work to keep you from having to pay in the short term, but remember that if you have put down a deposit for the property, any broken property will likely directly affect you getting the entire amount of your deposit back. A landlord who has been told the truth, in a prompt and responsible manner about any broken property, is much more likely to reward honesty by possibly forgiving you of the debt in the short term, or by returning to you your entire deposit at the time of move out.

Getting on good terms and remaining there with your landlord is not easy. But as mentioned previously, there are a few easy ways to build and sustain a positive and professional business relationship with your landlord. It will save you stress and time in the present and could quite likely save you money in the future when you move out.