This topic often comes as a surprise to new landlords. When they are trying to attract new tenants they think that low rent or other incentives will bring more prospects. The truth of the matter is that, low rent or not, everyone wants to feel safe and secure in their home. Especially when prospective tenants have children. Often times, given a choice between two rental units, tenants will choose to pay a little more if they feel their family will be safer in one unit over the other.
We live in a day and age where fear is very prevalent among us all. Our constant exposure to news stories and headlines coupled with the news maker’s focus on murder, violence, guns and all other manner of horrific death makes a lot of people very wary of the outside world. Things are usually not half as bad as we think but the constant focus on all the bad in the world leads us to believe that there’s evil around every corner. I could go on and on about this but suffice it to say, it’s only going to get worse as we are exposed to more and more ways to view this information. The silver lining in all of this is that it gives landlords a definite edge if they can dispel these fears by creating a secure living space for people.
So how can you set yourself apart and attract more tenants to your rentals, thus giving you more quality tenants to choose from? Start right in your ad, mentioning the safety and security of your house or building. Then make sure everything is in place to follow through on those promises. Have good strong doors, deadbolt locks, locking windows that are in good repair and extra reinforcement on ground level windows. Make sure hand rails are sturdy and put non slip adhesives in the bottom of your tubs. To ensure against fire, check that all smoke alarms are in working order, have any fireplaces inspected and take the extra step of providing a fire extinguisher. Make sure your property is well lit on the outside including motion sensor lights where needed. Add key locks to the gates in the yard.
Some of these steps may seem obvious and some might seem overboard but put them all together and they present a great picture to a prospective tenant. You are now a landlord that cares about their safety and you’re willing to take extra steps to show them that you care about their well being. When someone is out shopping for a place to live, seeing flimsy doors and windows and no attention to detail where safety is concerned, your place will look like a haven and a higher rent will seem trivial when a tenant feels like they and their family will be safe.
Do you have other ideas to make your property more secure?
