Communication and the art of being a landlord

Effective communication is a concept that keeps things running smoothly in all walks of life - and it is no different in the world of property rental.

While successful communication channels between tenants, landlords and any letting agent does not guarantee that no mistakes will be made, it will certainly make it easier to sort out anything that goes wrong.

Ensuring that landlords insurance is up to date will ensure that replacement items can be brought in to replace any damage, but a good relationship may be harder to repair if landlords do not try their utmost to maintain open and transparent interactions with their tenants.

Honesty is crucial for both sides to get along. A tenant should not promise to get something done if they are not going to be able to do it, since their failure to complete the task will mean the property owner will trust them less in future.

Equally, a landlord gains nothing by making hasty promises - for example, saying they will fix white goods in a certain time - unless they are sure they can do so. While it is not a friendship that tenants and landlords share, they should respect each other in the same way as one friend might respect another.

Where the relationship differs is - naturally - that money is changing hands, so there must be a businesslike nature to conversations about getting things done. Much in the same way that two businesses would insist on knowing exactly when something is going to be done and how much it is going to cost them, the tenant/landlord should have no bones about wanting utmost clarity.

By combining the respect of a friendship with the professionalism of a business partnership, landlords and tenants should be able to keep up a healthy relationship. At the end of the day it benefits no one to prevent effective communication by letting the other side down.