Yes, life can be downright scary these days, but don’t let the pandemic turn into pandemonium. Staying calm and informed, using common sense, and remaining connected to others despite social distancing will make a difference. Here are some tips to help you accomplish just that with your tenants,

Staying Calm and Informed

Defeat fear with wisdom. There are a gazillion sites, blogs, FB posts, Tweets, etc. each with a different opinion. Many of them incite fear, create confusion, and are otherwise upsetting. Turn. Them. Off. Instead, write a letter to your tenants. Let them know you care and encourage them to get information from reliable sources – mainly the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). These two links will take them to the facts on Covid-19 and what to do about it.

• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/downloads/2019-ncov-factsheet.pdf
• https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https %3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2Findex.html

Include changes in policies and procedures. For example:

• Stay-at-home and social distancing orders mean they cannot invite guests to their residence. If it’s a condo or townhouse, this includes no guests from neighboring condos.
• Possible tighter restrictions on when they can call for maintenance issues, as well as what constitutes an issue.
• If your rental is a condo or townhouse, you may need to establish new guidelines on quiet time, since so many on now working from home. At the same time, allowances must be made for children at home because schools and daycares are closed.

Using Common Sense

Encourage your tenants to get back to basics. The best way to beat the virus is to prevent it. Follow the guidelines.

• Personal: Washing hands oft and avoiding touching your face.
• Residential: Keeping the rental clean and wiping high-contact surfaces regularly with disinfectant wipes.
• Health: Eat balanced meals. Get outdoors in the sun (following social distancing, of course). Taking Vit C. Getting both exercise and rest.
• Mental/emotional: Use the time at home to do things you never had time for – like cleaning out that closet, updating your social media pages, or being creative. Take time each day to focus on something positive and give thanks.

Staying Connected

Nothing cements relationships, including those with your tenants, like taking time to connect, to let them know you care. There are lots of tools for helping us stay connected with others, and that includes landlords with their tenants.

• Set up a private FB page that is open only to your tenants. It makes a great place to post updates, share ideas and recipes, and confirm that everyone is taking proper steps for sanitizing the residence.
• Create an email template and send weekly emails. It’s a great way to share updates.
• When you need a face-to-face meeting with a tenant, there are multiple tools to help you do it, without being in-person. Of course,  there’s Facetime if you and your tenant have iPhones, but there are many options, including Zoom, Whereby, GoToMeeting, Teams, Google Duo, Skype, WhatsApp, and more.  

Bottom Line: The curve will flatten, the virus will be defeated, but another crisis will arise – that’s part of living. The key is to continue living – in peace, not pandemonium –

By staying calm and informed, using common sense, and connecting with others.

At Rentals America, we are committed to doing what we can to keep our clients and tenants safe. If you’re looking for a property manager or a residence to rent, we can help. We connect places and people every day. Call us now.