Lifestyle

10 Steps to Improve Your Property’s Tenant Retention

Published

5 years ago

December 13, 2020

After choosing the right property, tenant retention is arguably the most important factor for a rental property’s success. Higher tenant retention means you’ll see more consistent revenue, you’ll spend less time looking for new tenants, and you’ll suffer far fewer losses from vacancies and turnover.

However, improving tenant retention isn’t always straightforward. If you want to maximize retention, you’ll need to think critically about your approach.

How to Improve Tenant Retention

These are some of your most valuable strategies in improving tenant retention:

Find the right tenants. One of your best strategies will be finding the right tenants for your property in the first place. Tenants often leave because they’re a bad fit, in one way or another. They may only be looking for a short-term space to live, or they may not have a stable job they can rely on to pay for rent. Invest in a thorough, proactive tenant screening practice so you can secure the best candidates for your rental properties. It takes a bit more time to get someone in, but it will be worth it in the long run.
Build tenant relationships. Next, go out of your way to build relationships with your tenants. You don’t have to be close friends with every person you bring into your property—in fact, friendships can get in the way of the tenant-landlord relationship. However, you should be on amicable terms. Get to know your tenants, including their goals and long-term prospects, and make sure they’re comfortable reaching out to talk to you. If tenants like their landlord, they’ll be far less likely to leave.
Keep rent reasonable. Depending on where you live, it’s probably legal to incrementally increase rent prices every year. But this isn’t always the best move, even if it increases your cash flow. It’s important to keep your rent prices in line with other properties in the area; otherwise, your tenants will simply leave. Increase prices gradually and periodically.
Be flexible (when possible). Try to give your tenants extra flexibility whenever you can. For example, if a tenant is late on rent payment because they’re having an issue with their employer, consider giving them another couple of weeks to come up with the money—with no penalty. Be forgiving if they make a mistake, or accidentally damage the property. This leniency can go a long way in securing their loyalty.
Take care of requests immediately. Similarly, it’s important to take care of reasonable tenant requests right away. If a tenant complains about a leaking roof or a malfunctioning appliance, send a technician or visit the property right away. Fast fixes lead to happy tenants—and happy tenants tend to stick around.
Be responsive. There will be times when you can’t fix an issue right away. This is okay, but you still have to be as responsive as possible. Let your tenants know that you’ve heard their requests, and that you intend to take action on them. If you can’t get to a fix right away, let them know why and tell them when they can expect a fix. This proactive communication is vital for tenant satisfaction.
Respect privacy. Try to respect your tenants’ privacy. Don’t show up unannounced, and don’t enter their apartment without permission or awareness (even if it’s legal to do so in your area). Give tenants the feeling that this is their space and make them feel comfortable.
Listen to feedback. Occasionally, you’ll get direct feedback from tenants. They may complain about the way you manage the property or give you compliments about the way you handled a specific issue. Listen to these pieces of feedback and learn from them. They could provide straightforward direction on how you can be a better property manager, or how you can make other tenants happy in the future.
Invest in periodic upgrades. Most landlords want to keep upgrading the property with new appliances, nicer fixtures, and other quality of life improvements. Try to make these upgrades while the tenant is occupied (if you can), so the tenant can benefit directly from them. It makes tenants feel like you genuinely care about their quality of life. It will incentivize them to stick around.
Reward loyalty. Finally, reward tenant loyalty however you can. That could mean giving tenants occasional discounts or sending them a Christmas card in the mail. Even small gestures can go a long way in boosting retention.

Perfecting Your Strategy

Maximizing tenant retention isn’t something you can handle overnight. If you want to see the best results, you’ll need to adjust your strategy gradually, over time. Listen carefully to feedback from your tenants and be flexible enough to keep adapting your long-term approach.

Lifestyle

How Critical-Thinking Skills Will Enable Your Kids to Battle Misinformation

Published

2 days ago

May 20, 2026

Michelle Langton

Photo: Tuttle Twins

Michael Currier of Massachusetts is an unvaccinated gastroenterologist and entrepreneur, and he’s seen misinformation firsthand. He’s long been teaching his kids how to spot misinformation, but they were naturally skeptical when they didn’t hear it from anyone but him. However, the right books taught his kids how to combat misinformation, and they will teach your kids too! If you’re wondering how to raise independent thinkers who can spot misinformation, the Tuttle Twins books are essential tools for your toolbelt.

How Critical Thinking Combats Misinformation

When kids can think critically, they become able to evaluate the credibility of sources and look for evidence, also identifying their own and others’ biases. Critical thinkers don’t just passively absorb information; they take it apart piece by piece to see what makes it “tick.”

Critical thinkers question the credentials of an author or source, alongside their motivations and whether they provide supporting evidence that goes beyond just statements that require trust. Kids who can think critically also spot confirmation bias, which is the tendency to believe something that fits in well with the thinker’s current belief system or worldview. This reduces demand for fake news that simply elicits an emotional reaction.

When your kids can think critically and independently, they will also be able to spot logical fallacies, like drawing causal conclusions from data that’s simply correlational. Critical thinkers can also tell the difference between scientific evidence and someone’s opinion.

Independent, critical thinkers don’t just read a page. They look up information from other trusted sources to verify that the original source is accurate. Critical thinking also encourages a healthy skepticism that causes independent thinkers to pause and assess emotionally charged content before they spread it around, realizing that misinformation frequently exploits outrage or fear.

Critical thinkers can also recognize propaganda tactics such as loaded language, false dilemmas, and “alternative facts.”

Photo: Tuttle Twins

Seeking Out Books that Teach Critical Thinking

At this point, parents wondering how to raise independent thinkers will want to look for books that teach critical thinking, like the Tuttle Twins series. The Tuttle Twins books explain things like misinformation, freedom of speech, and even the World Economic Forum while explaining that certain people get to decide what is and isn’t misinformation.

Books that teach critical thinking don’t just present facts. They encourage kids to analyze, evaluate, and put together arguments, frequently shining a light on logical fallacies and biases while calling for active application instead of a passive taking-in of information. Books that teach critical thinking will help you with how to raise independent thinkers by guiding you and your child through reasoned questioning and requiring evidence behind facts.

The Tuttle Twins series wraps every lesson in an engaging story that doesn’t just teach the information presented. The Tuttle Twins books also encourage all the above elements found in books that teach critical thinking. You can even enhance the critical-thinking skills embedded in all the Tuttle Twins books by pausing throughout the story and asking open-ended questions such as: What do you think the character should do next? What were some alternate solutions to the problem? What do you think could have been the consequences of those solutions?

Books that teach critical thinking like the Tuttle Twins series will go a long way toward helping you learn how to raise independent thinkers. They will also help you create special moments with your kids that they’ll remember forever! Join the growing number of parents who don’t want their kids to just be passive absorbers of information.