Having tenants that like you must be nice, however, nice is sometimes hard to come by. As the title states, tenants that don’t like their landlord(s) are not all that uncommon. By default, it’s common to dislike your landlord because, think about it, that is the person who you need to pay. It’s kind of like the same concert as “ I hate my boss” by default many people can relate to this. You can be the best landlord ever and lease to a tenant for the first time and then immediately come to find out they dislike you in whatever way that shows, simply because of the relationship format. The relationship format and where you stand in the relationship does play a role in how people perceive you, and you have little control over this. It’s similar to the simple fact that humans judge other humans instantly upon first meeting them or even seeing them without knowing them. The same truth applies here to the landlord/ tenant relationship. However, the most important thing is that tenants do not need to like you in order for your relationship to remain profitable. If you suspect or know that your tenants don’t like you, keep these points in mind.

Be as reasonably accommodating as possible

If you are dealing with tenants that don’t like you and its obvious, do not play into their game and fight back, be neutral, and pretend as if you don’t even know they are mad at you. Remember that they are a big part of your investment. You can even think of them as your employee that you hired to maintain your property and you may fire them at any time with reasonable measures. Try and be as reasonably accommodating as possible. If you want to enter the property for whatever reason and the day doest work for them, then ask for what days do work and make it work. Remember that they are living in your house and they deserve your cooperation and flexibility. Don’t be one of those landlords that are very controlling that we all hear horror stories about. Work with them and hear them out. Of course, this does not mean that you should let them push you around. Reasonably is the keyword.

Always maintain professionalism and be humble

Keeping a level of professionalism will indicate that you are both serious and knowledgeable about your business. Tenants that don’t like you will at least perhaps respect that you are not playing around and you treat your business like a business and as a professional. This point can be challenging for younger investors starting out by the way. Being humble shows that you are very reasonable and that you know how to handle situations without flying off the handle. This can be very difficult to do and maintain during times where you really want to speak your mind and communicate to the tenant that is not working. By being humble, the tenants may realize that you are simply a person that doesn’t allow problems to enter their life.

Remember that it doesn’t matter

At the end of the day, who cares if your tenants don’t like you. All you care about is whether they are paying on time and taking care fo the property. That’s all if they are doing both of those things, who cares if they don’t like you. You don’t need everyone to like you, in fact, that may not even be a good idea in some way shape, or form. Don’t make them liking you a requirement for you to lease to any tenants. Let them not like you, it’s their right, let them exercise their right to not like you. Everything will be ok so long as the two above points are being satisfied by the tenant and the lease is being followed.

Be happy that they don’t like you

This point takes the previous point to the next level in that you should embrace that they don’t like you because it’s actually better than them to like you in a way, believe it or not. If tenants like you, then there are more probabilities that they will be asking for favors that you may not want to grant. Favors that one may be inclined to do in an effort to have them continue to like you. The best rule of thumb is to be in the middle, like the equator, and keep a neutral relationship with your tenants. No hate and no like is the way to good. Remember, be the equator

Tenants that don’t like you are something that you will need to get used to if you plan on becoming a landlord or perhaps already are a landlord. The simple fact is that this should not be something that triggers you even the slightest, it comes with being a landlord. This is of course if you decide to manage your properties on your own. It better not break you either. This is why some people say you need to have “thick skin” in order to be a landlord and I find that to be somewhat true but definitely not to say that it’s difficult. At the end of the day, being a landlord is a mindset game that you play with yourself and like any game, the more you practice, the more you improve until you reach the top.