How To Encourage Tenants To Pay Rent Online

paying rent onlineIn today’s high tech world, modernizing property management duties through the use of online and mobile applications will make your job much easier. If you are contemplating the use of electronic payment services for tenants to pay their monthly rent online,you need to encourage them to do so.

Sending and receiving electronic payments is becoming more and more common. For the most part, many tenants will already be accustomed to electronic banking practices and will not need much motivation to start paying their rent electronically. However, what can a property manager do to encourage those tenants who are more reluctant?

The Key Is To Incentivize Your Tenants

Let’s face it, we all like perks. There is nothing more enticing than receiving a reward for agreeing to do something. As a property manager, you can create an effective incentive program with very little effort. If your tenants agree to online rental payments, you could:

  • Offer a newspaper subscription for a specified period of time.
  • Give a gift card to a local merchant.
  • Provide a discount in monthly rent payments.
  • Guarantee that rent will not increase for a period of time.

You can offer one incentive at a time or, you can offer a choice from a menu of options. If a tenant doesn’t read the newspaper, perhaps they would appreciate having the option to choose a gift card instead. Either way, you can be as creative as you need to be with this type of reward program.

Provide a Payment Kiosk in the Office

Although we live in an electronic era, there are still some individuals who are not so computer savvy. Perhaps they don’t even have a personal email account. For those folks who still have flip phones and write personal checks for everything, it should be safe to assume they could obtain a debit card from their banking institution.

Providing a payment kiosk in the property manager’s main office, or lobby, will allow for these renters to make an online payment without the need for a personal computer.

Explain the Benefits and Cost Savings

Aside from providing incentives or payment terminals, simply explaining the benefits of online payment arrangements might be the only necessity. Many individuals don’t realize the cost savings of electronic payments over the processing of a paper check. When writing checks, the renter needs to address an envelope, find a stamp, and be sure they give that check enough time to work its way through the postal system.

If paying rent online helps to keep rent increases to a minimum, explain this as a benefit to your tenants also. Be as transparent as possible to help them understand why you are asking for this arrangement.

When a tenant is clearly able to understand that an online payment system is beneficial to them, they may be less reluctant to agree to it. It will not only save them time and money, but the benefits of making online payments will also include:

  • Having the ability to view & pay bills anytime and anywhere.
  • The ability to set up recurring payments to avoid late fees.
  • Maintaining good credit with timely payments.

You can encourage online payments by creating a flyer or newsletter explaining these benefits. This notification can be posted in the main office or laundry facilities. You can even send it directly as a friendly reminder to sign up as soon as possible.

For professional, reliable, and affordable property management solutions, contact Coast & Valley Properties, Inc. at 831-757-1270. We are the leading source for property management in Salinas, CA.

Coast & Valley Properties Inc proudly serves the Salinas, Monterey County area. If you’d like to know more about our services, please don’t hesitate to call our office at 831-269-5737, or fill out our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you!