The key to making your property irresistible to tenants is to understand that, for them, this is where they call home. So how can you find tenants for your rental properties and encourage them to stay?

Good tenants that take care of your property, pay rent on time, keep good communication and are friendly can be very hard to come by. Each year they resign a tenancy agreement saves you from listing your property, open home inspections, vetting tenants, dealing with bonds and doing lots of other things which cost you time and money.

Help them establish an emotional attachment to the house so that they resist the urge to move on. This could be take a number of forms - from allowing them to secure their furniture to reduce earthquake damage, to putting up large mirrors or artwork that require additional anchoring to walls. Encourage them to make suggestions about gardening or landscaping. Simple changes will help keep them happy and can also increase the appeal and potential of your property if they do decide to leave.

Read more: 5 expenses you can claim on your rental property

Let good tenants know you appreciate them. Most 12 month leases begin and end between December and February. If they decide to resign, a small token of appreciation in the form of a gift will go along way to achieving this. Plus the associated cost of doing so is likely to be tax deductible - speak to your accountant about this.

The best way to avoid unexpected changes is to hire a specialist property manager to make sure the tenants are happy, comfortable and well looked after. You may be able to do this yourself but you have to factor in whether you can dedicate the time required to do the job properly.

Having someone with an in-depth knowledge of property law and rental agreements to do all the hard work for you can save a lot of time, stress, and money as they’ll make sure the property is up to scratch and everything is in working order. If you’re juggling your own home, a job, a family and perhaps other rental properties, it could be naïve to think you could manage the property entirely on your own, it would become an inconvenience rather than an investment.

If the heat pump suddenly stops working on a wintery Tuesday evening in one of your properties, your tenants will want to know the problem is being taken care of quickly. Do you want to be dealing with those issues, or would you prefer a property manager to take care of these issues on your behalf?

One of the most important things to secure good tenants for the long run is communication! You need to constantly communicate with your tenants to understand things like their needs, worries and issues. By building an effective and professional relationship with them you can also build trust.

They will feel a lot more inclined to want to stay and keep the house impeccable if they find you reasonable, approachable and know where they stand with you. Check in with them and your property manager regularly. Keep regular inspections without being overbearing, and set times to physically visit the property to see how everything is working. Make sure they know who to contact about anything to do with the property.

As a landlord you’ll find getting new tenants a very costly and stressful process, particularly if you have to do it often. By having a bit of flexibility and taking a professional approach towards the management property and relationship between yourself and tenants you should find your chances of getting long terms tenants will be a lot higher.

Download our A-Z guide is a handy guide to help you navigate the property investment world, and make buying, leasing, and selling homes that much easier: