Interacting with multicultural residents can enrich a community through sharing of traditions and perspectives. Over 13% of the US population is foreign-born, with over half living in California, New York, Texas, and Florida. Cultural differences may cause issues like safety hazards from piled shoes or strong cooking smells, but these can be addressed sensitively without offense. Providing renters with guidelines and explaining concepts like maintenance services and renters insurance helps foster understanding.

1. How to maintain a culturally
diverse and profitable
rental community

2. Interacting with multicultural
residents can be an exciting and
personally rewarding experience.
Their traditions, stories and
perspectives can enrich the lives of
the entire community.

3. From a business perspective, they cannot be
ignored:
According to the
latest census,
more than 13
percent of the
U.S. population
is foreign born.

4. Although foreign-born residents live in every
state in our country, more than half of them
live in just four states:
California, New York, Texas and Florida.

5. In fact, the highest percentages of foreign-born
residents are in New York/New Jersey and California.
More than one in five New York and New Jersey
residents are foreign born.

6. Once clients have been
successfully signed and
are settled in their new
home, cultural differences
potentially can cause
concerns with safety and
maintenance, which can
have an impact on your
entire rental community

7. Residents may not
wear shoes in the
home and pile them
outside, creating a
fire and safety
hazard.

8. Renters from some cultures may remove closet
doors and burn incense or candles inside.

9. Cooking smells can be distinctive
and pervasive.

10. Maintenance in some areas of the unit may
become a concern, such as grease build-up in
the kitchen or water damage in the bathrooms.

11. Appliances may be
damaged because of
unintentional misuse.

12. In all of these
cases, cultural
differences may be
the root cause of
the challenge.
Depending upon the
culture of the renter,
there are various
ways that issues
can be addressed
to solve the problem
without offending
the client.

13. Avoid problems by providing renters a list of
leasing etiquette points. Essentially, it’s a
list of do’s and don’ts, which can be useful
for any renter.

14. Remind renters that free maintenance is
available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

15. Be helpful to international residents by
explaining the concept of renter’s
insurance, which is unheard of in many
places around the world.

16. Clothing, language and food are the
visible tip of the iceberg when it comes
to cultural differences, these are only a
few of the ways that cultural background
can affect property rental and
management.

17. Making the effort to educate yourself and
your staff will go a long way toward a diverse,
satisfied and thriving rental community.

18. Photo Credits
Slide 2 – Image courtesy of Toa55 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 3 -- Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 4 -- Image courtesy of David Castillo Dominici / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 5 -- Image courtesy of digidreamgrafix / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 6 -- Image courtesy of nokhoog_buchachon / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 7 -- Image courtesy of podpad / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 8 -- Image courtesy of tiverylucky / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 9 -- Image courtesy of artur84 / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 10 – Image courtesy of uglyhousephotos.com
Slide 11 -- Image courtesy of Keerati / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 12 -- Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 13 -- Image courtesy of digitalart / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 14 -- Image courtesy of twobee / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 15 -- Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 16 -- Image courtesy of africa / FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Slide 17 -- Image courtesy of stockimages / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

19. http://www.TangibleDevelopment.com
Twitter/@tangibledevel
866-525-2818
Preparing Business for Effective Global Communication