If I ever sold my properties any landlord would love them! My friend who owns a building down the steet from my property wanst to steal them from me..lol. I have 2 two family houses in NYC and all four doors are rented to the same tenants for over 12 years. They are elderly, healthy, retired, live very comfortably, make minimal to no noise at all, very clean and they pay on time all the time. When the rents increases, although I haven't raised the rent in five years, they don't complain. I painted the units three times during those 12 years and they stay with their children to keep the place vacant for 2 days. They also know that they pay a little less then what the market calls for. The tenants in one of my two family homes got together and gave my wife and I $1000 when they found out we had a newborn. If I ever sold they come with the house and anyone would love them!!
I believe that here in Canada we are not allow to evict people that easy.
But definitely is a subject I need to learn more about.
Leandro:
It depends upon which province you are in ... tenancy law (and its interpretation) varies by jurisdiction. In Ontario, you have one of the most pro-tenant agencies in the country ... as @Luc Boiron pointed out, you cannot even compel a tenant to leave at the end of a term lease.
Here in NB, long-term tenant has a specific meaning in the legislation: a tenancy which has lasted 5yrs or longer. Long-term tenants are provided additional rights (and lighter obligations) in the Residential Tenancies Act. They can treat their lease as month-to-month (i.e. provide 1-month notice) whereas the landlord must provide 3-months notice. Their rent cannot be raised higher than any other comparable unit in the building/area). And, finally, there is a restricted set of conditions under which the landlord may terminate the tenancy.
For tenancies less than 5-yrs in duration, the law and its application here in NB is quite even handed. You are able to terminate a tenancy with appropriate notice.
Investors need to know the tenancy law - and how it is applied - in the jurisdiction where they are purchasing. In some jurisdictions, you can only obtain vacant possession if you, or a member of your immediate family, are to occupy the unit that is to be vacated.
Even where you can demand vacant possession, it typically, only make {business} sense for {very} small properties. If you are purchasing a 12, 20, or 100-unit property, you will need deep pockets when requesting vacant possession and, unless you have a business plan that repurposes or redevelops the property for a higher and better use (and you get it at a steal of a price}, it is unlikely to make business sense.
A few years ago, we walked away from an 80+-unit, two building deal because the vacancy rate was at 60% and the carrying costs in addition to the costs of rehabbing and modernizing the buildings put the break-even point too far into the future to make business sense.
As part of our diligence when underwriting a property, we review all tenancies (leases, payment history, etc) and collect estoppels from each tenant. We then triage the resulting list into those tenants we wish to retain, those whose tenancies are neutral, and those who appear to be problematic. This list also factors into our retrofit plans for the building.
At Close, we circulate a letter of introduction to all tenants; if the property previously permitted smoking, we also announce a sunset dates for smoking in the building and on the property (normally 12-18 months in the future). In this letter we also articulate the methods by which rent can be paid; when rent is considered late; and when we will take action on late rent.
In a reasonable window after Close (typically 1-3 months) or at the next anniversary date of a tenant's lease, all tenants are provided with new leases containing our house rules. The tenant has the option of accepting the new lease, or serving us with notice of termination and moving {Note: in some jurisdictions - perhaps ON an PQ - you may not be able to compel this decision}.
While we occasionally have to go down the eviction path with extremely delinquent or disruptive tenants immediately after Close, our process of re-lignment and issuing of new leases typically addresses the problematic group.