Experience With Long-Term Renters in Cape Cod?

[David Walker]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some insight from other Cape Cod landlords based on what’s happened with my property over the last year.

I recently bought a duplex in Dennis Port, about a five-minute walk from the beach. One of the units has been great — a self-employed carpenter and his wife live there, and they’ve been solid tenants with no issues at all.

The other unit has been a completely different experience. We had to do a full renovation before renting it out, and when we advertised it last spring, we had a lot of applications from people with very poor credit or very tight financial situations. We eventually found a couple who seemed like the best option available, but they were from out of state and broke the lease after five months and moved back home. No damages, but obviously a significant disruption.

That unit has now been back on the market for the past two months, and we still haven’t received a single qualified long-term application. Most of the inquiries are from people with borderline or poor credit, high debt loads, or income levels that don’t realistically support the rent.

My early experience with long-term renters on the Cape is that there’s a very limited pool of financially stable applicants, and a large number of people looking for rentals they can’t realistically afford.

For those who own long-term rentals on Cape Cod (Dennis, Yarmouth, Harwich, etc.), what has your experience been?

• Are reliable long-term tenants hard to find?
• Do you see more turnover or lease-breaks because of the seasonal economy?
• Have you found that the tenant pool is mostly lower-income service workers?

The hassle of screening dozens of unqualified applicants — and then dealing with a lease break after five months — is making me think that short-term rentals might actually be the safer and more predictable option in this market.

Would love to hear what others have experienced with year-round tenants on the Cape.

Thanks!

David