If your tenants could give you a grade, what would it be?

General Landlording & Rental Properties
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If your tenants could give you a grade, what would it be?

Chris Martin
Investor · Willow Spring, NC · Member since 2009 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes

I'd like BP Nation's input on your tenant's view of you (as a landlord, leasing agent, resident manager, etc.) as seen through your tenant's eyes. 'A' to 'F'. I'd also be interested as to the hows and whys relating to your answer.

So, just like the title says. If your tenants could give you a grade, what would it be? You can include current tenants, prior tenants, and 'near'-tenants (applicants who turn your property down... maybe because they thought you were a 'D'-type landlord???)

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Aaron Mazzrillo
Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
12y

If you're getting an A from your tenant, you are spending far too much time socializing with them and being their whipping boy. Your tenants should not be your friends. Some people view them as customers, but I don't see them that way either. Customers are always right. My tenants are rarely right. My tenant's job is to take care of my property and pay rent on time. My job is to fix things that need fixing and charge them for things they break. The relationship never goes any further than that. I honestly don't care what they think of me as long as they pay the rent on time, don't cause me problems and don't mess up my properties.

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  • Aaron Mazzrillo
    Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    If you're getting an A from your tenant, you are spending far too much time socializing with them and being their whipping boy. Your tenants should not be your friends. Some people view them as customers, but I don't see them that way either. Customers are always right. My tenants are rarely right. My tenant's job is to take care of my property and pay rent on time. My job is to fix things that need fixing and charge them for things they break. The relationship never goes any further than that. I honestly don't care what they think of me as long as they pay the rent on time, don't cause me problems and don't mess up my properties.

    7Reply
  • Duncan Taylor
    Real Estate Investor · Member since 2013 · 866 posts · 487 votes
    12y

    Tenants are not customers, they are assets and should be managed like assets.

    Honestly, I don't know what grade our current or former tenants would give us. I have always insisted we treat them fairly and be consistent in our management of them and the property.

    There was a period of time when we asked departing tenants if they would rent from us in the future if the opportunity presented itself.

    It was a feel good question soliciting a feel good response but didn't generate anything actionable we could use to improve our operations.

    1Reply
  • Will BarnardPro Member
    Moderator
    Developer · Santa Clarita, CA · Member since 2008 · 15k+ posts · 10k+ votes
    12y

    While Aaron's response may appear harsh and cold, he is dead on right. Now, if this grade was only encompassing the landlords grade on negligence, slum lording, etc, then you should be operating with an A.

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  • John Stovall
    Americus, GA · Member since 2014 · 22 posts · 18 votes
    12y

    I'm not sure I get a grade of A, but I do view my tenants as a customer. I also teach marketing and assure my students: The customer is not always right. I live in a small town and am very friendly with all of my tenants and even the neighbors of my buildings. I have 9 units now, have never advertised for any tenants because I get them through referrals, and enjoy being a landlord.

    I will agree to any tenant demand but will then request an increase in rent if I feel like it's something that was not agreed upon when I rented the apartment. I'd say about 90% of the time they forget their request, but 10% of the time, they agree to a higher rent.

    1Reply
  • Chris K.Pro Member
    Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 655 votes
    12y

    Probably an F because in their opinion I'm cold hearted and I don't care about them because I start the eviction process the first week they're late.

    5Reply
  • Sharad M.Pro Member
    Carlsbad, CA · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    If my tenants give me an A, then I will give myself an F.

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    3Reply
  • Ryan Shuchman
    Rental Property Investor · Ann Arbor, MI · Member since 2013 · 55 posts · 4 votes
    12y

    I would guess an A as I fix things very quickly and many complain previous landlords ignored requests. However most of my units are mid to higher end for the area and I want to convey that I expect them to be very well maintained. One question, other than obvious broken window, what are tenant chargeable items? Most of my stuff is leaky pipes etc which I view as my cost.

    0Reply
  • BJ McKellar
    Property Manager · Washington, Washington D.C. · Member since 2014 · 24 posts · 5 votes
    12y
    This is fantastic, our online negative reviews
    0Reply
  • BJ McKellar
    Property Manager · Washington, Washington D.C. · Member since 2014 · 24 posts · 5 votes
    12y
    Sorry about that, I'm on the iPhone app, and hit post. App needs a ARE YOU SURE BOTTOM All of our negative online reviews are from our tenants, they get mad when we charge them for repairs, or a late fee for paying rent late. We do everything we can to keep them happy, but as the middle man for the landlord, we are always the bad guy. I guess most of our tenants would give us a B. We are fair, but we work for the landlord, our job is to keep the landlord in compliance and make them money. In Washington, D.C., the laws are very tenant friendly, so tenants should love us!
    0Reply
  • Aly W.
    Investor · Middletown, NJ · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    This is a great topic! I believe tenants will give any landlord an A if they get what they want at all times, pay the rent when it's convenient for them, and never get served with a Pay or Quit/Eviction notice.

    I'm evicting a tenant now for nonpayment, and while she may have given me an A months ago for being very prompt with repairs, she is now accusing me of trying to steal her deposit for not paying the rent....so I guess that gets me an F ;)

    3Reply
  • Brie SchmidtBusiness Member
    Moderator
    Real Estate Broker · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    12y

    I think tenants are customers. We self manage 6 units, all recently rehabbed with granite/SS and higher than market rents. In 2.5 years we have had 1 late payment with all 6 units (they had a death in the family and needed to pay on the 7th and let us know ahead of time) We even have 1 tenant who pays early every month.

    Our tenants have a problem, we fix it immediately. We email them quarterly and try to be proactive about repairs and we even send them Christmas gifts. In turn I feel our tenants are extremely easy to deal with. Our dryer wasn't working and instead of calling us and demanding we come fix it the tenant looked at it himself and called to tell us what the problem was and that he fixed it. He even paid for the part himself and refused reimbursement.

    On the flip side we had a tenant call, she is a single girl and lives alone and she thought somebody was in her house because the toilet seat was up. I know this can sound totally irrational but she is a great tenant and we want her to feel safe. We were there within a hour with a new lock set and window guards.

    So I may be against the norm here, but that is how we choose to run our business. I think we would get an A

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    2Reply
  • Travis Christl
    Real Estate Agent · Victoria, MN · Member since 2013 · 56 posts · 29 votes
    12y
    @ Brianna S. Agree completely. Find good tenants treat them fairly and they will stay a long time. A bad tenant I don't care if they grade me an "f". But a good tenant very important to not give them a reason to leave.
    0Reply
  • Gerald K.
    Real Estate Investor · Kirkland, WA · Member since 2012 · 480 posts · 116 votes
    12y

    Grade for what? Promptly responding to maintenance and repair issues? Or for enforcing the lease or letting things slide? It all depends on the tenant and their perspective. Some tenants are responsible and do the right thing. Others think the landlord has deep pockets and owes them something no matter what you do. I think a better thing to ask for marketing purposes, versus asking for a grade of satisfaction, would be to ask what they like, dislike about the rental, neighborhood, etc.

    2Reply
  • Aaron Mazzrillo
    Investor · Riverside, CA · Member since 2011 · 2k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    I learned very quickly early in my career whenever I asked "is everything else OK?" It always ended up costing me more money because there was always something they wanted to complain about. I actually don't even like talking to my tenants. I meet them one time, at lease up if I am the one doing it, then hope I never see them again. Now that I have an assistant, I haven't met many of my tenants at all and I like it that way. If I do, it's because they showed up for the eviction and I went along with my lawyer. LOL

    2Reply
  • Aly W.
    Investor · Middletown, NJ · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    My husband and I have had great tenants move out due to life changing circumstances. New baby, job loss, job transfer, break up. It will happen no matter how fabulous a landlord you are, and the more you do that isn't absolutely necessary, the more you will be asked to do.

    We've had tenants pay early, and pay late. And some not at all, for no reasons relating to how much has been done for them. We send holiday cards. We have an amazing tenant who sends us specialty chocolate each Christmas. If he ever moves, I'll have a breakdown ;)

    Once we sent a baby gift to a tenant - they responded a few months later by not telling us about a job loss, and simply stopped paying rent and communicating. They were evicted, and left a gift for us of a trashed house.

    It's a business, not a popularity contest.

    5Reply
  • Martin Zawarski
    Contractor · Easton, PA · Member since 2013 · 152 posts · 58 votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Aly W.:

    It's a business, not a popularity contest.

    Sometimes I guess I get too close to my tenants. I see this coud be a problem. I am current with all my tenants now, but they do stretch when they pay. I do collect all late fees as well.

    0Reply
  • Aly W.
    Investor · Middletown, NJ · Member since 2008 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    @Martin Zawarski, sometimes I feel that way about my tenants too. But it doesn't keep a tenant from not paying the rent when they have a problem, or first asking their friends or family for the money; they expect I will wait for it. When they get that Pay or Quit Notice, they do take it personally. That's what happens when the landlord/customer/friend line gets blurry.

    0Reply
  • Roy N.Pro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Fredericton, New Brunswick · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Chris Martin:
    If your tenants could give you a grade, what would it be?

    Chris:

    That would depend on when you asked: Yesterday, after 12" of wet heavy snow in the night, when all our SFR tenants {who are responsible for their own snow removal} awoke to find the ends of their drives cleared ... and came home from class/work to find the rest cleared ... well, we'd have scored an 'A+'.

    The last week in September after reading the riot act to your student tenants for the third time, we'd probably score a 'D' ... or a 'U' for "uptight".

    Like in many businesses, your only as good as your last dance.

    2Reply
  • Bill Gulley
    Investor, Entrepreneur, Educator · Springfield, MO · Member since 2009 · 21k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    12y

    Most all sent Christmas cards, some had BBQs and invited me, some cried when the when they left and kissed me good bye, some even stayed in touch after they left. They only way I would've gotten an A from all of them was if I had lowered the rent! So, I'd say an A- to a B+. :

    0Reply
  • James Wise
    Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 31k+ posts · 20k+ votes
    12y

    It's a sliding scale.

    I have one tenant who on Jan 31st would have given me an A

    On Feb 1st he explained rent would be late. I went over the late fees & how there is no possibility of waiving them. Grade C

    on Feb 9th I informed him I have no problem putting him on the street & explained that the 3 day notice goes up tomorrow. Grade F

    Feb 10th Rent + Late fees paid in full. Grade I give myself A

    5Reply
  • Steve Babiak
    Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    12y

    Here is a site where tenants ARE already rating landlords:

    http://www.whoseyourlandlord.com/

    1Reply
  • James Wise
    Real Estate Broker · Cleveland Dayton Cincinnati Toledo Columbus & Akron, OH · Member since 2013 · 31k+ posts · 20k+ votes
    12y

    @Steve Babiak Thats a cool site. It would be interesting to go onto it and see what the tenants are saying. I assume it's new & maybe originated in PA? PA has several Landlords listed but most other states have no Landlords listed OH, Florida, California, Texas, Alaska, Hawaii, Louisiana... to name a few.

    0Reply
  • Marcia Maynard
    Investor · Vancouver, WA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    12y

    We approach our business with a service attitude. We are grateful we have customers.... our tenants, and we don't take them for granted. The customer is not always right, but the customer always has rights. We do our best to respect those rights, the legal ones and the human ones.

    I think our top tenants would give us a "A" and the ones who don't hold up their end of the rental agreement would probably give us a D. I'd give myself an "A" for effort and varying grades for results. :-)

    It is hard to remain calm and professional in the face of a tenant who is calling you "evil". That happened to me one time after I called law enforcement to do a welfare check on the tenant - I couldn't rouse her to the door, she was asleep with a hangover and her two young daughters were outside alone, skateboarding on a stolen skateboard in the middle of a busy street, barefoot on a cold day.

    I had tenants call me an "angel", after being there for them at a difficult time. One such time was when a tenant called me because their beloved pet had died and they didn't know what to do. They were retired, very low income, and without a car. I drove them to the Humane Society as they cradled their cat in a towel and the Humane Society helped them with the disposal of the remains.

    I've received plenty of gracious cards, gifts, and invites to weddings and bar-b-ques. I've also received a few "parting gifts" from tenants who were not so gracious upon move-out. All part of the landlording experience.

    1Reply
  • Steve Babiak
    Real Estate Investor · Audubon, PA · Member since 2009 · 13k+ posts · 8k+ votes
    12y

    @James Wise - it did originate in PA by college students, hence the overlap in college theme and rate a landlord theme.

    I just wanted to point out to the forum posters that it is already happening.

    0Reply
  • Michaela G.
    Investor · Atlanta, GA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
    12y

    Because this depends on the reasonableness of the tenant, there can't be an objective rating.

    I know that the reasonable tenants would rate me A or B, but then I have tenants that are unreasonable and get mad when I don't keep fixing frozen pipes, because they don't want to turn on the gas heater and instead hole up in the bedroom with a little space heater.

    I have low income tenants and they may not be unreasonable in general, but because they tend to live paycheck to paycheck it becomes a self-defense mechanism to blame me for things that are their responsibility. They simply don't have the money to call a plumber or to fix a window that they broke (in that case it's always that someone tried to break in) or whatever else might be wrong.

    Evictions happen more easily, because they simply don't have cash reserves and if anything happens, the car breaks down, someone gets sick - they have to take from one to give to the other. And then it's the landlord that's too blame, because I'm just a cold-hearted ***** who insists on rent, when they don't have it.

    It's a constant juggling act and I find that it's much better to not get too close friendly with tenants. I self-manage and they all have my ph# and will call me, but they don't know my personal life.

    3Reply
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