How hard is it to find good rental tenants in California?

Question

This question is really just my own curiosity.

I've been renting in California for the better part of a decade and have always been a dream tenant. My payments are made on time, I take care of my rentals as if they were properties I bought, I'm a courteous neighbor, I keep my place clean. Essentially, I do all the things I'm supposed to do. I know that's not always the case... so I try to make it easy on the property owners and managers.

My question is - how often is this the norm? Am I a rare find or are good tenants easy to come by? For those of you who rent out properties, what percentage of the time would you say you're dealing with a good tenant versus a bad one? Also, how do you screen tenants - and do you have advice for new landlords on best practices to find good ones?

Carol Venolia · Answer

Hi Jessica,

I've been a landlord for 1.25 years now, with 5 units. During that time, I've had 8 sets of tenants, having had to fill vacancies 6 times. (Yeah, that's not my desired turnover rate, but I bought a 3-unit property with existing scuzzy tenants, and was glad to see them leave; the others I bought empty and had to rehab and fill them--one of them twice due to a tenant's personal emergency.)

My subjective responses to your questions:

1. Wanna rent from me??  :-)

2. I consider all but one of my tenants to have been pretty good tenants--but perhaps none as good as you sound. For whatever reason, most of my tenants are in their 20s, and it's causing me to recall that when I was their age, I was a bit clueless about being a good tenant, too--and I'm (and was) generally a responsible person. My tenants all pay rent on time; all but one set are very cooperative; most of them do more damage than I consider necessary, but it's always due to being a bit unconscious, not malicious.

3. I only had to kick out one tenant. She seemed great, but then she moved her boyfriend in without permission when he got out of jail. He had some serious anger/violence issues. The good news is that she cared enough about her reputation that she complied with my 30-day notice and gave me no further trouble.

4. I might like to use a screening company, but haven't yet due to mixed reviews here on BP. I have a detailed application form and ask for credit reports and a Driver License. I call references (taking relatives and current landlords with a big grain of salt), search the Web and Facebook for their names, and search local court records. After the nasty situation I described in #3 above, I also listen much more carefully for little red flags. The gal who seemed like a good tenant later appeared to be a compulsive liar who fabricated instant and elaborate stories to explain any apparent misdeeds on her part. I now especially pay close attention when someone tells me they have no rental history, always lived with family, etc. Possibly not true.

5. Some of my biggest tenant problems have occurred with dogs. I allow pets after a pet application process, but 2 tenants got dogs before getting permission, then were uncooperative about picking up the dog poop, despite a clause in their pet agreement saying they'd pick it up quickly and safely.

6. My other biggest issue has been that my tenants usually don't understand "leave the place the way you found it, minus normal wear and tear." I always end up doing cleaning and repairs beyond what I should have to do--but then, I have good-sized security and pet deposits, so I haven't suffered financially yet. (I also carefully photo-document the move-in condition, do a thorough post-move-out walk-through with them, and send a detailed accounting of remedial work I had to do and the related costs, returning the remaining deposit in a timely manner.)

7. I set my rents around the average for the size and area, and I send all inquirers a list of "what I'm seeking in a tenant." Those two factors seem to eliminate a lot of less-than-desirable applicants. Btw, my rentals are modest, not high-end.

Hope this helps!

Carol