Rental Property Investor · Oakville/ Brantford, Ontario · Member since 2015 · 147 posts · 91 votes
One of my properties I have amazing tenants; granted I do many nice things for them in return but they are amazing nonetheless.
As an example they gave us a hand made gift basket for Christmas with candles, body lotions, wine, etc that they made. (Wine was not made though)
They also rented a carpet cleaner recently to clean the carpet on their dime and got the driveway sealed because they wanted it. A couple months ago the dishwasher stopped working instead of calling us to get a repair person out they youtubed how to fix it and did it themselves. Of course they pay on time, and are respectful of the house, keep us, etc
I know there are a lot of posts about the bad things they do, just thought I'd start one with the great things they can do ....
@Sarah Larbi yes I've found that treating your tenants with respect goes a long way. I'm sad to have some of my best tenants go after 3 great years. They would often make improvements to the apartment on their own dime (with my permission of course).
Andrew I've always thought out side the box. I am not into raising rents, I purchased correctly so I make good income. I think our greed system is ridiculous. Raise Rents , Raise rents, it kills me when I hear this. I think most folks are buying the properties priced to high, so they must raise the rents to make financial sense. I always thought as tenants as part of my team.
I try to look at things like this, every month a group of folks are coming to my house to drop off a check. They are building my retirement / legacy for me.It is a shame more folks don't think like you.
Now on the flip side I have the horrible tenants as well.
Tentants = Part of my team = My retirement = treat all people the way you want to be treated= its much easier tot deal with happy folks instead of miserable folks.
Non-Performing Note Investor · Newport Beach, CA · Member since 2015 · 184 posts · 57 votes
10y
@Sarah Larbi yes I've found that treating your tenants with respect goes a long way. I'm sad to have some of my best tenants go after 3 great years. They would often make improvements to the apartment on their own dime (with my permission of course).
@Sarah Larbi yes I've found that treating your tenants with respect goes a long way. I'm sad to have some of my best tenants go after 3 great years. They would often make improvements to the apartment on their own dime (with my permission of course).
Andrew I've always thought out side the box. I am not into raising rents, I purchased correctly so I make good income. I think our greed system is ridiculous. Raise Rents , Raise rents, it kills me when I hear this. I think most folks are buying the properties priced to high, so they must raise the rents to make financial sense. I always thought as tenants as part of my team.
I try to look at things like this, every month a group of folks are coming to my house to drop off a check. They are building my retirement / legacy for me.It is a shame more folks don't think like you.
Now on the flip side I have the horrible tenants as well.
Tentants = Part of my team = My retirement = treat all people the way you want to be treated= its much easier tot deal with happy folks instead of miserable folks.
Real Estate Agent · Cleveland OH · Member since 2015 · 213 posts · 275 votes
10y
Alex's attitude comes with a long term hold philosophy which I also hold. I would consider most of my tenants great tenants. When I purchase a rental property I upgrade and maintain it, if I would not live there neither should anyone else. I have a small bump after the the first year to allow a current tenant to stay on as month to month, but I am open to renegotiating another lease term. Like Alex I purchased well and charge rents that result in a reasonable ROI which means I look for 8-10%. If you provide a great product at a great price finding and keeping great tenants is easy. When tenants need to relocate I am often asked if I have rentals in the new area.
Great tenants are a blessing! I have a couple tenants that are great! They have improved my properties because they have pride in the house they rent. It makes it all worth while when your tenant appreciates you.
That is one part of this business that never gets old. Creating an opportunity for others to create a home.
Investor · Schenectady, NY · Member since 2015 · 107 posts · 111 votes
10y
I guess everyone's definition of a good tenant is different. I really don't want cards or gift baskets. I have a great tenant that I almost never hear from. The only note I have ever gotten was one explaining why she was sending four months of rent to prepay for the summer (since she would be busy and didn't want to worry about it.)
Specialist · Lakewood, CO · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
@Alex Franks I'm not sure that is thinking outside the box. I agree with you that the tenants are part of the team, and I have amazing tenants mostly because they understand that as well. Unfortunately, raising rents is to cover rising expenses. Last year taxes went up 50% on most property and the insane rains caused around $5,000 in unexpected damages to the property. As the property ages, more little things start to need attention which costs more. Inflation causes the workers that are maintaining the property to charge more for the same work.
Basically, I don't raise rents. I keep them inline with the value of money, but the number does go up. My tenants understand that and are plenty happy because they know they will always have a great deal on a great home.
Brownstown, MI · Member since 2014 · 344 posts · 98 votes
10y
I have found raising rent on great tenants is hard to do. I still admittedly bring emotion into my decisions a little bit.
If you dont raise the rent though its like taking a dividend cut because taxes, insurance, labor costs are all moving higher. Cost of materials is up, and your unit degrades over time.
I hate when my bills go up so i hate contributing to someone elses bill going up. But if i don't raise theirs, im basically raising mine down the road.
I have a absolutely fantastic group of core tenants, My turnover is about 2-4 per year and I screen very thoroughly. My screening and choices of tenants has been questioned here and elsewhere but my system has proven to be far above par tenant results wise. I only rent to those that fit my requirements and my tenants appreciate that fact.
I respect my good tenants and treaty them extremely well. Unfortunately we have maybe gotten to know each other too well which can be a problem.
I have usually only 1 or two bad tenants at a time. The "bad"ranges from us simply not being on good speaking terms, although otherwise OK, to those I am working to encourage to live elsewhere.
Over all I have about 25 excellent tenants a few good and a couple of bad.
Investor · Grapevine, TX · Member since 2014 · 88 posts · 75 votes
10y
I got tenants into their fourth year of their lease, they always pay on time, never got HOA violation letters, care for the property like an owner would, and don't complain unless it's legit and very rarely. In return, I recently put a new A/C and new floors for them. I also pay for the annual A/C checkup.
This month another great tenant of mine is moving out after three of years of exemplary tenancy.
Yes, great tenants do exist out there, and I do what I can to keep them for as long as possible.
Rental Property Investor · Knoxville, TN · Member since 2011 · 701 posts · 531 votes
10y
I've had tenants offer to pay me more money when they renewed their lease. Help with labor and costs of building an outdoor patio. Paid to have carpets cleaned. Got to screen them properly and treat them right.
Not raising the rent every year is costing a landlord twice. Their monthly income each month is reduced by the annual cost of living increase and they risk losing thousands or tens of thousands on the value of the property when they sell. I have no desire to supplement my tenants rent out of my pocket.
Having good tenants and charging market rents have nothing in common. If you only raise the rents of bad tenants that is discrimination. It is simply poor business practice not to have rents keep pace with the increased cost of living unless you are a charitable organisation.
Lender · CA · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 10k+ votes
10y
Back in the day, I fought and won a war with a bedbug infestation inherited from the previous tenant. And won. The genocide of bedbugs was glorious. It was a three month project for me to do it.
I told the landlord about it, that I was going to do it myself and didn't want anything from him because it seemed to be more of a hassle for me AND more of a cost to him to hire a company to do it.
I'm pretty sure that I was the best tenant that has ever existed.
I challenge anyone that has had to deal with a bedbug infestation, either where they lived or in a property they owned/managed, to top that. If you don't have personal experience with bedbugs, your "I can top that" submission will be disregarded. :P
Real Estate Agent · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
I am selling a product and I must be competitive in my market. I provide a great value for a safe clean place to live. In exchange, I constantly find and keep great tenants. I wish to be as passive as possible. Chasing the last dollar is the most expensive.
I only raise rents when the property turns over. I maintain almost a zero turn over rate. Granted I could get a few dollars more for the units, but it would take me the rest of the year perhaps longer to recover. (repairs, vacancy time). In calculating returns there is always a percentage for vacancy. I rarely see it addressed as a value add opportunity rates vary from 2-5+% a year. What if that number was cut to zero. The update cost is typically part of maintenance? What if you could get another year or two out of the paint and flooring, etc? Turning units is a low value activity. I make money when I sell a property or rent a new unit. An existing unit re-rent is only a loss. In a best case scenario, you could raise the rent at the rate of inflation. Anything beyond that and you will be priced out of the market.
Lender · Philadelphia, PA · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
10y
I find there are actually more good tenants than bad tenants. The bad tenants are a very small portion, but they tend to create a large head ache for many homeowners.
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
10y
I also do not raise the rent every year, but my rents are also already at the top of the market if not even slightly above. But people are willing to pay because my units are nicer than the neighbors.
I have some great tenants who help take care of minor repairs and keep the place nice and clean. I also remember one set of my great tenants who was so surprisingly calm about a rather scary electrical issue. Light bulbs were popping, their microwave (or was it toaster?) was destroyed, sparks flying out of the ceiling fan. It turned out to be a problem on the power company's side. But still, they were just so very calm and nice about it. They just said, "that's life! crazy things happen and you're doing the best you can." I've had tenants in the past who would have been screaming and cussing me out for much smaller issues lol.
Real Estate Agent · Southington, CT · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 3k+ votes
10y
Buy in good areas, make your apartments clean and relatively updated, price your apartment appropriately, and screen properly and you should always have good paying tenants.
Landlords who compromise on these things are the ones who end up with the disaster tenants. If you buy in average/below average areas you have to incorporate bumps in the road when you run numbers and just be OK with the fact that you may deal with some headaches, but in the end you knew what you were getting into. If you don't know what you are getting into, that's a problem.