@Joe Splitrock - Thanks for your thorough critique!
Sounds like you and @Thomas S. and @Chris Purcell feel similarly on a lot of these. I appreciate your feedback.
To respond to your thoughts...
2. I would argue that sometimes the problem is poor money management on the part of a tenant and sometimes it’s unanticipated and unfortunate circumstances (loss of a job, illness). I’m certainly not claiming that the former never happens, nor that it happens less than the latter. What I’m suggesting is that, as a policy, landlords offer tenants who “get into a jam” information about resources in their communities to help them through acute financial hardship in addition to executing the lease as-is (evicting when rent stops coming in). This way, tenants who fall into the “unexpected life circumstances” group get a little help (a tiny bit, really, as I’m not advocating that a landlord hold their tenant’s hand through this process, but simply provide information) figuring out how to stay in their home.
I appreciate you sharing about your past experiences with this practice. Any additional thoughts on the above?
3. “As far as stating all people are welcome to apply, isn’t that a given?” I believe the answer to this question is a resounding “no,” especially depending on where a unit is located and the political/racial/socioeconomic profile of that neighborhood or city. (For evidence of this, I recommend listening to a portion of Episode 512 of the This American Life podcast – skip to the 5 minute mark! https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/512/house-rules.) Plus, it’s such a little thing, really, to add an “all are welcome” message to a listing – it takes no time at all. So why not do it? I agree, by the way, that being clear about application/screening requirements, including background and credit checks, is good practice.
4. Others have mentioned this, and you could be right – it may do no one any good to advertise a “class A” property at an org that works with section 8 tenants, for instance. However, if my rates comp out well (i.e. if they qualify as “market rates” for a particular neighborhood), I believe they may still qualify for section 8 rental assistance, even if they’re significantly higher than units in other neighborhoods? I’m not sure about that, though, as I’ve never been through the section 8 approval process in my city.
5. I actually don’t do yard maintenance myself, save for the few times a year I visit my rental and want to get dirty (I love yard work!). I’m advocating for landlords to pay to have a professional take care of the yard. I believe this cost should be built into the rent. As I explained in my post, it took a long time for me to come around to this opinion, as I’ve had many tenants over the years express great enthusiasm for taking care of the yard, but it rarely works out. And when the yard looks ******, the whole neighborhood suffers. So I think the responsible thing to do, as a landlord, is to invest the resources to keep the yard looking nice regardless of tenant action/inaction.
6. Great point – I can see how the wrong combination of neighbors and tenants could mean a lot of headache for the landlord. Good to set appropriate boundaries. And, perhaps sometimes, an initial meet-n-greet between tenants and neighbors could help to establish a direct line of communication between them (so the landlord doesn’t have to play middleman/woman too often)? Or would this feel like over-stepping to you? (I could see it being appreciated OR feeling awkward/unwanted by a tenant/neighbor.)
7. You’re right – who knows if it will make people happy? But I know it would totally delight me, and I enjoy doing it, so I thought other landlords out there might, too. :)
8. Just to be clear, I charge upfront move-in costs (first month’s rent and a security deposit). It’s last month’s rent that I allow tenants to spread out, and I do this because 1st month + security is already quite hefty in my area and want my rental to be accessible to people who perhaps don’t have a ton in savings (rent for my upper level unit is $2150, so with a $1000 security deposit and 1st and last month’s rent, move-in costs come to $5300!). It’s a balance between charging enough to make sure a tenant is serious about staying (and paying rent), but not charging so much that you become inaccessible to people who would otherwise make great tenants.
Regarding what tenants want – I think you’re absolutely right! Maybe these should be added to my list. They seem more like “good landlord” practices (generally) than “socially responsible” landlord practices, though? What do you think?