Rent to my Contractor?
Disclaimer: I sincerely do not wish to offend anyone... however, I would like to very kindly request to only have individuals that have actually been in this situation to provide feedback. Although everyone's opinion is valuable, we often tend to quickly give an opinion on what we "would do" in a certain situations, when "real life" tends to unfold very differently...
Hello Everyone!
Okay, here's the situation... I'm currently the middle of a rehab on a flip property that I've been leaning towards holding as a rental, as it is always my preferred exit strategy. Today I received a call from a contractor I've worked with a few times and he asked if I'd be willing to rent the property to him once it's complete. The issue is, I do not really want to rent to this contractor... He has not been the most "reliable" as far as showing up on time, being prepared to complete jobs, 101 excuses, etc. He's a fairly young guy who is good at what he does, but just needs to learn how to run his business more professionally... With all the hassle I receive working with him as a contractor, I can only imagine the headache I'd receive with him as a tenant. However, I do not want to ruin the relationship by flat out telling him that I do not want to rent to him.
I would really like to hear how others have handled this particular situation or similar situations.
Thanks!!!
It seems you have made a decision. If you feel that is your best course of action than proceed with it, however I am going to put my two cents in for what it is worth. My company policy is to not rent to anyone I know or do business with. It keeps the current relationships clear as what they are. I have had family and friends ask to rent and I have just told them my policy. They understood and appreciated my honesty. If you make this your policy and tell him that he will likely appreciate you being honest with him as well, can I guarantee that? Of course not. But like the old saying goes... honesty is the best policy.
Originally posted by @Michael Badin:
It seems you have made a decision. If you feel that is your best course of action than proceed with it, however I am going to put my two cents in for what it is worth. My company policy is to not rent to anyone I know or do business with. It keeps the current relationships clear as what they are. I have had family and friends ask to rent and I have just told them my policy. They understood and appreciated my honesty. If you make this your policy and tell him that he will likely appreciate you being honest with him as well, can I guarantee that? Of course not. But like the old saying goes... honesty is the best policy.
Michael, I completely agree with you. It was already my policy not to rent to friends and family members, but this is the first time I've come across this particular issue since he's neither a "friend" or "family member". Thanks for the input! I really appreciate it.
We deal with this on a regular basis. We have an application process we send everyone thru and to date...we have never had one of our contractors pass the application process. They have no reason to get mad at us now because of course its not our fault they don't have the greatest credit.