Updated over 7 years ago on .
Gaining confidence on long term tenancy
Hello everyone,
I own class A property in the SF Bay and hit sort of a rough patch with a rather long vacancy. We've had quite a few applications but none qualified. We are now evaluating an application from a couple that seems reasonable and do meet our requirements but we have no confidence they will rent from us for at least 2 years (which is what we are aiming for). They say they will rent for 2+ years but their savings are growing very fast and at this rate they will have the down payment to buy a house in one year. They are leaving their current rental after 1 year because their current landlord needs the house for himself- otherwise they would have renewed the lease for one more year. Their past rental history shows 2 years per rental and since they have already stayed for 1 year in another place there's only 1 year left before they would want to move again (based on past pattern). I'd appreciate your feedback on the following:
1) Is there anything we can ask of the tenants to gain confidence that what they say about a 2+ year tenancy is indeed the truth?
2) If we take on a 1 year tenant (for a second time-- we did it last year and regret it) the house will likely get on the fast turnover track since people always ask how long past tenants stayed, and if tenants don't stay more than 1 year most assume that there's something wrong with the house or with us as landlords. Any thoughts on this?
Many thanks