Landlords: Describe your most problem-free tenant ever
San Jose, CA · Member since 2015 · 4k+ posts · 3k+ votes
We talk here about high-maintenance or problem tenants all the time. I'd love to hear about your most trouble-free tenant you've ever had, or what types of rentals or tenants you have found to be the easiest to deal with or require the least amount of your time. I think this would actually be helpful information for investors, including me, when looking at perhaps a tenant base we had never thought of before.
For me, managing a 25 unit apartment building next to a university, my most problem-free tenants were law students by far. They have no time for drama and are never home to do any damage. The most I ever had to do with them was to send them a text reminder to give me the check that was already written out and sitting on their dresser, or to just touch base to ask if they had a running toilet or leak or anything else that needed attention and they'd always be glad I asked and give permission to enter when they weren't home to fix anything.
What about you?
Ever since I evicted 2 of 3 tenants in the past, I can't complain about my 3 tenants. They take care of the units, and they help me out by clearing out the leaves in the back yard. Since they pay the rent on time, during Christmas day, I give them each a Christmas basket and they love it!
All of my tenants are the tops. Of 9 units 6 units are rented by single women from millennials to retiree. The best. I love millennials in my area and my price point- they work like crazy and their parents love our units.
Each unit we have turned over has been completely renovated and we are at a higher price point (but below the luxury. That weeds out a lot. And vetting is the other aspect.
In NJ (and in a growing number of states) a landlord MUST recognize that you could be renting to a tenant for life. You tend to take vetting a whole hell of a lot more seriously when you look at it that way.
The VAST majority of my tenants are no trouble at all. They are considerate neighbors, they pay on time, they are reasonable in their expectations, and they report problems that may cause damage before they become major issues. Further, many of my tenants have by hud standards, low or very low income.
Even the tenants that do occasionally have financial issues are really no trouble if they follow my process for late payments.
Ever since I evicted 2 of 3 tenants in the past, I can't complain about my 3 tenants. They take care of the units, and they help me out by clearing out the leaves in the back yard. Since they pay the rent on time, during Christmas day, I give them each a Christmas basket and they love it!
Ever since I evicted 2 of 3 tenants in the past, I can't complain about my 3 tenants. They take care of the units, and they help me out by clearing out the leaves in the back yard. Since they pay the rent on time, during Christmas day, I give them each a Christmas basket and they love it!
So, what is the difference between the types of tenants you had to evict and the ones you love now? Do you have better experiences with certain age groups or families or singles, etc.?
The VAST majority of my tenants are no trouble at all. They are considerate neighbors, they pay on time, they are reasonable in their expectations, and they report problems that may cause damage before they become major issues. Further, many of my tenants have by hud standards, low or very low income.
Even the tenants that do occasionally have financial issues are really no trouble if they follow my process for late payments.
So, what in particular do you look for in a tenant? Even though they are low income, do you have better luck with families or singles, or do you just get the best tenants by using certain criteria? I'm trying to get at - how to find the most problem-free tenants, whether a landlord rents in Beverly Hills or a low-income neighborhood. How do you find the most trouble-free tenant for your type of rental?
@Sue K.
So the first 2 tenants were inherited. I knew that I had to evict her because when the unit was shown to me, it was inhabitable and she wa living for free, she had 2 months without paying rent. Plus, they were my neighbors so I knew how both were their living conditions. So the other tenant, she was paying rent every month, but when I told her that I became the new owner, she got furious and then to top it with whip cream and cherry, I told her that I was going to raise the rent, she started to interrogate me. In conclusion, she said that she wouldn't sign the new contract because the unit wasn't worth it and she would move. Like 4 or 5 months later, she moved. This lady gave me a hard time but I was so glad that those nightmares were over. I learned to do back ground check and credit check and it was worth the wait!
@Sue K.
So the first 2 tenants were inherited. I knew that I had to evict her because when the unit was shown to me, it was inhabitable and she wa living for free, she had 2 months without paying rent. Plus, they were my neighbors so I knew how both were their living conditions. So the other tenant, she was paying rent every month, but when I told her that I became the new owner, she got furious and then to top it with whip cream and cherry, I told her that I was going to raise the rent, she started to interrogate me. In conclusion, she said that she wouldn't sign the new contract because the unit wasn't worth it and she would move. Like 4 or 5 months later, she moved. This lady gave me a hard time but I was so glad that those nightmares were over. I learned to do back ground check and credit check and it was worth the wait!
Wow. Baptism by fire, eh? Well done, though!
We have 49 doors and 35 of those are one bedroom units; Because we have so many one-bedrooms, we have a large number of singles which I think helps us. We didn't really plan it that way, we just bought the best deals we could find and it seems that one-bedrooms are not as popular with investors so we seem to find more deals on one-bedroom units. The best predictor of a good tenant, for us, has been a strong job history or higher education. Though most of our worst tenants were inherited, I have made a few spectacularly BAD picks. What we do that really helps in this case, is m2m leases-- it's way easier to get out a 'mistake' on a m2m lease== and when it's not working out we don't spend a bunch of time "working" with a bad tenant, we non-renew pretty quickly. Generally, we get pretty good cooperation because we try to make a deal that will allow a departing tenant to get out with the money to find a new place. We tell them if they don't pay the last month, we'll strategically use the 3-day notice and if they get out before the 11th (or the first day we can file) we'll do an on the spot deposit return prorated by the daily rent for the last month assuming the leave the place decent. That way they can have almost two month's rent on move out day.
Best tenant I ever had was a young college graduate working a new job right after finishing his degree a local school. He sent his check postmarked right on the first of the month, every month. He asked me a year in if he could pay every two months. I made an exception for him and accepted the deal. Halfway into his second year, he moved in with his girlfriend on a trial basis. Spent the next six months paying me rent without even being there. Informed me at the end of the second year that the trial had been successful and he was getting married. Left the place spotless, like it had never been lived in. They're married now and just bought a house.
The only thing I disliked about the experience is that I only got to have this guy as a tenant for two years. But he wasn't my normal tenant class. He came to me as a recommendation by another tenant. This is the kind of shorter-term tenant with no financial troubles but a limited credit history who goes into B-class multifamily apartments in the area, not the kind of low C-class SFR in my portfolio. He wanted to be close to his job and he believed the nice things my other tenant said about me.
B-class area 1-bedroom units tend to be the tenants that give us the least problems.
One of the best we had was a corporate tenant who took care of everything for 9 years. Now it's the Coast Guard guys who come in for 4 year tours, so we are going into 16 years of this run. They occupy a completely rebuilt beautiful home that we decided to rent because none of our kids wanted it??? We are constantly looking for another property to rent to the Coast Guard. These guys take care of everything & have the next incoming family lined up before they depart.
My daughter has some great millennials in her 6-plex, all of which have been great, no problem Venmo etc tenants.They move on after a couple of years but refer others in their loop for pending vacancies. Occasionally the gay one has a melt down about life, but she handles it well from AZ.
As an aside we have a LOT of contract-for-deed investors that run rentals for us in the hope of paying it off eventually. These have been an arms length dream come true 'so far'. Although many have eventually financed & paid us off, some have walked away, but it's always been amicable & we just rinsed & repackaged the property to another. One family has 9+ of our once PITA rentals, all of which we grabbed at tax lien/foreclosure auctions, that we were glad to hand off. These types pf properties have proved to be very profitable 'arms length' 401(k)-solo investments for us.
@Sue K.
Medical student who was my very first tenant in my very first rental was by far my favorite. Rented for four years and never was late on payment once. Had the place furnished like a posh pent house, lots of plants in front of the unit made the whole building look nicer. He called me only once to ask if I could have the sprinkler system turned on longer because the grass was browning. So I called HOA maintenance man to fix it. I was sad to see him go!
@Sue K.
For me, well put together middle aged women who prefer to rent than own. They're nice, they report when things don't work and work with you to find ample time to fix it. Typically they have a pet, but the pet is non-destructive. They seem to dig that a younger male investor takes care of their home and keeps it nice for them. Every one of them seems to pay early. Last year I had January's rent a week before Christmas even happened. In one case, a water heater was malfunctioning, told her I would buy it that night and come replace the next morning... she was so delighted she paid $150 toward the cost of it!
I dig owning property.
Recently, and this wasnt a tenant, I bought a ******** property across from a high school for what seem to be troubled kids. The house was beach pink with doors falling off, crap all in the yard, smelled like a cigarette, moldy carpet glued to the sidewalk outside, etc... after we finished making it beautiful and white, pulling carpet and sealing sidewalk with a nice color, landscaping, etc, a lady teacher yelled "thank you, that really transforms the look around here, we appreciate all your work".
That was cool.
I have an SFR that I acquired originally as a flip gone bad. I normally do MF's, but rented the place out till the market improves, and that was back in 1983. I still have it, mortgage free and cash flows over $1,500 at below market rent. Guess I should raise it a little as an on line real estate site showed what I asked for and next to it says "$984.00" below market.
For this particular rental, it's best rented to a trouble free tenant. Usually, such tenants are a little older, around 35 to 40, blue collar, preferably handy, and a family man. Unlike young roommates I rent to that sometimes party into the night, with friends coming over taking parking spaces in the neighborhood, they're quiet stay at home types.
The best tenant that fit this profile was with me over 12 years, and never call up for repairs. My wife goes by to see the place at least once a year, and during these visits, the wife would have coffee ready and my wife would sit down with her for a while, exchanging photos of grandkids. People say you shouldn't be so close to tenants, but this developed over time, so we see nothing wrong.
During one of these visits, we noticed the gutters were all crooked, should be replaced, but waited till better weather to get estimates. A few months later, bought the gutter guy over, it was all straightened out. I asked the tenant what happened. He wife answered that during a layoff, he was bored at home with nothing to do, complained to his wife, so his wife said "you been complaining to me about the gutters, if you're looking for something to do, go out and fix it". I said "wow, how much did it cost you"? His answer "nothing much, didn't keep track, the gutters were loose, so I took them all off and nailed it back with longer nails, and I had nails in stock as I did handyman work on the side". Another time, a noticed a square cut out from a wall, patched back, spackled, but not painted, He explained he was hanging a panting on the wall, felt a nail hit a pipe inside, cut the wall open to inspect, noticed a dent in the pipe, cut the section out and welded the replacement in, closed up the wall, and the wall will be painted". I was impressed. How many tenants will do that?
On the other hand, I rented to young professionals, barely have time to mow the lawn or know how to mow. Another guy called about a loose doorknob, and after I explain the screws he has to tighten, explained he doesn't own any screw drivers. Can I bring one over. This is at a triplex I own, 30 minutes away, and when I mention this in a previous post, I got answers like "so get him screwdrivers". Well, I did, and I also keep light bulbs on hand so lightbulbs can be changed when they go out. What's the problem? People were using these spare lightbulbs for their bedrooms, and one guy called to complained he used the 40 watt bulbs at his night stand for reading, and 40 watts is too dim. I told him, yes I know, I use to keep 60 watt bulbs in the storage room, they keeps disappearing, so I now supply 40 watts, hopefully people won't steal them anymore, as they're not for night time bedroom reading. Oh, the spare screwdrivers I bought over, they disappeared too.
So here, my adventure with tenants.
Ever since I evicted 2 of 3 tenants in the past, I can't complain about my 3 tenants. They take care of the units, and they help me out by clearing out the leaves in the back yard. Since they pay the rent on time, during Christmas day, I give them each a Christmas basket and they love it!
It's god to show appreciation. The Christmas basket is a great idea.
Most of my tenants are good. I had to evict one recently who had been great for 3.5 years and then I'm not sure what happened, but things went downhill. Most of them take good care of the place and stay long term.
@Sue K.
I had lucks (almost stress free) with young professionals, families with or without kids. Only two times I rented to new divorcees (single mom/ dad with custody of teenage children). I chose them not only because they had stable incomes but also they wanted to stay in the same school district for the kids. They both gave me headaches but what I hated the most that they lied.
@Pat L. thanks for the vote of confidence in the Coast Guard! There's a good handful of Coasties who are also investors, so most of us understand the value of being a good tenant.
My best tenant ever was in my property in South Korea. Rented the place out around six years ago. Didn't hear a peep until last year when she gave her notice. The property was in immaculate condition according to my realtor over there. There is a lot of talk about properties in Asia being in the midst of a bubble, so I decided to sell. Also, the tenant was a celebrity and the property generated a lot of interest. The way rentals work there is that you pay a security deposit of around 40 to 50% of the property's market value in lieu of monthly rent. I was able to do a lot of good things with that money here in the US.
My best tenants have high credit scores and make at least 3 times the monthly rent.
The next best ones are engineering or medical students with parents that have high credit scores and incomes. The latter are the co-signors on the lease.
From a unit perspective, 1-2 bedrooms attract graduate students, young professionals or couples. While the turnover may be a bit higher, it forces you to keep the units up to date and mine rent fast due to location and price point.
For instance, my 11 unit building is across the street from a class A apartment building. My rents are 40% less due to age of the building. However, the units have hard surface flooring, new tile showers and other updates that make em look nice.
Number one rule of property management: Nice properties in nice locations attract nice tenants.
Rule number 2: Be patient and wait for the right tenant.
As long as you screen properly, you will have no problem landlording-except for the occasional blip like a boiler going out when it’s 16 below zero.
Welcome to Minnesota!
My all time favorite tenant has been with me for 14 years. He pilots a boat in the summer and lives in the unit once the shipping season ends in late November. He is back to work in May. While he pays late periodically, I can’t complain.
@Sue K.
College student who rented out entire house for himself
Paid entire years rent in advance.
Never complained about anything.
I had to do inspections to find things to update because the guy just never complained.
Quiet college guy studying engineering. Never had parties, never had company. He graduates this year and I'm sad 😥
@Sue K. Our very first was the best. A single lady. Doctor. Two standard poodles. Very clean. Paid on time—bank draft. Made the house look better than when she’d moved in. Stayed three years. Staged the house with her nice stuff and took advertising photos for me before she left.
@Pat L. thanks for the vote of confidence in the Coast Guard! There's a good handful of Coasties who are also investors, so most of us understand the value of being a good tenant.
Thanks Cherise
We also give them a break on the rent we could get...we do appreciate everything they do for us.