What are the best things renters have left behind?

What are the best things renters have left behind?

Investor · The worst town to live in, KS · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes

Someone left a queen size bedframe with a pillow top mattress set. 

A 5 gallon hot/cold water dispenser.  A 3/4 inch socket set.

Propane tanks. Service cart. 5 lbs of boudin.

Used BMW suspension components ready to send back for the core ($60).

A bicycle. Small HDTV. Mudder tires with rims.

A Glock 23 (he called and came back for it weeks later).

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Investor · Downers Grove, IL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 955 votes
8y

A clean, move in ready house that I don't have to do anything to rent out again!

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  • Investor · Milpitas, CA · Member since 2015 · 278 posts · 155 votes
    8y
    Originally posted by @Paul Sandhu:

    Someone left a queen size bedframe with a pillow top mattress set.

    A 5 gallon hot/cold water dispenser. A 3/4 inch socket set.

    Propane tanks. Service cart. 5 lbs of boudin.

    Used BMW suspension components ready to send back for the core ($60).

    A bicycle. Small HDTV. Mudder tires with rims.

    A Glock 23 (he called and came back for it weeks later).

    Money.

    But no, nothing that interesting since my cleaners just throw stuff out and I don't know anything much. How do people leave a queen size bed frame and a glock though, that's crazy.

  • Peoria, IL · Member since 2015 · 99 posts · 52 votes
    8y

    Paul's tenants stay for a longer time because they're workers who have a specific job to do.  They probably bring more personal items because it's almost like they're moving in for awhile.  Most vacation rental homes are just for leisure, so the guests don't bring many personal items with them.  I've had people leave towels behind.  Maybe some sand toys and food, but we just have our cleaners throw everything out, so like you, @Andrew Wong, I don't really know much about what's left behind either.  

  • Investor · Downers Grove, IL · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 955 votes
    8y

    A clean, move in ready house that I don't have to do anything to rent out again!

  • Dave Van HornPro Member
    Fund Manager · Wayne, PA · Member since 2009 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    8y

    Not exactly renters, but former owners of my friend's property left original sheet music from Mozart and Beethoven! The Mozart music was sold through Sotheby's for $1.7 million!

    We had an event at the building last month, which used to be a seminary but has since been converted into a commercial apartment building. Probably the best story I've heard in that regard.

  • Investor · South Lake Tahoe, CA · Member since 2017 · 78 posts · 42 votes
    8y

    Although the housekeepers usually throw out minor items and take any food left behind home, guests regularly add new tastes to the spice cabinet, leave additions to the DVD collection and I have no idea where the outdoor lounge chair came from.  As far as I know, no Glocks.

  • Carolina Beach, NC · Member since 2017 · 51 posts · 15 votes
    8y
    Police officer left his service pistol and called me in a panic when he was half an hour away, asking me to tell the cleaner not to touch it and that he was coming back.
  • Luke CarlPro Member
    Rental Property Investor · Tennessee Florida · Member since 2016 · 4k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    8y

    Giant piles of dog hair even though we're not pet friendly. 

    One time I left a Sig 1911 in my own cabin. Luckily wifey stayed behind a few days to show cabins so she was able to grab it and bring it home. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Providence, RI · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 594 votes
    8y
    The only answer should be NOTHING.
  • Property Manager · Hudson, OH · Member since 2017 · 4 posts · 0 votes
    8y

    Don't immediately throw or sell the tenant's goods away as your tenant could make a claim against you for damages.

    Try to contact the tenant and make sure you made reasonable attempts to locate them.

  • Kettle Falls, WA · Member since 2017 · 77 posts · 40 votes
    8y

    Most recent guest left me a Mary Kay catalog!

  • Shenandoah Valley, VA · Member since 2016 · 69 posts · 35 votes
    8y

    fancy alcohol, that's my favorite thing people leave behind!

  • Investor · Ogdensburg, WI · Member since 2016 · 273 posts · 351 votes
    8y

    The most valuable.. Would be A 1/2 carat diamond engagement band.. A close second was a large amount of weed.

    The ring was found between the baseboard and wall of a newly purchased duplex. It was unoccupied. 

    The weed was found in the access door to the bath tub plumbing.. A few years earlier an outgoing tenant was honest enough to tell me they had forgotten where they hid there weed.. Fast forward a couple years...Bingo!

  • Investor · Juneau, AK · Member since 2015 · 980 posts · 741 votes
    8y

    There is a past forum on oddest things left behind that is noteworthy.

    Agree, an empty, clean, undamaged unit is the best... but more interesting oddities abound.

    I had a partially furnished condo with a very sharp machete left under a mattress (guy told me to keep it)...

    Somehow I once got a string of artificial Christmas trees in a series of turnovers. No fun in summer though.

    For a couple of years about every turn over had a bottle opener/can opener in a kitchen drawer. Set for life on those.

    Loose change pops up when you de-lint a dryer or pull up old carpets.

    Oddest: a window to a jeep was behind a door.....

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