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This is a very interesting thread. We are homeowners who are considering renting a desirable, luxurious house for 3 or 6 months, longer if the rent price is favorable (while still keeping my house and getting it ready to sell), and I hope to find a thread similar to this one from a renter's point of view.
Until I do, could someone on this thread suggest some pointers for us?
We are nonsmokers (and have no friends or family that smoke—indoors or out), no pets, no children or grandchildren, extremely clean, quiet, have excellent finances and references, have no pets, etc. We would be literally "the perfect renters," and we want to ensure we get a perfect landlord and a great rental.
What should I look out for?
Anyone here have a super executive house in a desirable location they want to rent out at below market rates? We might be interested in purchasing, ultimately.
I rent to lots of perfect renters and take below market. My place is mint, what worries me is what is a perfect Landlord.
My tenants know not to bother me, minor things break etc., it is not a hotel etc. They are paying below market as they work a lot of hours, dont smoke, dont have pets, dont have kids, and keep the place mint.
But if they started calling me a lot I would raise the rent. Unless you are in a complex lots of landlords like me own one property and have their own life.
Ok I am the perfect Landlord. My wife runs it not as a business and litterally treats tenants like gold and replaces things when not needed. Heck when tenants move in she stocks all paper goods, bottle red, bottle white, some snacks, bottled water with a welcome note as she knows tenants are tired when moving.
However, she fully understands the term LANDLORD. She is the owner, you are the renter in a kinda of King/Feudal relationship. Folks started asking about my credit rating, speck to prior tenants etc. I would not even show them the place.
My current tenants did admit later on they did do some due diligence on me. Since it was a Zillow for rent posting by owner. Their cousin who lives near my primary house drove by and knew someone who knew me, they had my work address and went to linked in profiles, which is fine, but asking me for my credit ratings etc is crazy. They also can see online I am owner of property, Plus I am one taking the real risk. I am renting furnished a place that costs several hundred thousand dollars. What are they risking tops a few thousand.
And how to you find a perfect landlord? All you can do is minimize your risk of a bad landlord, really. So, is the place kept up? Do they respect your time as far as returning your calls and showing up to appointments to rent the place? Do you like their personality? Is the lease fair? Can you talk to previous tenants or neighbors to ask if they like the landlord? If it's a corporation or a property management company you can check BBB or yelp reviews. Although, those aren't very reliable from my experience. But if they have an office, you can go hang around the office a bit to see how they conduct business.
Ok I am the perfect Landlord. My wife runs it not as a business and litterally treats tenants like gold and replaces things when not needed. Heck when tenants move in she stocks all paper goods, bottle red, bottle white, some snacks, bottled water with a welcome note as she knows tenants are tired when moving.
However, she fully understands the term LANDLORD. She is the owner, you are the renter in a kinda of King/Feudal relationship. Folks started asking about my credit rating, speck to prior tenants etc. I would not even show them the place.
My current tenants did admit later on they did do some due diligence on me. Since it was a Zillow for rent posting by owner. Their cousin who lives near my primary house drove by and knew someone who knew me, they had my work address and went to linked in profiles, which is fine, but asking me for my credit ratings etc is crazy. They also can see online I am owner of property, Plus I am one taking the real risk. I am renting furnished a place that costs several hundred thousand dollars. What are they risking tops a few thousand.
And how to you find a perfect landlord? All you can do is minimize your risk of a bad landlord, really. So, is the place kept up? Do they respect your time as far as returning your calls and showing up to appointments to rent the place? Do you like their personality? Is the lease fair? Can you talk to previous tenants or neighbors to ask if they like the landlord? If it's a corporation or a property management company you can check BBB or yelp reviews. Although, those aren't very reliable from my experience. But if they have an office, you can go hang around the office a bit to see how they conduct business.
Your statement about it being a feudal relationship actually makes you one of the least desirable landlords I can imagine. Snacks don't make up for that kind of attitude.
I had briefly thought about that but didn't know how common that was or if that would scare potential tenants? If I move into a rental and then find out it's a bad situation, at least I know it's only 12 months. Would a tenant want to commit to something longer without actually living in the place first?
I see it was covered already, but many leases have the month to month rate jump up to combat this as well. That way the tenant will think twice about being on an endless month to month deal and you get some compensation for a couple of month holdover that causes you to be in an off cycle.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Eazine
Alarm and smoking things are silly. There will be times someone - a friend or relative lights up outside. I'd probably sign a lease with that on there, but disregard it. I'm a non smoker, but if someone wants to have a smoke outside its fine. As for the alarm, that's a little controlling and weird. You already require them to have renters insurance (good idea), so if their items are damaged or stolen it's covered. Beyond that, you might be able to make then pay for an alarm, but you can't make then USE it or lock their doors.
As far as smoking, it's not weird at all. My experience with smokers is they cannot be trusted to obey the rules. They will smoke outside (and come right in breathing smoke out the next five minutes) when it is convenient, but soon they start smoking right at the door blowing Ipit out, then they will smoke inside "just the one time and use air freshener) when the weather is bad which of course turns into most of the time. Look at any building or place that bans smoking and see how smokers always push it. Banning it on the property is the only way to go.
The alarm thing, yeah, no reason to make them keep it on. I would maybe put a line item in the lease stating that the house has alarm capability and they can have it turned on if they so choose and then have them initial that, just so there are no questions down the road.
Also, if you live in an HOA, it is essential that the HOA documents be made an exhibit to the lease and have them initial or sign them. Especially if you are in an HOA that can and will fine for violations. Cover a pass through of fines as well.
Your statement about it being a feudal relationship actually makes you one of the least desirable landlords I can imagine. Snacks don't make up for that kind of attitude.
There is a line that is hard to control. Me as Landlord, you as Renter. I want a renter who treats it like she owns it but not a renter who thinks she owns it.
As far as smoking, it's not weird at all. My experience with smokers is they cannot be trusted to obey the rules. They will smoke outside (and come right in breathing smoke out the next five minutes) when it is convenient, but soon they start smoking right at the door blowing Ipit out, then they will smoke inside "just the one time and use air freshener) when the weather is bad which of course turns into most of the time. Look at any building or place that bans smoking and see how smokers always push it. Banning it on the property is the only way to go.
I smoke, but I don't like the smell of the smoke inside. So, I do go out every time, whether in a rented property, or in my own house. Unless there's a really good vent pushing the smoke out.
My rules and attitude towards smokers would be, if my wife can smell the smoke when you're out, you're unlikely to get that security deposit back.
There is a line that is hard to control. Me as Landlord, you as Renter. I want a renter who treats it like she owns it but not a renter who thinks she owns it.
Well what do you mean by "thinks she owns it"?
The tenant has paid for the right of quiet enjoyment, which means she gets to live her life without interference from King and Queen Landlord. As long as she's properly caring for the house and not otherwise violating the lease (paying rent on time, not having pets if they're not allowed, etc) then you should be leaving her alone. Completely. You own the house, you don't own the tenant, and you've leased the house to them so it's their home to live in as they see fit.
Maybe your post was simply worded poorly and you are a great landlord, but it doesn't sound like it.
My husband and I were not in a good position to sell our house last year when we moved long-distance, and as such, did a fairly hasty scramble to rent it out. After almost a year, the stress of owning a property from far away has taken over (although we do have a property manager), and when our tenants move out, we're determined to cut our losses and sell. Reflecting back, here's what I wish I had known. Not blaming anyone - just trying to learn from the experience and maybe this will help someone else who is about to embark on the landlord/lady journey:
-Require renters' insurance and have your name as an interested party so you're notified if it's cancelled. We went through a realtor to rent out our place. She did a great job marketing and finding good tenants but our lease agreement was very standard and didn't include this.
-Our tenants' dog has not been a problem, but I would also make sure any injuries related to the dog were covered in their insurance.
-Specify in rent agreement that there is no smoking in the house OR on the property. I know both of our tenants are non-smokers, but I hated to think of someone coming over, smoking outdoors, and bringing the smell in.
-The house is in an urban area, and we gave our tenants the option to keep the alarm system if they wanted to pay for it. They opted not to, as they have a dog. If I ever rented again, I would either require that this be maintained as a utility, or bundle it into the rent.
-Expectations about which appliances would be replaced. We didn't want to move everything long-distance and as such our tenants got some extra things that they may have otherwise had to purchase, like a lawn mower and gardening tools, microwave, and deep freezer. I would specify in the rent agreement that these are "extras" and will not be replaced if broken or defective.
-I would be much more conscientious about the end time of a lease. Ours was a standard 12 month (Oct to Oct) which then transitions into a month to month. Our tenants have indicated they'll move out in November, which is a difficult time of year to sell. We plan to put it on the market earlier, but trying to do showings while they still live there will be difficult. With hindsight, with the lease ending in October, I would have then asked for another 6-month lease or a move out, to put us in a better position to sell.
-I would bold and specify in the lease agreement exactly what is expected in the 90-days prior to move out re: showings of the home. Our agreement includes a clause that tenants will agree to showings provided they are given 24-hour notice, but that's about it. Ours are balking, and although I know I can hold them to the agreement, I obviously don't want to **** them off or put too many restrictions on them that weren't in the agreement. Things like: "Agree to a key box on the door," "confine dog," "allow showings by licensed realtor with or without tenant present," etc. are just some of the specifications I would add so we could get more people in once it goes on the market.
It sounds like you want to live in your house again. No tenant in his/her right mind would agree to those conditions. You can't control your tenants' lives in this manner. You're their landlord, not their mother. Renters' insurance is designed to protect their stuff in the event of a catastrophe, not you. So that's none of your business. Secondly, you can't restrict anyone, including the tenants, from smoking outside the property. Outdoors is legal for smokers to smoke, at least at private homes. And why on earth would they want to pay for your alarm system? You want it; you pay for it. And it certainly isn't their problem that the lease ran out at a difficult time for you to sell. If you lived in a decent housing market, time of year shouldn't be a deterrent to the successful sale of the home anyway, and if the housing market isn't good, that's still not under the renters' control. Lastly, you say you don't want to anger them with the showings, but I don't believe that for a second. I have mixed feelings about landlords barging in on tenants still occupying a property to show the home they're renting. The tenant still lives there; thus it's still theirs and they are paying rent on the property. No wonder tenants get angry at strangers traipsing through their home. Any sensitive landlord would keep showings to an absolute minimum, and if I were a tenant, I would never allow showings if I were not home.
Our home has an alarm, but at the moment it is not connected and there is no monitoring going on. The HOA fees include monthly monitoring. However, the community switched providers, and I didn't want to bother the then-current tenants with ADT doing the switchout, since he wasn't using it anyway. The second tenants didn't desire the alarm, so I left it alone. I am more than happy to get the company back out to do the switchout if another tenant insists on alarm. However, the tenant would have to be responsible to get and pay for the permit from the county police dept. Otherwise we would be the ones responsible and get fined if there were false alarms.
One of the tenants whom we turned down because we didn't want a less than12month lease had an interesting situation. She was all set to rent another house, then discovered the owner was involved in a ponzi scheme or something like that, so she broke the lease. So I can see where a tenant can do their due diligence on a landlord. But no way would I agree to a credit check.
As far as smoking, it's not weird at all. My experience with smokers is they cannot be trusted to obey the rules. They will smoke outside (and come right in breathing smoke out the next five minutes) when it is convenient, but soon they start smoking right at the door blowing Ipit out, then they will smoke inside "just the one time and use air freshener) when the weather is bad which of course turns into most of the time. Look at any building or place that bans smoking and see how smokers always push it. Banning it on the property is the only way to go.
You must know some crappy smokers then. I am an ex smoker and I smoked at our last place. I smoked outside every. single. time. It helped we had a covered front porch and back porch, so even when it was raining every day in Tampa, i was there outside just dry as could be having my cigarette. Our house never once smelled like cigarettes.
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