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What do you think are ways for a new tenant to develop a good relationship with their landlord? For my next apartment, I'd like to be on good terms with them right from the start, rather than having to resort to sending letters threatening rental board action. Can't we all just get along whereby the tenant meets his obligations and the LL meets his?
Or is it the nature of the beast that conflicts will always exist since LLs want to profit as much as possible which means spending the least possible on unkeep?
What do you think are ways for a new tenant to develop a good relationship with their landlord? For my next apartment, I'd like to be on good terms with them right from the start, rather than having to resort to sending letters threatening rental board action. Can't we all just get along whereby the tenant meets his obligations and the LL meets his?
Or is it the nature of the beast that conflicts will always exist since LLs want to profit as much as possible which means spending the least possible on unkeep?
You may not presently have the best LL in the world but refer to the responses in your thread about repairs. Waiting 1.5 years to finally send a letter to your LL asking that a simple repair to be made after your verbal requests have been ignored just isn't the way to go about doing business. Cheers!
The "Beast" also includes tenants milking the system to get free benefits, too. The best way to have a flawless relationship with your landlord is to approach this as a business. You've hired him to provide you with a service. He expects paid for his services. And, unless you're a lawyer, I'd have a real estate attorney review the contract, just as I would any other business contract. Don't try to be friends. As a landlord, I hate that. I like to keep my tenants on a professional relationship, even though there are a couple I like better than the others. Learn the law. Keep it legal. Make everything in writing. If it isn't written, it didn't happen!
Don't mix money with friendship. Keep your LL-tenant relationship what it is--business. That doesn't mean you have to be adversarial, you can still be friendly. Just remember that the LL is in the business of making money. You are in the business of getting as much as you can for your money. As with any business relationship, two parties may initially have mutually satisfactory goals that diverge as time goes by. That's business.
If you want a more positive relationship, try renting in a place that has a good reputation. There are online sources, although of course it is important to really read those reviews--some of them are obvious that the tenant had unrealistic expectations ("the LL won't sign for my dry cleaning and my prescription delivers!") and some of them are outdated. You might also want to try talking to some current residents and see what their experience has been.
The right attitude helps a lot. One of the joy's of renting is that you aren't responsible for maintenance. My last apartment had a major leak in the tub faucet. But it was like that when I moved in and the LL had been in several times to fix other things. If they had wanted to fix the leak, they would have. But the cost of the water wasn't worth paying labor to fix it, so I had a leaky faucet. I wasn't paying the water bill so it was no sweat for me.
And while sometimes fighting for something on principle is worth it, sometimes that fight is more trouble than it is worth. One place I rented, the LL just wouldn't keep the unit heated warm enough for me. Finally I just went and bought myself a $20 space heater and we were both happy. In principle, it was his responsibility to keep the apartment warmer than he did--local ordinances required it. But in trying to get him to do 'the right thing', I was writing letters, making phone calls, taking trips home in the middle of the day to record the mid-day temperature, etc. It was way too much hassle and stress, and a few bucks made my life much more pleasant and enjoyable.
1.Dont lie to me. Don't tell me you don't smoke when you do. Don't tell me you don't have a pet when you do.
2. Be proud of where you live and take care of the place. Pick up stray trash on the lawn, etc.
3. Take the initiative to make very minor repairs. Don't let the window lock fall off rather than tighten it with a screw driver.
4. Tell me when repairs are needed. Don't let the shower just leak!
5. Pay on time and if you can't- don't come up with a ridiculous story. If you can't pay at all, move out. I'd rather have to re-rent than evict you.
6. Be clean!
7. Don't make changes to my property without consulting me. Don't add cables and make holes in the floor and walls! Don't make a million nail holes in the walls.
8. Did I say be proud of where you live? Treat the place well and keep it neat and clean and appropriate for the neighborhood and the others who live around you.
9. Act like an adult- not a child. Be calm and businesslike in your interactions with me.
Simple common sense things yet how often do landlords have to put up with tenants who just don't get it?
1.Dont lie to me. Don't tell me you don't smoke when you do. Don't tell me you don't have a pet when you do.
2. Be proud of where you live and take care of the place. Pick up stray trash on the lawn, etc.
3. Take the initiative to make very minor repairs. Don't let the window lock fall off rather than tighten it with a screw driver.
4. Tell me when repairs are needed. Don't let the shower just leak!
5. Pay on time and if you can't- don't come up with a ridiculous story. If you can't pay at all, move out. I'd rather have to re-rent than evict you.
6. Be clean!
7. Don't make changes to my property without consulting me. Don't add cables and make holes in the floor and walls! Don't make a million nail holes in the walls.
8. Did I say be proud of where you live? Treat the place well and keep it neat and clean and appropriate for the neighborhood and the others who live around you.
9. Act like an adult- not a child. Be calm and businesslike in your interactions with me.
Simple common sense things yet how often do landlords have to put up with tenants who just don't get it?
4. Tell me when repairs are needed. Don't let the shower just leak!
I get the sense from the tone and words of your post that you are aiming a deliberate--and unnecessary-- dig at me for letting my tub faucet leak in my apartment.
Just as the LL is a businessperson, so too is the tenant. It is not the tenant's job to keep reminding the LL when they have seen with their own eyes, time and time again, that a repair is needed.
It is one thing for a tenant making simple repairs because that solution benefits both them and the LL. It is quite another for the LL to expect the tenant to provide free labor (maintenance engineer, groundskeeper, personal assistant) for the sole benefit of the LL.
I wasn't making any dig at you at all. I was thinking of my own tenants.
However your comment "It is quite another for the LL to expect the tenant to provide free labor (maintenance engineer, groundskeeper, personal assistant) for the sole benefit of the LL."
is the attitude I was thinking about.
A landlord is not in a tenant's apartment or house every second of the day like a parent waiting to pick up after them and/or perform every single maintenance task. Not unless it is full service rental with a gardener, concierge, doorman, and maid.
I think a little self help is not too much to ask in the average rental situation in the interests of better landlord/tenant relations.
Please note I am talking MINOR maintenance only. I've had tenants who who wouldn't replace light bulbs or batteries in their smoke detectors, etc.
Last edited by Hollytree; 01-17-2010 at 07:06 AM..
This one has always been weird to me. Yes, I put holes in the walls to hang my artwork, and I have a lot of artwork. Of course I also fill/sand those holes as part of my move-out prep, so I really don't get why so many private LLs get all bent out of shape over something so minor. The big complexes seem to have much more reasonable nail hole policies.
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Either way, it is noticed.
