Agree/Disagree re: Tenants -- past performance guarantees future results

[Account Closed]

I do my own leasing and screen tenants.

Unlike stocks, a tenant's past performance is a guarantee of future results.

(i.e. if there are red flags in their past, there will be red flags in your future if you rent to them. Or the opposite, good in the past = good in the future).

What do you think? Do you have examples?

[Steve Babiak]

I disagree because you used the word "guarantee" there. Past performance is an indicator of tendencies, and you can develop expectations based on those tendencies. But there will be no guarantee one way or the other.

I expect that somebody described as "the tenant from hell" will always be a bad tenant, and I expect that somebody who is a model tenant (especially through adversity of some sort) will behave well as a tenant.