All Forum Posts by: Susan M.

For me, your initial comparison of the two tenants is off.  There's more than just income separating these two applicants.  Kids vs pets?  4x vs 2x income? No previous rental reference for the B tenants?  What else?  Job histories?  Credit scores? Gut feel?

To me, it sounds like the couple that wants you to wait is MUCH more qualified, not just slightly more.  Generally I would wait for good tenants like that, but I know I'm in the minority. Yes, it's a hit on the empty place for 2 months but it's worth it to me for truly GOOD tenants.

The longer lease would not be something I would want.  I do month-to-month because I don't like being locked in to keeping people if I don't like them.  You could try to get at least one of the two month's rent out of them by telling them you have other people, but it could backfire and they could tell you go to ahead and rent to the other couple.  If you're OK with that then it's no biggie, but that would not be the result I would want so I probably wouldn't risk it.  I would make then sign the lease ASAP though, and give you security deposit and other monies you require.

Edited to add: The more I think about this the more I would advise you reassessing these applicants.  Why are the B applicants renting after owning?  Did they move from another state?  Or did they lose their house?  I also find that applicants who shop for places to live TWO MONTHS before they need to are generally the very responsible type.  They're planning ahead, preparing for their upcoming move.  Those are generally people I want as tenants.  Responsible, prepared, forward thinking.

A full background check before just viewing the property, no, we don't.  We do however make them complete a "pre-application" including their first, middle and last name, phone number and email.  I then check social media, google, etc for information on them before deciding whether to waste my time showing them the property.  You can find plenty of information yourself, publicly, without going through a full background check at this stage of the game.

Husband and I own 11 properties, 13 units.  He does all the maintenance, I do all the advertising/showing.

Postlets is no more, by the way.  Zillow took them over.  If you had listings on Postlets they were supposed to be transferred to Zillow, assuming you login to Zillow with the same username/password you used on Postlets.  I freaked out momentarily thinking they lost all my ads from Postlets but realized I logged in with the wrong account (I used to have BOTH a Postlets and Zillow account).

Generally a condo is a unit in a building/complex that is owned by an individual but shares common space with other units (like common hallways or greenspace).  There is no individual ownership in an apartment.  The building is owned by a single entity and individual units are rented, not owned, by individuals.  That's always been my understanding of the difference.

 Since you seem pretty new to this, and because I just read about the welcome package you left for them, I just want to caution you against being too nice here.  This is a rental and you are their landlord, not their friend, not their parents.  It's not going to be perfect.  I don't know why tenants have this idea that a rental is going to be perfect in every way.  OK, so the blinds don't go up evenly.  If it's an obvious error in installation that can be easily corrected, yeah, you may want to address that, but otherwise they just need to get over it.  Same with the scratches, etc. If you missed fixing something major before they moved in, I would address it (either fix or add it to the list so they don't get billed for it), but if they expect perfection then you really need to take this opportunity to let them know that nothing is ever perfect, it's not going to be perfect and no other place they rent is going to be perfect either.  

I just ended a lease on someone just like this.  She paid on time, was a generally nice person, was a good neighbor, etc., but she was a pain in my butt and was constantly complaining about minor things that were not issues.  She just could not be made happy.  I don't know what kind of place she rented before but I have NICE units and we are RESPONSIVE landlords but she just was never happy, even though she claimed to love the place.  This is why I only do month2month rentals.  I was tired of her, told her I wasn't renewing her lease.  She was upset but that's the way it goes. Go bother someone else with your petty complaints, I will find someone who loves living here because it's a nice place and I'm a good landlord.  Life is too short.  I wish now that I had set some stricter expectations with her from the beginning.  Looking back now, I was too nice and I paid the price for it.  

I can't say enough how important it is to set expectations early in the relationship.  Fix necessary things, be as nice as possible, be responsive, but don't be a doormat.

@Amy Martin, yes, I tell my tenants that the worksheet they return to me will become part of their lease when they submit it.  They sign it, mail it to me, I sign and scan/email them a copy.  I've yet to have a situation where someone wrote something that I would argue with.  If someone wrote "LOTS of holes/marks/whatever" I would just call or email them and hash it out, which would probably involve me going over there to determine exactly what they're talking about.  If they were pointing out issues that I wouldn't consider issues, I would explain to them why it doesn't need to be noted on the worksheet, probably come to an agreement to strike it off and sign and be on my way.  If I got there and found that it was damage they had done and they were trying to pass it off as if it had existed when they moved in, then I'd have a problem with that because it's already a red flag of tenants trying to screw you.  We'd be having a "talk" about that behavior and hopefully come to an agreement right then and there, and document said agreement.  I bet you will find that if you go see what they're talking about, they're just talking about holes than have been patched and painted over already. Maybe they're just being super cautious.    Not many things can't be worked out with reasonable tenants and a good, open, honest conversation. If they're idiots, best to know that now and try to get rid of them!

I've found that a lot of my tenants have no clue what kinds of things are going to be considered "damage" when they are filling out their condition worksheets, so they seem to error on the side of caution and put down everything they can think of.  I usually laugh when I see the things they add and think to myself "I would never charge them for that anyway", but in all honesty they have no way of knowing what kinds of things *I* consider damage.  If they added something to the worksheet that I KNOW would actually be charged as damage I would go over there and inspect and clarify the situation, but mostly I just let them feel better by including all these silly things on their worksheet and move on.  I have photos before they moved in and if there's damage beyond what is in the photos then they get charged for it, and as a previous poster said, if they don't like it they can try to sue you.

I have never had any luck showing an occupied unit.  There are so many issues.  Having to coordinate an applicant who may or may not show up to the showing with a tenant who has to probably clean the place and prep for your showing is just a nightmare.  I can't tell you how many times I went back and forth with a tenant about a good time for me to show, only to have the potential tenant no-show on the appointment, then all that time is wasted, the current tenant is annoyed, I'm annoyed, no one is happy.

There are potential issues with allowing strangers to walk around an occupied property. What if something is stolen?  If you want to avoid that you have to be able to babysit the potential renter the ENTIRE time they are viewing the property.  I don't like to babysit, I want people to be able to explore on their own.

Then there are always the potential issues of a dirty place, having your current tenant say something stupid to the potential tenant or vice versa, ugly furnishings that turn off potential renters because they just can't see past it, etc.  

I know many landlords want no downtime whatsoever, and that's great for some people but I just can't see how it would work for me.  I'm not that desperate for the money and I need time to turn a place over.  I WANT time to turn a place over.  I don't want the stress of worrying whether the current tenant is out the day they say they will be because I've got someone else moving in the very next day or week.  I've just found that I would much rather have a place empty, repaired, cleaned, upgraded and ready to go before showing it.  Do I lose rent?  Yes.  Am I a happier landlord anyway?  Absolutely yes.

It seems like, if they are paying partial rents on a fairly consistent basis (the 1st and the 20th) that maybe you could make this work somehow for you.  Perhaps suggesting a "bi-monthly" payment plan for an extra fee?  If their rent is $1200/mo and IF you were enforcing your late policy, as of the 20th they would owe you an extra $230.  Strike a deal with them if they truly are paying off medical bills and they are truly good tenants otherwise.  Perhaps approaching them with an offer to take bi-monthly payments at, let's say $650, would work for everyone.  Their option is to say yes or to start paying the late fees which is going to cost them a lot more than an extra hundred a month.  You win because you at least start collecting something and you look like a nice guy and they win because for now, they're no longer "late" and owe the late fees.

Edited to correct my math and to say it looks like the previous poster just beat me to my idea!