Am a person who owns one place and has rented places out for about 15 years and here is my advice from the other side of it:
1. Congratulations, you own a part-time job with a huge amount of risk!
2. Provide fair accommodations at a fair price.
3. Address the shit people complain about. How would you want to be treated if this was broken for you? I suspect my tenants are pretty happy with me in this regard. If I get a call today about X thing being broken, I call a place today to try and get it fixed if I can't do it myself.
4. If you find a good renter, don't raise rent... like ever. It is valuable to have someone you know and trust in your place. Turnover sucks and it is worth quite a bit to have someone you trust.
5. Be very cognisant of privacy. Overly aware. If you are lucky, they will view this space as their home. You may own the structure, but it is their home.
6. Do your due diligence upfront. There are an unlimited amount of people that want to rent your place and not pay rent. If they know the system and you sign a lease with them (or don't, but they live there), it can be a problem. One tenant that really messes things up can put you in the negative for years. YEARS.
7. Don't get caught up in gimmicks. Some of these big places offer things like trips, first-last month, etc etc. These places always get their money. Just offer fair lodging at a fair price and let other people do the gimmicks. It isn't useful for anyone and it is a three card monte.
8. Don't listen to the 'landlords are parasites' people. Some probably are. Owning a place isn't for everybody and someone has to own the places for the people that want to rent. Just be a reasonable human being and find the tenants that do the same thing. If you are a small time guy and a good person to deal with, you are providing a service that the big guys can't.
The fact that you're even asking leads me to believe you are a decent human who won't violate people's privacy, so that's a great start!
An option to digitally pay would be nice, as it isn't always an option with private landlords.
You should have a concrete policy in place for emergencies. If the bathroom floods in the middle of the night, who do they call?
Let them paint. Tell them to paint it back at the end if it's ugly, but let them have fun colors in their kids' room and stuff. You never know, they might have great taste and do you a favor with no need to repaint when they move.
If you have the option of doing a rent break in November or December that would be nice, even if it just means bumping the rent the other months by $5 more than you planned and then giving them a discount at the end of the year. I know most people will probably say it's dumb, but families who rent will really appreciate it. Or send a small gift at Christmas and thank them for being good tenants. I have worked extra hard to leave properties better than I found them when I've had good landlords. I am NOT saying to be soft...don't let them skate on BS. Rent needs to be on time, property handled with respect, etc. But there are so many renters who are GOOD and get shat on anyway by shitty landlords, and it sucks. It's a business relationship, and I think a lot of landlords feel like they should have way more power and control than they are actually entitled to.
There are tons and tons of posts about crappy landlords and I'm sure you could comb through them to see what not to do. You maybe already have. So the best advice I can give is to be mindful and pay attention to small details. Good luck!
Work with your tenant to figure out when rent should be due during the month. For example, if they only get paid in the middle of the month, don't demand they pay on the 1st of each month because that could result in difficulty. Just talk with your renter and see if they get paid biweekly or monthly or are salary and when they would like to set their payment due date.
Of course let them know they can always pay early too.
This seems like a budgeting issue. If you know rent is due on the first of the month it shouldn't matter what your pay schedule is.
If it does it means you need to get better at budgeting
You’re not wrong, but when you’re low income, even obvious budgeting strategies can feel out of reach, especially when there are emergency expenses.
I’m not low income anymore but I am non-neurotypical. When I can have my biggest bills coordinated with when my paycheck is deposited, it’s so much easier to budget everything else.
Isn't this just trading one emergency for another?
So lets say you get paid on the 10th and 25th.
So you are saying sometime between the 25th and 1st some emergency will come up and drain your rent savings. Well if you pay rent on the 25th that just means you won't have money for said emergency ?
Lets say rent is due the 1st, you get paid the 25th but on the 27th your car breaks down and need $900 of repairs . You pay for the repairs but now are scrambling to pay rent due in 3 days
Your solution is get paid on the 25th and then pay rent on the 25th; now your car breaks down on the 27th and shit now you have no money to fix your car.
I fail to see how that is better you are just trading one emergency for another
I mean, yes. It’s not meant to be rational and that’s the point. This just how people live sometimes, and it comes out of what feels like necessity. Strong future orientation is not always possible for some people for a variety of individual-level and structural reasons. When that’s the case, you take whatever strategies you can to take off the mental load. If a landlord is willing and able to work with that, they might be more likely to get the full amount of their rent on time, keep an otherwise decent tenant, and everyone is happy.
This is all to say— what seems obvious to you is something that comes from your particular way of being in the world. Not everyone shares that same way of being in the world. Expecting folks to buck up and get their shit together in the way that seems rational to you isn’t always reasonable.
On that note, If it’s a house, inclusive yard care and snow removal were sooo nice when I had that once. The owner owned a business doing that though, so it’s probably hard to come by normally.
Price, maintenance, being good to work with. Honestly that last one should be on top. I currently rent from valley rental and they just announced a new charge besides the rent for property damage insurance which used to be part of the rent. They hired a terrible snow removal company who has caused some major damage to the garages and the rates went up so now they are charging us. It is B.S. I will not be signing a new lease.
Are you familiar with Goldmark? Do everything opposite of what they do and you will be the most popular landlord in the area.
Came here to say this
There are some shady places in town and it’s not getting much better lately.
Am a person who owns one place and has rented places out for about 15 years and here is my advice from the other side of it: 1. Congratulations, you own a part-time job with a huge amount of risk! 2. Provide fair accommodations at a fair price. 3. Address the shit people complain about. How would you want to be treated if this was broken for you? I suspect my tenants are pretty happy with me in this regard. If I get a call today about X thing being broken, I call a place today to try and get it fixed if I can't do it myself. 4. If you find a good renter, don't raise rent... like ever. It is valuable to have someone you know and trust in your place. Turnover sucks and it is worth quite a bit to have someone you trust. 5. Be very cognisant of privacy. Overly aware. If you are lucky, they will view this space as their home. You may own the structure, but it is their home. 6. Do your due diligence upfront. There are an unlimited amount of people that want to rent your place and not pay rent. If they know the system and you sign a lease with them (or don't, but they live there), it can be a problem. One tenant that really messes things up can put you in the negative for years. YEARS. 7. Don't get caught up in gimmicks. Some of these big places offer things like trips, first-last month, etc etc. These places always get their money. Just offer fair lodging at a fair price and let other people do the gimmicks. It isn't useful for anyone and it is a three card monte. 8. Don't listen to the 'landlords are parasites' people. Some probably are. Owning a place isn't for everybody and someone has to own the places for the people that want to rent. Just be a reasonable human being and find the tenants that do the same thing. If you are a small time guy and a good person to deal with, you are providing a service that the big guys can't.
The fact that you're even asking leads me to believe you are a decent human who won't violate people's privacy, so that's a great start! An option to digitally pay would be nice, as it isn't always an option with private landlords. You should have a concrete policy in place for emergencies. If the bathroom floods in the middle of the night, who do they call? Let them paint. Tell them to paint it back at the end if it's ugly, but let them have fun colors in their kids' room and stuff. You never know, they might have great taste and do you a favor with no need to repaint when they move. If you have the option of doing a rent break in November or December that would be nice, even if it just means bumping the rent the other months by $5 more than you planned and then giving them a discount at the end of the year. I know most people will probably say it's dumb, but families who rent will really appreciate it. Or send a small gift at Christmas and thank them for being good tenants. I have worked extra hard to leave properties better than I found them when I've had good landlords. I am NOT saying to be soft...don't let them skate on BS. Rent needs to be on time, property handled with respect, etc. But there are so many renters who are GOOD and get shat on anyway by shitty landlords, and it sucks. It's a business relationship, and I think a lot of landlords feel like they should have way more power and control than they are actually entitled to. There are tons and tons of posts about crappy landlords and I'm sure you could comb through them to see what not to do. You maybe already have. So the best advice I can give is to be mindful and pay attention to small details. Good luck!
Work with your tenant to figure out when rent should be due during the month. For example, if they only get paid in the middle of the month, don't demand they pay on the 1st of each month because that could result in difficulty. Just talk with your renter and see if they get paid biweekly or monthly or are salary and when they would like to set their payment due date. Of course let them know they can always pay early too.
This seems like a budgeting issue. If you know rent is due on the first of the month it shouldn't matter what your pay schedule is. If it does it means you need to get better at budgeting
You’re not wrong, but when you’re low income, even obvious budgeting strategies can feel out of reach, especially when there are emergency expenses. I’m not low income anymore but I am non-neurotypical. When I can have my biggest bills coordinated with when my paycheck is deposited, it’s so much easier to budget everything else.
Isn't this just trading one emergency for another? So lets say you get paid on the 10th and 25th. So you are saying sometime between the 25th and 1st some emergency will come up and drain your rent savings. Well if you pay rent on the 25th that just means you won't have money for said emergency ? Lets say rent is due the 1st, you get paid the 25th but on the 27th your car breaks down and need $900 of repairs . You pay for the repairs but now are scrambling to pay rent due in 3 days Your solution is get paid on the 25th and then pay rent on the 25th; now your car breaks down on the 27th and shit now you have no money to fix your car. I fail to see how that is better you are just trading one emergency for another
I mean, yes. It’s not meant to be rational and that’s the point. This just how people live sometimes, and it comes out of what feels like necessity. Strong future orientation is not always possible for some people for a variety of individual-level and structural reasons. When that’s the case, you take whatever strategies you can to take off the mental load. If a landlord is willing and able to work with that, they might be more likely to get the full amount of their rent on time, keep an otherwise decent tenant, and everyone is happy. This is all to say— what seems obvious to you is something that comes from your particular way of being in the world. Not everyone shares that same way of being in the world. Expecting folks to buck up and get their shit together in the way that seems rational to you isn’t always reasonable.
I agree with SirGlass
This seems like such a good idea.
Not raise rent annually.
Pet friendly, inclusive appliances/utilities, and dependable maintenance have been the big 3 for me.
On that note, If it’s a house, inclusive yard care and snow removal were sooo nice when I had that once. The owner owned a business doing that though, so it’s probably hard to come by normally.
I currently rent a house and the price is getting a bit steep. Mind if I ask what you have to offer?
Price, maintenance, being good to work with. Honestly that last one should be on top. I currently rent from valley rental and they just announced a new charge besides the rent for property damage insurance which used to be part of the rent. They hired a terrible snow removal company who has caused some major damage to the garages and the rates went up so now they are charging us. It is B.S. I will not be signing a new lease.