Good tenant

wirelessdude01

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Not to leave damp clothes on the floor or dry them inside. .

On a day like today how are they meant to dry them? Does your lease have a clause prohibiting the use of clothes horses or putting clothes on rads?

djimi

Zulu wrote: »

@djimi: Its clearly not what the thread is about. If you are so defensive about LL discussing what makes good tenants, then you should really ask yourself: is this the thread for you?

How is it not what the thread is about? Im not being defensive; Im simply asking Ray would he consider himself to be a good landlord by the criteria that he has set for tenants, and if he does not meet the criteria of a "good tenant" (ie does not do above and beyond what he is legally obligated to do) then is he happy to consider himself to be standard landlord rather than a good one.

Im not trying to have a dig at landlords; I think my question is a perfectly valid one.

Zulu

Fair enough, I wasn't picking it up that way, but that's not to say I'm reading it as intended. Apologies.

syklops

Ray Palmer wrote: »

In this case it means making sure she doesn't let her rubbish build up inside and outside. Not to leave damp clothes on the floor or dry them inside. Remember to open a window. Clean the cooker and fridge. Basic hygiene stuff and not the likes of a few cobwebs.

If my landlord was coming around checking on that I'd be gone in a very short period of time. I currently have an issue where the bin has not been collected in a while. If my landlord was on my case about it aswell he would get a swift sod off.

How did you even discover she was drying clothes inside? And what do you propose she does for the 9 months of the year when it rains?

Ray Palmer

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

On a day like today how are they meant to dry them? Does your lease have a clause prohibiting the use of clothes horses or putting clothes on rads?

Use the dryer or don't put the wash on in the first place
Yes I have it in my lease you cannot dry clothes inside, I highlight it to them too. Biggest cause of damp which is a common problem with rentals due mainly to tenants adding moisture via clothes drying.

syklops

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Use the dryer or don't put the wash on in the first place
Yes I have it in my lease you cannot dry clothes inside, I highlight it to them too. Biggest cause of damp which is a common problem with rentals due mainly to tenants adding moisture via clothes drying.

Equip every property with a dehumidifier. Job done.

Zulu

syklops wrote: »

Equip every property with a dehumidifier. Job done.

Madness if there's already a dryer supplied.

wirelessdude01

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Use the dryer or don't put the wash on in the first place

All I will say is thank god I never had the misfortune to have a landlord like this. We live in Ireland, clothes get dirty, they need to be washed. An unfortunate byproduct of washing is that they need to be dry before they can be worn again. Not everyone can afford to run a dryer.

Actually, do you provide a dryer in your rentals? Not once in my approx 15 rental properties in 6 countries have I ever had a dryer provided.

Ray Palmer

syklops wrote: »

If my landlord was coming around checking on that I'd be gone in a very short period of time. I currently have an issue where the bin has not been collected in a while. If my landlord was on my case about it aswell he would get a swift sod off.

How did you even discover she was drying clothes inside? And what do you propose she does for the 9 months of the year when it rains?

I'd be delighted if she moved on. She lives like a pig. I don't want to do it, it is a result of problems and complaints.

She leaves clothes in the window and has clothes hoarse with clothes in front of the fire. She isn't the brightest.

She actually could dry them in the garage, use the dryer or wait till it is dry.

Ray Palmer

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

All I will say is thank god I never had the misfortune to have a landlord like this. We live in Ireland, clothes get dirty, they need to be washed. An unfortunate byproduct of washing is that they need to be dry before they can be worn again. Not everyone can afford to run a dryer.

Actually, do you provide a dryer in your rentals? Not once in my approx 15 rental properties in 6 countries have I ever had a dryer provided.

Because I refuse to let people make my property damp? Is it because I provide a dryer?

Tell me what would you do to stop your property be ruined by damp?

Ray Palmer

syklops wrote: »

Equip every property with a dehumidifier. Job done.

There is an easier solution tell them they can't dry clothes in the house. Houses aren't designed to dry clothes in them. As places are upgraded they don't have the airflow that meant it wasn't a problem before.

Pawwed Rig

Post 1-17 discussion of topic in opening post.
Posts 18-42 Is Ray a good Landlord?

syklops

Zulu wrote: »

Madness if there's already a dryer supplied.

A dehumidifier will take moisture out of a room, a dryer takes moisture out of clothes. Considering the poster points out his clause on drying clothes in the lease and the addition of moisture to his rental property seems to be an issue for him, not having a humidifier is madness. You can't push the dryer into the back bedroom to get the dampness out.

syklops

Ray Palmer wrote: »

There is an easier solution tell them they can't dry clothes in the house. Houses aren't designed to dry clothes in them. As places are upgraded they don't have the airflow that meant it wasn't a problem before.

If you think micromanaging your tenants clothes washing regimes is easier than making a one off purchase of a dehumidifier then I don't know what else to say.

wirelessdude01

Ray Palmer wrote: »

Tell me what would you do to stop your property be ruined by damp?

Maybe ask the lady to open a window? I live in a property which I own and rent out rooms in to help with the mortgage. Never had an issue with damp and have no dryer and don't intend on having one in the forseeable future. Maybe you should get a 'great' tenant seeing as she is breaking the terms of the lease which she signed.

Mrs OBumble

I'm a good tenant:
I pay on-time every-time (and don't underestimate how valuable that is), and keep the place clean-enough, not spotless but reasonable. We fix minor stuff ourselves and let the LL know if anything bigger needs fixing - but don't be whinging at him over minor stuff. We powerhosed and painted the patio area, and painted the hallway (LL paid for paint). We dry clothes inside - but make sure that the place is aired too. We maintain friendly helpful relationships with other tenants in the building, and sweep/scrub the internal stairs occasionally.

A great tenant would scrub the shower a little more often that i do, and would deal with the patches of mould near the bathroom ceiling. But it's quite high, and i have no desire for greatness!

Ray Palmer

wirelessdude01 wrote: »

Maybe ask the lady to open a window? I live in a property which I own and rent out rooms in to help with the mortgage. Never had an issue with damp and have no dryer and don't intend on having one in the forseeable future. Maybe you should get a 'great' tenant seeing as she is breaking the terms of the lease which she signed.

I have to tell her to open windows as is. I wouldn't trust her to use a dehumidifier either. She has an issue with hoarding and general hygiene. The reason she stays is because the person who owns the house feels sorry for her so won't kick her out.
The agreed solution is the inspection every two months. She could move out if she wants.
If you insulate an old house and put in new door,windows etc... they become much more air tight so these damp can be an issue.

syklops

I wouldn't trust her to use a dehumidifier either.

Because dehumidifiers are known for their difficult operation.

conorhal

My folks own a rental property and for them it’s often the little things, a tenant is expected to pay the rent on time and not trash the place, a good tenant is often defined by the other things you’d imagine that a tenant should do anyway, but often don’t.

Cleaning the oven periodically.
I’m sadly never surprised to see an oven that hasn’t seen oven cleaner at any point during a tenancy. I’ve seen a couple of ovens that bare all the hallmarks of having been strapped to the arse of a space shuttle for re-entry into earths atmosphere. I really don’t know how my mum has managed to restore them to the condition she’s managed to when there looks to be two years of grease kiln fired to a rock hard consistency to the bottom of the oven.

Basic maintenance.
If a screw falls out of an appliance or a piece of furniture, don’t put it on the mantle-piece and then loose it, screw it back in!
The number of times that you’ll inspect a property and find that a chair leg has snapped off, a cupboard door is twisting off it’s hinges or a handles snapping off because somebody can’t be bothered tightening a screw boggles the mind. The same goes for washing machines, many a renter seems oblivious that the trap needs periodic cleaning, often you’ll find it full of wadded up paper, safety pins and change.

Would you do that in your own home?
A friend of mine recently let a property and showed me around, wow, beautiful antique furniture and expensive brown soft leather suites. I did warn her of course, so she shouldn’t have been surprised that the beautiful walnut wood coffee table would need a French polish to remove the cup rings, scuffing from shoes and burns from hot plates, nor should she have been surprised that soft leather rips when people with buckles on their shoes throw their feet up on them. Inexperienced landlords often seem to forget that it’s a rental property, not their own home, and while all those little bits of extra attention to detail might make a property attractive, they won’t survive a carless tenant, you’re better off opting for cheap and durable (that looks good) then expensive and fragile (that looks amazing).

The_Conductor

Guys- a first and final warning.
Quit making incendiary comments, attacking other posters, trolling and making all manner of suggestions about tenants, landlords (and posters in this thread).

We specifically address threads like this one in the forum charter- and request people be cognisant of the fact that this forum is a resource for tenants, landlords and all manner of other interested parties- when posting here.

Posting in a manner that might be construed as trolling, or derogatory towards any particular group of people- or towards any particular poster- will not be tolerated.

This is your one and final warning.

Regards,

The_Conductor

Ray Palmer

syklops wrote: »

Because dehumidifiers are known for their difficult operation.

She leaves rubbish in house and lives in filth. You would expect not to have to explain that to her but I do. I also have to explain why you need to open a window. So it this case it isn't the operation of appliance but the inability to function properly as a person.

odds_on

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

If you use an employement situation analogy - exactly meeting the terms of your contract is a minimum expectation so you would not be getting highly rated or the big bonus at the year end. Exceeding your basic terms and being proactive on issues will get you the bonus and high rating. A tenant barely meeting terms is a minimum expectation. To describe that as good would be overstating the point.

Just started reading this interesting thread but as regards bonuses, there seem to be too many getting large bonuses even though the company makes a loss.

Baralis1

I believe I'm a good tenant,I always set up a standing order to pay rent on time at the exact same time every month. If I break or damage anything, I will do my best to fix/replace it. I inform the landlord/letting agent immediately of any issues such as leaks etc.
The last house I rented, I hired a carpet cleaning machine to clean all the carpets and touched up the paint anywhere there were scuff marks etc. Indeed, the property before that, when I handed back the keys, the letting agent remarked that the apartment was actually much cleaner that it was before I moved in. In my last house, I even left a small amount of oil in the tank and the timer on to keep heat in the house to counteract the damp caused by the leaking roof.

odds_on

syklops wrote: »

Equip every property with a dehumidifier. Job done.

Tenants won't use them until its too late and mould has arrived. Excuse - too costly to run and landlord is responsible for mould in the property.

NB; still working my way through the thread.

odds_on

Ok, so I got to the end of the thread - so far.
A few questions and observations:
A tenants idea of normal wear and tear is different to a landlord's.

Why should a landlord have to redecorate after nearly every tenancy - a house owner will only do it once every 5 years or more.

In general, a tenant's idea of "clean" at the end of a tenancy seems to be different to that of a landlord.

the world wonders

odds_on wrote: »

In general, a tenant's idea of c"lean" at the end of a tenancy seems to be different to that of a landlord.

Yes, just like my idea of "modern", "spacious", "newly renovated" and even "south facing" seems to be different to that of most landlords.

Ray Palmer wrote: »

If people want to say good and bad landlord stuff start another thread and keep this on tenants.

No, I think you should stop dodging the question with lame attempts to rule it offtopic and say what you think a good landlord is.

Potatoeman

A good tenant pays their rent on time and doesnt wreck the place.
A good landlord maintains their property and gets repairs done promptly.

The level of work required for a property varies. An old house will have more issues than a new one.

Many tenants and landlords think they fall into the good category but dont factor in their other flaws. One thing I find annoying is shortnotice visits. I have had landlords let themselves into properties Ive been renting, one turn up on a Saturday and start painting the kitchen without telling us. I had another drop in regularly and hang around for an hour. Its usually better dealing with a management company overall.

Pawwed Rig

Potatoeman wrote: »

A good tenant pays their rent on time and doesnt wreck the place.

?? So we should expect a tenant to wreck the place and congratulate them when they don't? If you read the thread it clearly explains the minimum expectations of a tenant. This includes not wrecking the place and paying rent on time.

It's funny how in thread about tenants people refuse to discuss the topic and keep trying to flip it to landlords. I really don't understand this. It seems that the perception is one of aggressors and victims. Everybody knows that tenants are the victims so how dare the OP try and to suggest that the tenant is not always correct 100% of the time.

I think he was pretty spot on in the opening post tbh. I tried to give an analogy of the workplace earlier but it seemed to confuse some people so we'll try another analogy.
My TV - if I turn on my TV I expect it to work and I expect to be able to watch programmes. It is adequate, it does the job I expect it to. Were it to take 10 minutes to turn on when I wanted it then it would be a crap TV as it causes me hassle. Were it suddenly to become a HD TV with with crystal clear picture and sound then I would have a good TV.

Potatoeman

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

?? So we should expect a tenant to wreck the place and congratulate them when they don't? If you read the thread it clearly explains the minimum expectations of a tenant. This includes not wrecking the place and paying rent on time.

It's funny how in thread about tenants people refuse to discuss the topic and keep trying to flip it to landlords. I really don't understand this. It seems that the perception is one of aggressors and victims. Everybody knows that tenants are the victims so how dare the OP try and to suggest that the tenant is not always correct 100% of the time.

I think he was pretty spot on in the opening post tbh. I tried to give an analogy of the workplace earlier but it seemed to confuse some people so we'll try another analogy.
My TV - if I turn on my TV I expect it to work and I expect to be able to watch programmes. It is adequate, it does the job I expect it to. Were it to take 10 minutes to turn on when I wanted it then it would be a crap TV as it causes me hassle. Were it suddenly to become a HD TV with with crystal clear picture and sound then I would have a good TV.

People will talk from personal experience. Tenants pay for a service. I think the problem with many landlords with mortgages is that they are not fully prepared for the normal wear and tear. One thing mentioned above is the tenant doing repairs themselves. That would be the landlords responsability. If the landlord increases your rent by one hundred euro you will expect them to maintain the property to the level of rent you are paying.

Pawwed Rig

But the thread is not about landlords