Best tenant experience?

Monokne

Hi all

I own an apartment and I'm just in the process of renting it out. I'm relatively new to this process and I've had some bad luck with my most recent tenants. Since putting the apartment on Daft I've had 50+ applicants so I have a choice of would be renters.

Just wondered if anyone has had an appreciably better experience with a particular type of tenant/tenants? I've put a poll below.

My Mum owns an apartment and has done for years and says she's found older single women to be easiest to deal with but there again that would be someone of a similar age range to herself so I dunno if that's why.

From my own perspective, I rented to a couple recently and they were a nightmare to deal with which is why I'm posting this. For example, at one point they told me there was a problem with the lights in the living room. When I went over to look at it, they didn't have the bulb in right! This was one of many examples.

Just also want to mention, I'm conscious that this is the internet in 2016 and people are always looking for ways to be offended, so let me just be clear - I am not judging any of the groups in the poll, it's simply a question to anyone who's rented - is there any one type of person that you've had a better, easier experience renting to than other?

And for the record I'm a man in his 30's and if you tell me we make terrible tenants, I won't be offended! :D

listermint

Whilst I am super handy with household tasks electrics. Plumbing mechanics.

I know many people aren't so tbf some folks wouldn't have a clue about adjusting the bulb or would be fearful of it.

So not and ideal thing to judge on. Everything is a learning curve.

Monokne

I have to disagree completely. If a man and woman in their late 20's can't change a bulb between them, there is something wrong! I rented for years and would've been embarrassed contacting my landlord about that. Anyway cheers for your input

Pawwed Rig

In my experience you cannot narrow it down to your choices above. My worst experiences have been married couples with children <mod snip> but that demographic were also my best experiences. Never had students.

Monokne

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

In my experience you cannot narrow it down to your choices above. My worst experiences have been married couples with children <mod snip> but that demographic were also my best experiences. Never had students.

Thank you:)

I'm not a LL myself but if I were looking for tenants it would be youngish single professionals (in fairly decent jobs), let's say mid to late 20's to early 30's. They should have setteled down from being a student and be able to treat a house with respect etc but also aren't likely to want a place too long term so are less likely to dig their heels in and overhold if asked to move out. They will most likely be looking to buy and/or couple up and move in with a partner also so again are people who you should hopefully have a for a few years and then they move on to be replaced by similar.

listermint

Monokne wrote: »

I have to disagree completely. If a man and woman in their late 20's can't change a bulb between them, there is something wrong! I rented for years and would've been embarrassed contacting my landlord about that. Anyway cheers for your input

You haven't met many people out there then. There's some complete technical novices at anything beyond hey I pressed the switch it doesn't work.

Doesn't make them bad tenants, whilst they are amusing in their novice ways and you'd say hey guys life skills. It's not something I'd judge a tenancy on.

Some of these spend their lives Instagram and twittering

Nekarsulm

Best experience is a <mod snip> couple, now with two kids. Place is like a little palace, and they very rarely contact me. There six years now. On the RAS. scheme so rent paid into mortgage account every 27th. Have had to replace washing machine and dryer in that time, and both had to be replaced under warranty once. The practice of washing EVERYTHING. in the house every week is hard on machines.

Pawwed Rig

Agree with the above. Some people cannot do the simplist tasks. I remember driving 30 miles one night after tenant left the oil tank run empty and it got airlocked. 3 hours out of my day for a 2 minute task.

athtrasna

Mod note

OP this thread is on very thin ice. Generalisations about tenants fly in the face of the forum charter. Particularly any references to ethnicity or nationality. I'm leaving the thread open for now but posters are asked to bear this in mind. There will be no more warnings

newacc2015

People are people. In my experience of dealing with hundreds of tenants and listening to friends who have gone through thousands of tenants. There is always good and bad people in every demographic.

The best thing you can do is hope is they are senior in a multinational that they never have time to do anything other than sleep.

Certain central European nationalities that have high levels of renting in their country that the media likes to make out are ideal tenants are often a nightmare. They are often super demanding

No nationality or any demographic is perfect. Meet the group of potential tenants and see who is the most respectful in your opinion. Generally you gut instinct is the best thing to rely on when letting to tenants(check references etc too)

The only demographic I would avoid is people on the HAP scheme. Not because they are on welfare but it can take 4-8 months for your first cheque for the rent to appear. I know someone who almost lost his home to a receiver wanting so long for the cheque

Deco99

Being a tenant who doesnt mind fixing things, would you rather the tenant who didnt have the bulb in right or airlocked tank keep fidgeting until they broke something? Doesnt mean they are useless just when its not your house you are unsure whether to go at something yourself or not. Plenty of bulbs are tricky to get in.

irishguy1983

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Agree with the above. Some people cannot do the simplist tasks. I remember driving 30 miles one night after tenant left the oil tank run empty and it got airlocked. 3 hours out of my day for a 2 minute task.

I'll second that - I am one of those people - you'd be shocked at how stupid people like myself are around the house

emeldc

I have an appt in a country town. I used to let it myself but soon realised that I didn't know the locals properly. They come across as nice as pie when you meet them but can be a bloody nightmare when you let them in. I now leave it with a EA who has good local knowledge and wont entertain any of the yahoos. He just charges a flat fee to get the tenant but also looks after all the paperwork. A godsend and well worth it. Best tenant I had was a single girl in her late twenties. The first time I met her or spoke to her was the day she left and collected her deposit. She left the place spotless and also told me I wasn't charging enough!

Monokne

Monokne wrote: »

........ it's simply a question to anyone who's rented - is there any one type of person that you've had a better, easier experience renting to than other...

.....

Most people answering don't seem to have experience of being landlords, that's boards.ie for you.

I voted Couple 18 - 40.
Not necessarily professionals but self funding.

Sleeper12

Monokne wrote:

I have to disagree completely. If a man and woman in their late 20's can't change a bulb between them, there is something wrong! I rented for years and would've been embarrassed contacting my landlord about that. Anyway cheers for your input

Believe it or not some people call out an electrician to change light bulbs. Not many but there are a few out there.
To be honest I'd rather have tenants afraid to do repairs than the type of tenant that will try repair washing machines,electric shower etc themselves.

pwurple

Doesn't matter a tap what age they are. Idiots can be any age.

Get references, real ones you can phone. Evidence of employment. Reasons they left their last place.

Communicate clearly.
Tell them what you expect of them, ask them what they expect of you.

I've heard of of people putting up with tenants asking for the kandlord to come out to change a light bulb.

Monokne

pwurple wrote: »

Doesn't matter a tap what age they are. Idiots can be any age.

Get references, real ones you can phone. Evidence of employment. Reasons they left their last place.

Communicate clearly.
Tell them what you expect of them, ask them what they expect of you.

I've heard of of people putting up with tenants asking for the kandlord to come out to change a light bulb.

I think I knew all this already but at the same time seeing it simply and bluntly and succinctly in black and white is actually really helpful. Much appreciated.

Monokne

Apologies for multiple posts in a row, but can I just add I am legitimately astonished at the multiple people who agree on the difficulty of changing a bulb. I am USELESS round the house, but I honestly thought anyone over the age of 10 could change a light bulb! Learn something new every day eh?

Pawwed Rig

pwurple wrote: »

Get references, real ones you can phone. Evidence of employment. Reasons they left their last place..

The worst tenants I ever had were very well spoken, respectable and came with glowing references.

DoozerT6

Whatever you decide to do, make sure that all furnishings etc are easily replaceable. No matter what demographic you let to, each will come with their own ways of living in a home that will mean wear and tear in certain areas. Assume you will have to repaint the hall stairs and landing at least every two years (due to people lugging their belongings in and out etc), a family with young kids may mean getting carpets cleaned and possibly the couch replaced (yay, bouncy!!) more often, letting to young professionals (I was once that demographic) may mean getting the place professionally cleaned every so often as shared cleaning rotas can be...sporadic

Realistically, no matter who you let to, (and assuming you don't get tenants from hell), a rental house is always going to require a little more input from the landlord, especially if you rent it furnished, as generally renters (especially if renting rooms individually in a house share) don't tend to think of the house like their own home. Ovens or microwaves don't get cleaned, bathrooms can get mouldy, gardens may not be well maintained, the general standard of cleanliness may be lacking....I know it seems like I'm generalising (and certainly some tenants do treat their rental house like gold) but I think renting in general is fraught with hairpin bends - I went through four sets of tenants in two years when I rented out my place! All had references etc but you just never know what will happen three months down the road.

On second thoughts, just sell the place

Nekarsulm

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

The worst tenants I ever had were very well spoken, respectable and came with glowing references.

Too good a reference almost as bad as no reference at all!
Not unknown for terrible tenants to demand a good reference, as part of their agreeing to vacate.... And for a Londlord to agree, to get shot of them.

dennyk

Sleeper12 wrote: »

Believe it or not some people call out an electrician to change light bulbs. Not many but there are a few out there.
To be honest I'd rather have tenants afraid to do repairs than the type of tenant that will try repair washing machines,electric shower etc themselves.

Hell, I'd call someone to change some of the light bulbs in my place, but only because the ceiling is over twelve feet tall and I don't do ladders. :pac: Any actual electrical or plumbing repairs, though, I'd definitely have the landlord call a professional rather than attempt to poke it myself, even if it's something I might have tried fixing in my own place.

GingerLily

dennyk wrote: »

Hell, I'd call someone to change some of the light bulbs in my place, but only because the ceiling is over twelve feet tall and I don't do ladders. :pac: Any actual electrical or plumbing repairs, though, I'd definitely have the landlord call a professional rather than attempt to poke it myself, even if it's something I might have tried fixing in my own place.

I had to do the same, but I waited till the repair guy was doing other jobs in the house anyway so I don't think the LL minded too much, we bought the bulbs ourselves!!

Monokne

DoozerT6 wrote: »

Whatever you decide to do, make sure that all furnishings etc are easily replaceable. No matter what demographic you let to, each will come with their own ways of living in a home that will mean wear and tear in certain areas. Assume you will have to repaint the hall stairs and landing at least every two years (due to people lugging their belongings in and out etc), a family with young kids may mean getting carpets cleaned and possibly the couch replaced (yay, bouncy!!) more often, letting to young professionals (I was once that demographic) may mean getting the place professionally cleaned every so often as shared cleaning rotas can be...sporadic

Realistically, no matter who you let to, (and assuming you don't get tenants from hell), a rental house is always going to require a little more input from the landlord, especially if you rent it furnished, as generally renters (especially if renting rooms individually in a house share) don't tend to think of the house like their own home. Ovens or microwaves don't get cleaned, bathrooms can get mouldy, gardens may not be well maintained, the general standard of cleanliness may be lacking....I know it seems like I'm generalising (and certainly some tenants do treat their rental house like gold) but I think renting in general is fraught with hairpin bends - I went through four sets of tenants in two years when I rented out my place! All had references etc but you just never know what will happen three months down the road.

On second thoughts, just sell the place

I would if it weren't for the pesky massive negative equity on it. More fool me for being a one bed at the end of 2007 eh?

Monokne

Monokne wrote: »

Apologies for multiple posts in a row, but can I just add I am legitimately astonished at the multiple people who agree on the difficulty of changing a bulb. I am USELESS round the house, but I honestly thought anyone over the age of 10 could change a light bulb! Learn something new every day eh?

Maintenance calls from tenants are about 5x-10x what they would be in my own house. Last one was a plumbers bill to clean out the washing machine filter!! Jeez!
Some peoples level of life education is shocking.

Deleted User

Deleted User wrote: »

Maintenance calls from tenants are about 5x-10x what they would be in my own house. Last one was a plumbers bill to clean out the washing machine filter!! Jeez!
Some peoples level of life education is shocking.

You could have done it yourself and saved the plumbers bill?

ted1

Best tenants we have had are a retired <mod snip> couple.
Rent is paid on time , the keep the place immaculate, look after the 100ft back garden and have not called once looking for anything.

They treat the place as their home and take pride in it.

ted1

Deco99 wrote: »

Being a tenant who doesnt mind fixing things, would you rather the tenant who didnt have the bulb in right or airlocked tank keep fidgeting until they broke something? Doesnt mean they are useless just when its not your house you are unsure whether to go at something yourself or not. Plenty of bulbs are tricky to get in.

Well if it's airlocked because the tenant ran out if oil , the tenant will be paying for the call out charge

pilly

I've had 3 experiences. 1 single lady with 3 kids, absolutely destroyed the house, 2 skips to clear it out, always late with the rent. Didn't pay last month.

1 "professional" couple, absolute nightmare, rang me night and day.

Currently, 4 students, never hear a word from them. House could be filthy now but they haven't engaged in any anti-social behaviour either because I'm still in touch with my neighbours and they say they never see them or hear them. Pay their rent bang on time.

It's like everyone says OP, there's good and bad amongst all groups, very hard to pick. In the poll I picked male 18-40 simply because the current guys are 3 guys and 1 girl. Could easily be the other way around though.

Use your instincts as well. I kind of knew I was taking a chance on the first two sets of tenants. With the last guys I got bank statements and guarantees from their parents and all, they volunteered that, I didn't ask for it. Don't know if it's normal in their culture or not to offer a guarantee.

Minera

I've experienced both being a tenant and a LL. As a tenant I would ring my LL about little things but that would be because if I did anything I was afraid i would break it, but if it wasnt urgent id tell the LL to take his time. When I moved out I had replacement spotlight bulbs (cause I wasn't going to ring LL about a couple of bulbs) l just told him they were there ☺.
The best tenants I find are working women or men house sharing, the house is usually spotless when they move out as neither want to lose deposits etc. Only problem is house shares don't last very long and after a year or less they move on meaning I have to go through the whole vetting process again.