I have some long term & short term (vacation) rentals.
Always get a deposit... always.
Late rent = Late fees...always. If you let them slide, you're setting precedence for future problems....
Have a signed agreement... review each item/paragraph with them... have them initial each page.
Get references & nearest relative(s) not living with them... check them.
Don't rent to friends or relatives... It's just business 😉
I own a few commercial properties and get deposit plus first and last months rent up front. Deposit = 1 months rent, multi-year leases.
Who you rent to makes all the difference, I have not gotten stiffed yet (knocking on wood).
I'll pass on residential rentals...no thanks.
Jim, and yes I'm serious
Years ago I had a resdential rental, total value 85k.
I had a tenant do 10k worth of damage.
BL
That's why you're really selective in picking tenants now right???
Kris
Yep, these days I am first and foremost selective on the location & quality of the property. I have found that if you provide a polished upscale environment, then you will attract upscale clients, upscale clients with profitable businesses, they have always paid and have destroyed very little.
If the tenant knows that you sweat the details then they will be more likely to do so also, conversely if you don't care then they will not care.
Landlord / Tenant laws are much better on the landlord in a commercial situation vs. a residential situation.
Also, in a commercial situation, no one takes baths, has pets, cooks meals, has kids, wash clothes, and are gone from the property at night time.
Rentals
When I was a kid/teen, my summer job before I started surveying on a crew for my dad was cleaning up his residential rentals that he ended up with mostly as payment for subdivision work for developers and they paid him off with rent houses.
The worst cleanup job I remember was a really nice two-story house that was brand-new when my dad got it and my mom liked it so much she wanted to move in to it. He rented it to a couple who were both doctors, as I recall. I don't know how well my dad checked out their background. When they moved out, most of the light fixtures went with them, they apparently had never made it to the garbage can with their trash because it was all in the backyard and the place had to be repainted inside and out. The kitchen couldn't have been worse if they had tried to smear it with grease.
That memory has pretty much cured me of a desire to be a landlord.
