Been a Landord For 29 Years: Applicants Who Impress Me vs. Applicants Who Don't.

I've been a landlord for 29 years. I always follow the law in renting, but that obviously doesn't mean you like everything about all applicants. I estimate I've had over 100 tenants over that time. I've never taken one to court. No one ever left on a hostile note. I've been left with a mess a few times, mostly early. I've seen every lie you can see in an application process from fake IDs to bogus references.

Things that don't impress me from rental applicants

"Me and my fiance" (a less stable arrangement. Quite often you'll be re-renting in mid-lease)
"My landlord was an asshole" (Was it really the landlord ?)
Tattoos (If they debase their own bodies, how will they treat the house?)
Large dog (You can't ever get dog pee out of carpets and pads. Big dogs, big problems)
Lying on any point, large or small (I check absolutely everything out)
Bad credit (Can be worked around if they were upfront, depending on the reason)
Self-employed, no tax return (self-employed often means unemployed)
"I couldn't work because of a medical condition". (Or you got fired, or your condition is alcoholism, or you'll sue over a hangnail)
A messy car (I always look.)
A 'Coexist', 0bama, anti-religion or any bumpersticker with a leftist sentiment. (I've rented to two. Both problems).
Late for our appointment. (Not usually a biggie)
"Give us a chance". (So how many other times have you been rejected for a home?)
Any profanity used (If they don't care enough to clean it up during an interview...)
Men with ponytails. (Can you say cannabis?)
Women with rings on multiple fingers. (What else will they be weird about?)
Matter-of-fact neutral report from boss (They will gush if they can. If they can't, they will say as little as possible. The longer you talk to them, the more they'll tell you)
Couple older than 30 'currently living with my mom" (Got kicked out of their previous rental?)

Things that DO impress me about rental candidates:

Excellent credit (If they take care of their responsibilities, that's a great sign).
Professional job (College grads are usually responsible)
Long term job
Married (They're serious people).
Clean cut, clean car (tidy car = tidy house)
Conservative (They take responsibility. They take care of little things themselves.)
Attend church (100% excellent renters in my history)
Glowing report from boss
"I hate to see them go" from current landlord. (Always the greatest feeling)

Cool story bro!

Mashmont said:

I've been a landlord for 29 years. I always follow the law in renting, but that obviously doesn't mean you like everything about all applicants. I estimate I've had over 100 tenants over that time. I've never taken one to court. No one ever left on a hostile note. I've been left with a mess a few times, mostly early. I've seen every lie you can see in an application process from fake IDs to bogus references.

Things that don't impress me from rental applicants

"Me and my fiance" (a less stable arrangement. Quite often you'll be re-renting in mid-lease)
"My landlord is an asshole" (Was it really the landlord ?)
Tattoos (If they debase their own bodies, how will they treat the house?)
Large dog (You can't ever get dog pee out of carpets and pads. Big dogs, big problems)
Lying on any point, large or small (I check absolutely everything out)
Bad credit (Can be worked around if they were upfront, depending on the reason)
Self-employed, no tax return (self-employed often means unemployed)
"I couldn't work because of a medical condition". (Or you got fired, or your condition is alcoholism, or you'll sue over a hangnail)
A messy car (I always look.)
A 'Coexist', 0bama, anti-religion or any bumpersticker with a leftist sentiment. (I've rented to two. Both problems).
Late for our appointment. (Not usually a biggie)
"Give us a chance". (So how many other times have you been rejected for a home?)
Any profanity used (If they don't care enough to clean it up during an interview...)
Men with ponytails. (Can you say cannabis?)
Women with rings on multiple fingers. (What else will they be weird about?)
Matter-of-fact neutral report from boss (They will gush if they can. If they can't, they will say as little as possible. The longer you talk to them, the more they'll tell you)
Couple older than 30 'currently living with my mom" (Got kicked out of their previous rental?)

Things that DO impress me about rental candidates:

Excellent credit (If they take care of their responsibilities, that's a great sign).
Professional job (College grads are usually responsible)
Long term job
Married (They're serious people).
Clean cut, clean car
Conservative (They take responsibility. They take care of little things themselves.)
Attend church (100% excellent renters in my history)
Glowing report from boss
"I hate to see them go" from current landlord. (Always the greatest feeling)

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You totally wouldn't rent to me. My car is knee deep in trash.

Drawdown said:

You totally wouldn't rent to me. My car is knee deep in trash.

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I have always said I wouldn't rent to myself for the same reason.

Mashmont said:

"I hate to see them go" from current landlord.

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Have to be careful with this. Current landlord may just want to get rid of them. Landlords they've had in the past are more likely to tell you the truth about them, imo.

Things that don't impress me about landlords:

1. Discrimination against tenants or applicants based on race, gender, marital status, and political or religious affiliation.

2. Arbitrary and irregular inspections.

3. Lying about or concealing flaws or problems with the rental property.

4. Failure to provide necessary maintenance in a timely fashion.

5. Unnecessary rent increases.

Things that impress me about Landlords:

1. Consistent availability and timely responses to issues.

2. Flexibility on rent in the event of hardship.

3. Respect for tenants social and physical privacy.

Drawdown said:

You totally wouldn't rent to me. My car is knee deep in trash.

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I understand...believe me. Every so often, I clean out my truck. My gas mileage increases somewhere around 15 percent.

HIP56948 said:

I understand...believe me. Every so often, I clean out my truck. My gas mileage increases somewhere around 15 percent.

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My truck is knee deep in tools. I have a bad habit of just throwing whatever I am using in the truck since I don't drive it that often. The other day I had a 100 foot extension cord out and didn't feel like putting it back in the shed so in the truck it went on top the pile of hand pruners, charcoal, etc.

Irredentist said:

Things that don't impress me about landlords:

1. Discrimination against tenants or applicants based on race, gender, marital status, and political or religious affiliation.

2. Arbitrary and irregular inspections.

3. Lying about or concealing flaws or problems with the rental property.

4. Failure to provide necessary maintenance in a timely fashion.

5. Unnecessary rent increases.

Things that impress me about Landlords:

1. Consistent availability and timely responses to issues.

2. Flexibility on rent in the event of hardship.

3. Respect for tenants social and physical privacy.

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One more thing that impresses me about our landlord:

4. Keeps rent below "normal" because they realize that practice reduces tenant turnover - thus reduces their make-ready costs and vacancy time between tenants ("forcing" them to raise rents more frequently).

Drawdown said:

You totally wouldn't rent to me. My car is knee deep in trash.

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Value of my vehicle goes up and down according to how much gas is in the tank.

ttwtt78640 said:

One more thing that impresses me about our landlord:

4. Keeps rent below "normal" because they realize that practice reduces tenant turnover - thus reduces their make-ready costs and vacancy time between tenants ("forcing" them to raise rents more frequently).

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When we owned a rental house we totaled up the mortgage, insurance and taxes and that set the rent. It came out lower than market but we were making out good on the increase in property value.

My last landlord before I bought my house was damn near perfect---we hardly ever saw each other or even heard from each other. I mailed a check for usually 6 months rent at a time; he cashed it. Something broke, I fixed it.

I called him twice while living there. Once to find out if he cared if I painted and then to tell him I was moving out of town.

HIP56948 said:

I understand...believe me. Every so often, I clean out my truck. My gas mileage increases somewhere around 15 percent.

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I had that problem for years, constantly carried (at least) 300 to 400 lbs. of 'commonly used' tools in it, and finally decided to buy a 7' x 16' enclosed cargo trailer. Not only did that save on fuel costs (since we only have one vehicle), it allows me to haul all of my tools (and fair amount of materials) to the job site (allowing her to use the truck while I work) and to keep my tools easily accessible/organized (no more rooting around wondering how deep I'll have to dig to find tool X, only to discover that I had not put/kept it in the truck).

For some very small jobs, I still put a selected subset of tools in my "just for this job box" and transfer that to the truck, but immediately return them to the trailer (my mobile tool shed) upon job completion.

Grand Mal said:

When we owned a rental house we totaled up the mortgage, insurance and taxes and that set the rent. It came out lower than market but we were making out good on the increase in property value.

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Most add a tad more to cover normal repair/maintenance costs, but that still keeps rent well below typical.

ttwtt78640 said:

Most add a tad more to cover normal repair/maintenance costs, but that still keeps rent well below typical.

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We forgot that consideration and paid the price. One of our tenants turned a bedroom into a grow-op and we had to jump through some expensive hoops after the city shut off the power.
We learned a lesson about going into the house at least once a month.

aociswundumho said:

Have to be careful with this. Current landlord may just want to get rid of them. Landlords they've had in the past are more likely to tell you the truth about them, imo.

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Yes. I really like to get the ones from the time before.

Irredentist said:

Things that don't impress me about landlords:

1. Discrimination against tenants or applicants based on race, gender, marital status, and political or religious affiliation.

2. Arbitrary and irregular inspections.

3. Lying about or concealing flaws or problems with the rental property.

4. Failure to provide necessary maintenance in a timely fashion.

5. Unnecessary rent increases.

Things that impress me about Landlords:

1. Consistent availability and timely responses to issues.

2. Flexibility on rent in the event of hardship.

3. Respect for tenants social and physical privacy.

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Actually it's smart to 'discriminate' on certain characteristics that invariably lead to problems later. It's funny how people, including the government want landlords to waive rent in case of hardship. The mortgage company sure isn't interested in doing that for me. Everybody thinks landlords are all rich and should give things away.

ttwtt78640 said:

One more thing that impresses me about our landlord:

4. Keeps rent below "normal" because they realize that practice reduces tenant turnover - thus reduces their make-ready costs and vacancy time between tenants ("forcing" them to raise rents more frequently).

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That's what I do, although I end up charging too little as time goes on, sometimes.

Drawdown said:

My last landlord before I bought my house was damn near perfect---we hardly ever saw each other or even heard from each other. I mailed a check for usually 6 months rent at a time; he cashed it. Something broke, I fixed it.

I called him twice while living there. Once to find out if he cared if I painted and then to tell him I was moving out of town.

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That, to me, is a perfect tenant.

Mashmont said:

That, to me, is a perfect tenant.

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Well except for the trash in my car floorboard :lamo

Grand Mal said:

When we owned a rental house we totaled up the mortgage, insurance and taxes and that set the rent. It came out lower than market but we were making out good on the increase in property value.

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The property values being so high is why I have not bought any more rental properties. The rent where I live might barely cover the average expenses. If you don't have a tenant for 3 months you are negative on cash flow that year. Combined with no reasonable expectation for property values to increase

Mashmont said:

Actually it's smart to 'discriminate' on certain characteristics that invariably lead to problems later. It's funny how people, including the government want landlords to waive rent in case of hardship. The mortgage company sure isn't interested in doing that for me. Everybody thinks landlords are all rich and should give things away.

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What you call "smart" I call "illegal discrimination."

I'm not asking anyone to waive rent. But if it's late because of unforseen occurrences or disasters, you ought to be able to handle that, and so should your bank.

Irredentist said:

What you call "smart" I call "illegal discrimination."

I'm not asking anyone to waive rent. But if it's late because of unforseen occurrences or disasters, you ought to be able to handle that, and so should your bank.

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It's not illegal to be unimpressed by outspoken leftwing activists who pull onto your driveway. As I said, the two I rented two were trouble. One guy who was a big 0bama booster thought every little thing was a mold problem that was making them sick, he thought the vines growing on the fence were making his dog sick. It never occurred to him to cut down the vines himself. He and his wife were like spoiled kids. The 'mold' was a little spot on the ceiling from a small leak before the roof was repaired. The wanted me to get Serv-pro in to make a 'mold analysis'. But before they made these demands, they called the County to complain without consulting me first. Turns out the country had no stated policy on mold. The couple assumed an adversarial stance when there was no reason to.

I offered to cut out and replace the drywall and take out insulation above it which I ended up doing They balked, and I said I simply was not going to pay Serv-pro to do an 'analysis', because you know damn well, they would identify a 'problem' that they would get paid handsomely for 'fixing'. This guy mailed me copies of articles about mold. They were such a pain in the ass, I was so glad to see those crybabies go. Interestingly, no other tenants in that house ever mentioned mold before or since.

Mashmont said:

It's not illegal to be unimpressed by outspoken leftwing activists who pull onto your driveway. As I said, the two I rented two were trouble. They thought every little thing was a mold problem that was making them sick, they thought the vines growing on the fence were making their dog sick. It never occurred to them to cut down the vines themselves. They were like spoiled kids.

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Rude, outspoken people are irritating no matter what their political affiliation is. I find I don't generally get along with anyone who has large amounts of bumper stickers on their car, regardless of whether they read "Save the Earth" or "MAGA".

You sound like a landlord. What do you have, if you have 500 landlords at the bottom of the ocean?