Would You Live In Your Rental?
Would You Live In Your Rental?
We ask the question in the title of this article because we want to make a point. Most tenants spend just as much effort into finding a new home as you put into marketing your vacancies, perhaps even more. Some may even put as much or more effort into the task as you would if you were looking for a new place to live.
All landlords want good tenants, where “good” basically means those who will pay the rent on time each month, take care of your property, and not cause trouble for your other tenants or residents of neighboring properties. The type of tenant you want should not be willing to live in just any property. If he is so undiscriminating that he doesn’t care about the quality of his housing, he probably won’t care about how he takes care of your rental or how he gets along with others.
Those looking for a new rental home evaluate available rentals in the same manner as you would evaluate a place to live. At the top of their list when beginning to look for rentals are location and price. They want a location in a safe and attractive neighborhood that is convenient to their workplace or school, to shopping, and to cultural and/or recreational attractions. Price is equally important to most tenants and, for many, has historically been of more importance than location. However, with $3-$4 per gallon gasoline (with possibility of even higher in the future), location is becoming evermore important, because long-distance driving can result in commuting expense comparable to rent. When a tenant does the math, he sees that he is ahead financially to pay an extra hundred dollars in monthly rent rather than commute an extra 20 miles per day round trip, 5 days per week.
Also of importance to most applicants is the condition of the rental property. Few tenants want to live in a unit where windows are cracked; the carpet is badly worn or dirty; the walls haven’t been painted since 6 tenants back; the toilet runs continuously (particularly if the tenant is paying the water bill); or any number of other possible deficiencies. While all units must meet habitability laws, you would almost certainly be unwilling to live in a unit that only just barely meets the law.
When a potentially good tenant sees a property that the landlord doesn’t maintain properly, he assumes that the landlord is likely deficient in other ways, for example, doesn’t respond to repair requests.
On the other hand, bad tenants see a poorly maintained property as a plus. They figure that a landlord who doesn’t take care of the front yard or maintain the wooden fence probably doesn’t run screening reports or check with previous landlords. Such a potential tenant may even assume that the landlord manages the property so loosely that he won’t even notice when the rent is a week or two late. If the potential tenant’s assumptions were wrong regarding screening, the landlord will have wasted time when the applicant fails to submit an application upon finding out about screening. If the applicant’s assumptions were wrong regarding rent collection, the landlord will likely have to deal with a problem tenant.
The next priority may be size and/or floor plan of the living space. The number of bedrooms and baths can be a critical issue. For some applicants, particularly the physically challenged, the rental unit being single-story is often very important even if handicap design features are not needed. When it comes to amenities, there can be a wide variety of items that are of varying degrees of importance. Some tenants must have a pool, while others absolutely won’t rent a property having a pool. Some tenants want laundry facilities within their unit, while others are happy with common laundry facilities on the property, and yet others don’t mind using a Laundromat as long as it is nearby.
Assuming that you already own the rental property, there is little that you can do about most of the issues discussed above. You can’t change the location or change the floor plan (at least cost-effectively). You could rent units for less than market value, but most landlords prefer to get market rents for their rentals.
The things that you can control are the condition of your property and how you represent yourself and your property. Attracting good tenants requires that the property be in good condition and that it show well. The latter means that it has curb appeal. While interior condition may eliminate applicants, you may not even get phone calls if the first impression of a potential tenant driving by prevents him from getting an appointment to see the inside or even calling for additional information.
Accordingly, landlords should maintain attractive landscaping, keep the exterior adequately painted, replace cracked windows, and properly maintain fencing, carports, and other exterior components. You don’t want to give the potential good tenants a reason for not renting your property before they even get inside.
Good flooring, attractive window coverings, clean and undamaged appliances and plumbing fixtures provide a good first impression when they view the interior. Amenities such as dishwashers, microwaves, and, in many climates, ceiling fans also help. Even the age of the heating/cooling system may be of interest in view of increasing energy costs. Offering living space that is both in good condition and attractive attracts better quality tenants, allows higher rents, and reduces the length of vacancies. The bottom line is that you will usually get a good return on your investment in providing housing that you might be willing to live in. Always ask the question, if you wouldn’t live there, why would a preferred applicant want to?