What should you look for in a tenant?

[meme405]

What I look for in a good tenant:

-That they will pay their rent on time
-Won't damage my investment
-Wont bother other tenants or owners (AKA noise complaints, being an asshole, etc)
-Wont hassle me about bullshit like their toilet is clogged
-Non-smoker & No pets (Not doing drugs is another one for obvious reasons)
-Reasonable rental period. I prefer to have people who intend to stay for multiple years, obviously it can be difficult to plan this out, or get a feel for people on this one, but I've had some success with multi-year tenants.

This is what you want to know about someone you plan on renting to. If you can verify that the above conditions are met, then that will probably be a good tenant.

How you find out that information about someone, and the reliability of those methods, is dependant on you.

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by StylinRed

asian students, safest bet in my experience...plus there's a never ending supply

Something to consider. Like all renters, it is a crap shoot. But when it comes to asian students, there is very little back ground checks you can do and most of them have never lived on their own before and have no ties so there is no reason for them to follow any rules or strata by-laws.

I have a friend who's GF was living with 2 other girls in a 1 bedroom apartment. My friend's GF was sleeping on a fold out couch bed in the living room.

I was on strata up until a few months ago, and we were called for a water leak. We walked into the 1 bed room unit and found 3 girls living in there.
They had 2 beds in the bedroom and a mattress on the floor of the living room with a folding partition set up for privacy. No, they were not prosituting themselves out of the unit.

Currently, one of our neighbours is renting out their furnished 2 bedroom unit to a couple. The couple in turn, are subletting the extra bedroom and also have a dog.
In the 2 months that they have moved in, their dog has chewed up the furniture, pee'd all over the carpets, and the tenants have had a few late night parties and the unit is full of garbage.
But worst of all, there is no recourse if these people decide to pack their bags and walk away one night leaving the mess for the owners to take care of.

[Mr.HappySilp]

I will state again don't rent to international students (Chinese students especially in my experience). They tend to not clean up after themselves, let your unit rot which cost you a ton in repair fees later. Also they don't really care about fines and stuff coz well they ain't paying for it. Oh and a lot of them like to smoke (even the girls) so your suite might get some cigarette smell.

[Gumby]

Originally Posted by SumAznGuy

I have a friend who's GF was living with 2 other girls in a 1 bedroom apartment. My friend's GF was sleeping on a fold out couch bed in the living room.

If I had a 1 bedroom apartment, I would not allow 3 people to live there.

Currently, one of our neighbours is renting out their furnished 2 bedroom unit to a couple. The couple in turn, are subletting the extra bedroom and also have a dog.
In the 2 months that they have moved in, their dog has chewed up the furniture, pee'd all over the carpets, and the tenants have had a few late night parties and the unit is full of garbage.
But worst of all, there is no recourse if these people decide to pack their bags and walk away one night leaving the mess for the owners to take care of.

Tenant needs written consent from the landlord to sublet. I assume this step was done? And landlord takes the risk by allowing pets in his rental unit. The recourse is that he keeps the damage deposit.

[SumAznGuy]

Originally Posted by Gumby

If I had a 1 bedroom apartment, I would not allow 3 people to live there.


Tenant needs written consent from the landlord to sublet. I assume this step was done? And landlord takes the risk by allowing pets in his rental unit. The recourse is that he keeps the damage deposit.

As for 3 people living in a 1 bedroom unit, we had an owner who was living with his wife, infant child, teenage child and mother in law in their 2 bed room unit.
Would you be surprised if I told you they complained about having moisture issues in their unit during the winter?

But again, what can you do if you specifically tell them only 1 person can live in the unit and they sublet to 2 others.

TBH, I don't know what was written on their contract but when talking to another neighbour, we were all under the assumption the unit was rented to an older asian couple and their dog that was supposed to be house trained.
In reality, it was a young couple and their yappy dog.
Sadly, based on the damage that we saw, 1/2 the month's rent will not cover the cost of repairs and to replace things. Hopefully, the owners also got a pet damage deposit, but I can tell you it will take a while to air out the unit.
But even if a proper contract was signed and they still sublet and caused substantial amounts of damage that cost more than the damage deposit, since the tenants have no ties to Canada, there is very little recourse for the owners.

[Expresso]

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

I will state again don't rent to international students (Chinese students especially in my experience). They tend to not clean up after themselves, let your unit rot which cost you a ton in repair fees later. Also they don't really care about fines and stuff coz well they ain't paying for it. Oh and a lot of them like to smoke (even the girls) so your suite might get some cigarette smell.

This pretty much describes my experience with Chinese students as well. The worst part is the smoking because the smell starts to circulate through the whole house and they still deny it.

[noclue]

on the subject of international students, be wary of those that don't go to one of the accredited colleges (UBC,SFU,VCC,Langara etc) and go to those questionable learn English colleges downtown. Most international students who go to those places don't have much money. My friend had one that ended up being a call girl and his place was like a brothel.

[hi-revs]

In my basement suite i have 2 bedrooms. Luckily the way it was built, i was able to put up a drywall partitioning it off to be a 1 bedroom suite.
Now we only rent to single working professionals.
I think i'll keep it this way as 1 working person would not be at home all the time, not cook big "smelly" meals, less garbage, less noise.

Like others have posted, i always ask for the obvious background checks and smoking.
But i only sign them a 5 month lease at a time.
I find that this keeps them happy and me happy.
This way we can kick them out sooner if we notice any issues, and it gives them a sense that they can leave sooner if theyre not happy with us. Its not like there arent enough people out there looking to rent on a daily basis anyways, right?

[Traum]

Originally Posted by noclue

on the subject of international students, be wary of those that don't go to one of the accredited colleges (UBC,SFU,VCC,Langara etc) and go to those questionable learn English colleges downtown. Most international students who go to those places don't have much money. My friend had one that ended up being a call girl and his place was like a brothel.

Hmm... options available for "alternative forms of payment" then?

[Mr.HappySilp]

Originally Posted by noclue

on the subject of international students, be wary of those that don't go to one of the accredited colleges (UBC,SFU,VCC,Langara etc) and go to those questionable learn English colleges downtown. Most international students who go to those places don't have much money. My friend had one that ended up being a call girl and his place was like a brothel.

the students' phone number? Do we get RS discount from her ?

[Gumby]

Originally Posted by Mr.HappySilp

the students' phone number? Do we get RS discount from her ?

Don't we need to see pics first?

[TouringTeg]

I have 4 units I rent out.

One is a house with 3 bed 2 bath up and 2 bed 1 bath down. We had new tenants (2 adults 2 children) with good references and jobs move in the upper unit 4 months ago. Since then there have been plenty of issues and excuses. Late rent, added cat without asking, noise complaints from neighbours and downstairs tenants, moving truck backed into the gutter doing damage and didn't say anything.

I did an inspection recently because of the constant issues and zero communication. I discovered one bedroom was being subletted to an international student without permission. I evicted them and they got rid of the student. They admitted they couldn't afford the rental without the extra income.

People are extremely good at telling a landlord what they want to hear. Weeding out the fakers is the hard part. Every landlord wants what meme listed. I have excellent tenants in my other units and hope to fine some new solid tenants for my upper unit.

[PeanutButter]

Thanks for all the tips guys.

I think we found a really good tenant. He's a wood manager from new zealand. He just renewed his visa for two years and is planning on getting his status/citizenship? (We got proof of his visa btw. )
He agreed to sign a one year lease (and then month to month after that) and has give us first months rent and one months rent for a damage deposit.

We called his boss and he said he's the best worker he has in his business. I have a really good feeling about this guy, but who knows.

He said he works long hours 0730-1800 and he seems very respectful. He is single, but I don't feel that's a big deal. He was very respectful to my parents and even to me. He doesn't smoke, he's in good shape (so he's disciplined), and he said he drinks socially.

Hopefully it works out.

Thanks again everyone.

[C-One]

Include a weekly /biweekly cleaning service in your rental agreement. Tack on the extra money the cleaner charges to the monthly rent.

Helps in 3 ways. Keeps your place nice and tidy and wont be a giant mess to clean up once the tenant leaves, you can have the cleaner as your regular inspection person tell her to notify you if any issues, and when perspective tenants come by and you let them know a cleaner has regular access to the unit, it keeps the shadier tenants from renting.

[geeknerd]

Originally Posted by C-One

Include a weekly /biweekly cleaning service in your rental agreement. Tack on the extra money the cleaner charges to the monthly rent.

Helps in 3 ways. Keeps your place nice and tidy and wont be a giant mess to clean up once the tenant leaves, you can have the cleaner as your regular inspection person tell her to notify you if any issues, and when perspective tenants come by and you let them know a cleaner has regular access to the unit, it keeps the shadier tenants from renting.

is this a normal thing? as a renter, if somebody did that, i would not rent from that person.

for one, the rent would be higher than the average in the area due to the tacked on cleaning fees.

it would also make me think that the landlord is strict and will probably visit the unit frequently.

a wild guess but i think it will attract shadier tenants who need a place to stay regardless of invasive provisions.

[C-One]

I dont know whether its a normal thing or not, I was told this from someone with multiple units when i started renting out my basement. Both of us had no issues from the tenants thus far.

True it makes the rent higher but i see it as this is your single biggest investment. You cant be letting just any old person stay in it with just a half month of security deposit.

This adds just that extra bit of restriction / convenience and lets the tenant know youre on the ball.

[xxxrsxxx]

Do you have a company you can recommend? I have been looking for such a service and wondering how much it would cost.

Originally Posted by C-One

Include a weekly /biweekly cleaning service in your rental agreement. Tack on the extra money the cleaner charges to the monthly rent.

Helps in 3 ways. Keeps your place nice and tidy and wont be a giant mess to clean up once the tenant leaves, you can have the cleaner as your regular inspection person tell her to notify you if any issues, and when perspective tenants come by and you let them know a cleaner has regular access to the unit, it keeps the shadier tenants from renting.

[PeanutButter]

Originally Posted by xxxrsxxx

Do you have a company you can recommend? I have been looking for such a service and wondering how much it would cost.

I don't want to sound like a a-hole and stereotype, but if you have a philipino or spanish friend, ask them if they know anyone who does house cleanings. I asked my philipino friend and she highly recommended her aunty. Her aunt was so grateful, she's super sweet.

Her aunt is great and it helps her family out. I would start close to home first as I trust her aunt more than I would a random person. But, this is for our house that has our personal things in it. Maybe if it's for a rental unit, you don't need someone as trustworthy?

[sdubfid]

34-24-34