What should you look for in a tenant? [Archive]

ScizzMoney

10-13-2015, 08:41 PM

Gumby

10-13-2015, 08:49 PM

I like renting to students, and I prefer guys over girls because girls can be messy as hell! Yes, I also try to search them up on Facebook too. See if they have a job, or how they will afford to pay rent.

It's important for you to meet the potential tenant, so don't let a friend or family member check out your basement suite on behalf of the tenant. Make sure you do reference checks too (i.e. is the person messy, do they pay rent on time, any problems, etc.).

StylinRed

10-13-2015, 08:57 PM

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

westopher

10-13-2015, 10:22 PM

DO NOT RENT TO SINGLE MOTHERS. They attract drama like crazy, and as much as they claim to be independent, they rely on that child support money and child tax credit (I know there are exceptions).
What a fucking garbage thing to say. You are free to rent your place to whoever you want or don't want but to give that as advice to someone? Go fuck yourself.

To OP just meet with the people. First impressions tell a lot, regardless of someones relationship status. Obviously someone who has been at a reasonable job long term is going to be your best bet. Good references from employers, teachers (in students without rental history's cases) or past landlords are a must.

twitchyzero

10-13-2015, 10:25 PM

ones who put up aluminum foil plates

Qmx323

10-13-2015, 10:27 PM

What a fucking garbage thing to say. You are free to rent your place to whoever you want or don't want but to give that as advice to someone? Go fuck yourself.

To OP just meet with the people. First impressions tell a lot, regardless of someones relationship status. Obviously someone who has been at a reasonable job long term is going to be your best bet. Good references from employers, teachers (in students without rental history's cases) or past landlords are a must.

^ I feel he has a point though. In terms of overall "trouble" risk, a single parent situation is higher than say, a single professional male/female, but who knows. Maybe the single professional has a drug problem. Overall it is all OP's discretion obviously but he's IS asking for advice...

westopher

10-13-2015, 10:30 PM

Again, meet with the person. Speak to them, feel them out, learn who they are and make a decision. To say single mothers are bad renters living off of government programs is the same type of shit as saying don't rent to black people because they are criminals. Its fucking pitiful and shows absolute stupidity.

Traum

10-13-2015, 10:41 PM

I agree with Westopher's remark about first impressions. Over the years, I've had a number of different tenants, and my first impression / gut feeling has always been pretty darn good. The times when I felt immediately comfortable with the potential renters, they have all turned out to be pretty good tenants. There was this one time when I felt the viewer was a bit shady, but went against my instinct since his application form and reference seemed solid (that and I needed the rent), that was the time when the guy turned out to be a demanding prick.

Word of advice from me -- don't EVER rent your unit out because you need the money. Find a tenant you feel comfortable with and then rent it out. Also, make sure you sign a fixed term contract!!! You are dramatically increasing your risk, and making life difficult for yourself when you lose the ability to kick a bad tenant out via expiration of your tenancy contract.

westopher

10-13-2015, 10:46 PM

Good advice with the "don't rent because you NEED the money"
I've taken less money monthly to have a reliable renter who I knew I could trust and they were perfect tenants for 2 years. I could have made an extra 100-150 bucks from someone else per month, but the 1500 a year or so is completely negated by the headache of a bad renter, or one month of vacancy in between terms. Don't be greedy, then you have the option of picking and choosing from the absolute best candidates.

Gucci Mane

10-13-2015, 11:26 PM

Word of advice from me -- don't EVER rent your unit out because you need the money. Find a tenant you feel comfortable with and then rent it out. Also, make sure you sign a fixed term contract!!! You are dramatically increasing your risk, and making life difficult for yourself when you lose the ability to kick a bad tenant out via expiration of your tenancy contract.

my parents did this with our previous tenant. my god what a fucking mess that was.. it was a young guy who was on some kind of drugs. piece of shit was smoking in the suite and living in his own filth. there was a huge pile of garbage in the kitchen and HOARDS of fruit flies everywhere, it was the most disgusting thing i've ever seen. the fucker even left a plate of macaroni in the oven for so long that it had turned into this gross pile of brown mush with maggots growing in it.

just do your due diligence and treat it like a business OP. ask for references, check them. get employer references too, hell even ask for a recent pay stub for your own piece of mind.

ImportPsycho

10-14-2015, 01:28 AM

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

just make sure you get unlimited internet bandwidth package from Telus/Shaw, if you are going to share internet

N.V.M.

10-14-2015, 04:18 AM

you will be violating your TOS with your tv/internet provider.

ScizzMoney

10-14-2015, 04:28 AM

..the 1500 a year or so is completely negated by the headache of a bad renter..

Strongly agree with this. The current renter I have is worth keeping happy and keeping as a tenant, rather than squeezing them for an extra couple hundred a month.

What a fucking garbage thing to say. You are free to rent your place to whoever you want or don't want but to give that as advice to someone? Go fuck yourself.

Just giving advice, the advice is coming from the perspective of experience from both myself and uncle (who manages multiple apartments, each with hundreds of units). There are more types of people he prefers to not rent to (teenage men, multiple people who are not family, families with multiple children under 5, etc.) and that is simply based off of the number of noise complaints and frequency of late payments. Noise and late payments historically for him from those groups, including single mothers, are higher than everyone else. That last sentence from you was uncalled for.

mr_chin

10-14-2015, 04:47 AM

Someone cussing at another for sharing advice... holy shit. That's like me trying to help someone up and they just slap my hand away.

Imagine Scizz denied westopher's mother from renting his place? Scizz probably be on the news the next day.

Although I don't agree with Scizz view on single mothers, I think it's good that he raise awareness about these type of renters and should take extra precautions when renting to single mothers, like finding out where her income is from, how many children is she staying with, is she alcoholic, etc.

This of course goes for all types of people. You obviously want to know their status and then check up on it.

In the end, it's your place they're living at. No matter how stereotype you are, how much of a jerk you are, or if you're somewhat racist, you're saving a hell of a headache by finding out who you're renting it to.

Reeyal

10-14-2015, 06:02 AM

So... minus all the hater comments in the above posts. It's clearly your best bet to find a good tenant is to do research on the person in question and then meeting in person if your research pans out.

ScizzMoney

10-14-2015, 06:27 AM

One red flag should always be 'my last landlord was a dick/asshole, so I moved out'. While not impossible, I would assume the tenant was the dick and the previous landlord would be glad to be rid of them. You ever notice how people that consistently say others are assholes are usually the assholes? A great tenant will almost never have a landlord that would be a dick to them.

Mr.HappySilp

10-14-2015, 07:51 AM

I had a couple rental properties, now I'm down to just one. Every time I would be looking for a tenant I would only get ones that I could creep on facebook. Generally you can search for them with their phone number or an email address they provide you. Might seem creepy and wrong, but, I have weeded out people that seem or portray the party lifestyle, drama queens, etc. I haven't had a shitty tenant in a few years. DO NOT RENT TO SINGLE MOTHERS. They attract drama like crazy, and as much as they claim to be independent, they rely on that child support money and child tax credit (I know there are exceptions). Also, I wouldn't allow pets, you can still smell the little fuckers after people have moved out.

Sorta of agree to that comment. Rented to a woman who was divorce and after first month she stop paying rent. Took several months just to have her kick out. In the end when she was moving out give me some sob story and we are horrible people for doing this for weak and defendless woman like her. Sorry you didn't pay rent you don't get to live at my place.

Also I would never ever rent to students, more specifically international students especially from China. I been for a lot of open house and those that were rented to students were pretty much destroy. A few units rent to Chinese international students were so bad even the real estate agent is embarrassed to show us the unit. Smells like a garbage dump, there are bags of garbage in the kitchen (not just one bag and BAGS!) Toliet smells shit, washroom walls have moles growing on them, walls were chew up by the dogs, hardwood floor had this sticky and greasy feel to it and is startch up, stove is cover is this grease burnt oil. I would said it would like at least 50k to fix up unit.

I used to rent my basement suite to a Chinese international student as well. From the look of things they haven't done any vacuuming for a couple of months and when the move out my mom had to throw the mattress out coz there were blood stains all over it(yuck). The Kitchen didn't do too well either we had to get a new stove coz the old one is pretty much destroy.

My advice talk to them, do a background check and credit check. I had a potential tenant who looks great of paper makes 80k a year single professional male. But one look at his credit score prof otherwise. He had to pay for child support, own a bunch of credit card debt so if he loses his job he is done. There is another couple who I rented out to before and they were great. The guy just got a working Visa and he is from Mexico and his wife is going to school. Sure they don't have much but by chatting with them you could tell they are very responsible, not the partying kind. And I have no issue with them with the time they are renting at all. Not even a call form them.

westopher

10-14-2015, 08:24 AM

Strongly agree with this. The current renter I have is worth keeping happy and keeping as a tenant, rather than squeezing them for an extra couple hundred a month.

Just giving advice, the advice is coming from the perspective of experience from both myself and uncle (who manages multiple apartments, each with hundreds of units). There are more types of people he prefers to not rent to (teenage men, multiple people who are not family, families with multiple children under 5, etc.) and that is simply based off of the number of noise complaints and frequency of late payments. Noise and late payments historically for him from those groups, including single mothers, are higher than everyone else. That last sentence from you was uncalled for.
Maybe you're right about my reaction, but lumping all single mothers and saying "DONT RENT TO SINGLE MOTHERS" is not advice, its stereotyping a group of people that may already be in a difficult situation. Its one thing to explain that they have had a higher frequency of issues as renters in your experience, but imagine some wonderful successful woman needs a place to rent with her kid, would have been a perfect tenant to the OP and he took your "advice" to heart. Theres LOTS of amazing single mothers out there and to lump them all in like that is shameful.

As said, people should be judged as individuals and you will have a lot better chances of finding someone who fits perfectly as a renter.

syee

10-14-2015, 08:45 AM

I use this site to perform a check on my prospective tenants. Won't check if the tenant is an asshole but at least checks their credit history and if they've been flagged for anything major.

https://www.atenantscreen.com/

meowjinboo

10-14-2015, 10:58 AM

Harvey Specter

10-14-2015, 12:38 PM

I have rental units and I also use social media as a tool. Credit checks and references mean shit. The scary thing is when you rent your basement suite you basically have strangers living in your house and you have to see them every day so that's why you need to make sure you do all your checks.

And remember, the BC tenancy board ALWAYS sides with the tenant and you will be fighting for months to get someone out if shit hits the fan.

blkgsr

10-14-2015, 03:30 PM

yup the tenancy board is a bunch of useless pricks that favor tenants over landloards with video evidence and stacks of paperwork to back up their claims

mickz

10-14-2015, 03:40 PM

tbh, I was raised by my brother when my mom passed away when I was 12, and I feel sorry for the landlord because my brother would yell and beat me for 8 hours a day for 4-5 years. So I understand where the dude is coming from.

How did your brother find time to raise you if he was beating you up for 8 hours a day? That's full time hours in its own.

ree666

10-14-2015, 05:11 PM

tits.

adambomb

10-14-2015, 05:49 PM

Nevermind renting to a single mom, have you ever tried dating one? EleGiggle

Listen to Kanye... :fullofwin:

Have you seen her?
My psychic told me she have an ass like Serena
Trina, Jennifer Lopez, four kids
And I gotta take all they bad ass to show-biz

Special K

10-14-2015, 07:04 PM

Does anyone use property management for basement suites? How much is the comission?

hchang

10-14-2015, 07:10 PM

Does anyone use property management for basement suites? How much is the comission?

We used a property management company to rent out a suite a few years ago and it was first months full rent as commission or if you want them to take care of everything afterwards it's 10% of the rent every month

Special K

10-14-2015, 08:09 PM

We used a property management company to rent out a suite a few years ago and it was first months full rent as commission or if you want them to take care of everything afterwards it's 10% of the rent every month

What was your experience with them? Pm me is good too.

Mr.Money

10-14-2015, 09:01 PM

tbh, I was raised by my brother when my mom passed away when I was 12, and I feel sorry for the landlord because my brother would yell and beat me for 8 hours a day for 4-5 years. So I understand where the dude is coming from.

good,i bet you smashed you're brand new toys up and told everyone on xbox live you would fuck their mother. :whine: :2finger2:
did you tell your dads girlfriend "UR NOT MY FUCKING MOM!" too when she didn't buy you the new iphone.

asahai69

10-14-2015, 10:52 PM

i find asking about employment info and making sure the person has a steady and stable job is great at weeding out the less favorable types of tenants.

Harvey Specter

10-15-2015, 01:57 AM

Here's a few things I wanted to add to this thread from my experience. Hopefully you won't have to deal with a bad tenant but if you rent quite often than you unfortunately you will come across a bad tenant and you should be prepared. You have to be somewhat street smart when it comes to renting nowadays, too many fucked up people out there who know how to work the system.

-Don't rent to people who show up say on the 2nd or 3rd and seem to be in a rush to rent and have cash on hand. I find these type of people are either getting evicted or they're been denied by other landlords because their references don't check out.

-Like I said earlier, references don't mean much nowadays. I find work references are the most useless because I have yet to call a work references and the employer has said anything bad even though the person turned out to be a bad tenant. Credit check is ok because you can see if the person is responsible or not but I've had a tenant who had A+ credit but flaked out on the rent and moved out. One thing about credit checks though is it does weed out some bad tenants because bad tenants will be reluctant to provide personal info. Best tool imo is social media and the internet in general because it can give you a general idea of the person, even a simple google search can bring up information about a person. I also search linkedin profiles which I find much better than a work reference. Most professionals will have a linkedin profile.

-I highly recommend you read up on tenancy laws in BC.

-Always sign a BC tenancy agreement. Make sure this document is filled out properly and signed. Also be aware that your tenant will still have the same rights under the tenancy laws even if this agreement is not signed. There's some landlords who think not signing this agreement they can protect themselves from dealing with the tenancy board, this is not the case.

-If things go bad between you and the tenant, make sure you give the proper notices and fill out everything properly. One mistake on the paperwork like forgetting to sign or having an incorrect name and that notice is void. Tenancy board pricks look for even the smallest mistakes so be careful. Also send important notices through registered mail as proof because most tenants will tell the tenancy board they never received the notice.

-Remember, tenants have more rights than you (landlord). If you think giving a 30 day notice will have someone out of your rental unit at the end of that notice, think again. If the person knows his/her rights, they'll basically play the system and you'll be stuck with that person for 2-3 months or maybe longer and most likely they'll be living rent free so you'll be footing the bill. Also, never take shit into your own hands like changing locks. It's illegal and you can get in a lot trouble in a form of a fine.

-Never take the law in to your own hands like changing locks or cutting off water, power, etc...As a landlord you can get in a lot of trouble in forms of fines which are very hefty.

Gucci Mane

10-15-2015, 02:28 AM

yup the tenancy board is a bunch of useless pricks that favor tenants over landloards with video evidence and stacks of paperwork to back up their claims

well i'm glad i got a guy on the inside then lol. we had our tenant kicked out within a month. so glad we didn't have to deal with the bullshit most people do when it comes to the RTA.

Mr.HappySilp

10-15-2015, 07:44 AM

As a customer service/ tech support. I also recommend never ever provide cable/phone/internet as well. Is good for both parties. We have had landlord closing their accounts because wasn't paid, tenants order a bunch of extra shit and landlord have to foot the bill (angry and sometimes they don't even have to pay coz they are the only ones who can make changes). Landlord didn't pay us so their service got D/C and tenants are left without any service.

So save the hassle and let the tenants setup their own service.

adambomb

10-15-2015, 01:46 PM

As a customer service/ tech support. I also recommend never ever provide cable/phone/internet as well. Is good for both parties. We have had landlord closing their accounts because wasn't paid.

I provide internet/cable for my rental unit as a excuse to increase the rent for my unit in comparison to others in the neighbourhood. I've asked my provider to disable PPV and On Demand features and new channels can only be ordered from myself and not the tenants. I figured I had all my bases covered in providing cable. Is there something i'm missing? I haven't had any problems with billing. :confused:

Raid3n

10-15-2015, 02:28 PM

you will be violating your TOS with your tv/internet provider.

i don't know about telus, but shaw has a tenant program for this kind of situation. extra X amount, duplicates landlords base services.

Great68

10-15-2015, 02:33 PM

I provide internet/cable for my rental unit as a excuse to increase the rent for my unit in comparison to others in the neighbourhood. I've asked my provider to disable PPV and On Demand features and new channels can only be ordered from myself and not the tenants. I figured I had all my bases covered in providing cable. Is there something i'm missing? I haven't had any problems with billing. :confused:

So when you get a notice that you are going to be taken to court for downloading mass amounts of illegal movies and software, how are you going to prove it was your tenant and not you when the account is in your name?

Mr.HappySilp

10-15-2015, 02:35 PM

I provide internet/cable for my rental unit as a excuse to increase the rent for my unit in comparison to others in the neighbourhood. I've asked my provider to disable PPV and On Demand features and new channels can only be ordered from myself and not the tenants. I figured I had all my bases covered in providing cable. Is there something i'm missing? I haven't had any problems with billing. :confused:

Put a password or passphrase on your acct. That way everytime someone calls in to make changes they need to give that password/passphrase first.

adambomb

10-15-2015, 03:43 PM

So when you get a notice that you are going to be taken to court for downloading mass amounts of illegal movies and software, how are you going to prove it was your tenant and not you when the account is in your name?

25Mbps Download 10 Mbps upload. 4Head

I don't know computer specs. Is that fast enough for someone who likes to download mass amounts of software? The type of person who downloads enough to be issued a summons?

When was the last time someone was issued a summons in Canada for illegal downloading? How often are these cases before the courts in comparison to the amount of downloading that is happening right now? I can't find any recent ones in the news.

cunninglinguist

10-15-2015, 06:54 PM

25Mbps Download 10 Mbps upload. 4Head

I don't know computer specs. Is that fast enough for someone who likes to download mass amounts of software? The type of person who downloads enough to be issued a summons?

When was the last time someone was issued a summons in Canada for illegal downloading? How often are these cases before the courts in comparison to the amount of downloading that is happening right now? I can't find any recent ones in the news.

I'd be more worried about other things like online threats to the White House, child porn trading, ISIS recruitment...stuff like that

adambomb

10-15-2015, 08:14 PM

I'd be more worried about other things like online threats to the White House, child porn trading, ISIS recruitment...stuff like that

If the US Secret Service or the RCMP came to my house and disrespected my whole family for threats to the White House or child porn. You can bet they will have my 100% co-operation with the situation. I would allow them to search my stuff and I would present all documentation in relation to who my renters are. I'm just providing internet. Not tablets, laptops, hard drives or any gadgets like that. I've got nothing to hide, i'm not an ISIS sympathizer, just a landlord that provides internet and cable with your rent.

I think you guys are just fearmongering. Your next post will probably be about how Justin Trudeau plans on using tax dollars to put brothels and weed shops next to my internet included rental suites. FeelsGoodMan

blkgsr

10-15-2015, 08:53 PM

well i'm glad i got a guy on the inside then lol. we had our tenant kicked out within a month. so glad we didn't have to deal with the bullshit most people do when it comes to the RTA.

i ended up getting lucky too in the fact that after all the work i did to prepare documentation and go through the arbitration process i only had to wait 1 extra month beyond the eviction date and they had to pay for that month as part of the arbitration agreement......there's alot more to the story that basically made it in his best interest to abide by the arbitrator and not make any more of an issue out of it

meowjinboo

10-15-2015, 09:41 PM

So when you get a notice that you are going to be taken to court for downloading mass amounts of illegal movies and software, how are you going to prove it was your tenant and not you when the account is in your name?

Supreme court ruling has stated that you are under no obligation to pay those fines, hence why you haven't heard anyone actually paying or being taken to court because you can't prove who was on the other end of the computer.

Hence it's baseless and just scare tactics!

noclue

10-15-2015, 11:38 PM

one thing you should be careful of are tenants who cook certain cuisines. If they use a lot of spices, chances of getting rid of the smell permanently after they move out is hard. Worst case scenario I heard of is one landlord had to redo the drywall to get rid of the smell.

Manic!

10-15-2015, 11:44 PM

I lock non of my WIFI routers. I also have WIFI covering a 30 unit building I manage.

Adorkami

10-16-2015, 08:50 AM

Don't rent to people you know. Some people will try to take advantage of your friendship and you will have to deal with them assuming late rent isn't a big deal because you guys are friends. Renting to people with animals has it's pros/cons generally it means higher rent but has a chance of damage (i paid higher than market because i had a small dog, but it didn't pee inside, chew on anything, or smell, just a cost of being a dog owner in vancouver). My parents have had the most luck with middle aged couples.

ScizzMoney

10-16-2015, 12:41 PM

Don't rent to people you know. Some people will try to take advantage of your friendship and you will have to deal with them assuming late rent isn't a big deal because you guys are friends..My parents have had the most luck with middle aged couples.

^^^^
This x100.

In my experience, couples aged 35+ have been the best for me by a landslide. Obviously there can and will be exceptions. But, The cleanest my places have ever been is when I have rented to couples above that age range.

Traum

10-16-2015, 12:49 PM

In my experience, couples aged 35+ have been the best for me by a landslide. Obviously there can and will be exceptions. But, The cleanest my places have ever been is when I have rented to couples above that age range.
I have some mixed feelings about this one. I've had good tenants who are 35+, but I've also had difficult tenants in that age range as well. In particular, I find that people in this age group are a lot more informed of their tenancy rights, and in some cases, will use their knowledge to play hard ball with you even on the littlest thing.

I'm not saying their are wrong, or not entitled to the things they ask for. I don't particularly enjoy playing hard ball with my landlord or my tenant because I'd like to keep these relationships cordial.

hchang

10-17-2015, 12:13 AM

What was your experience with them? Pm me is good too.

My experience dealing with them was very pleaseant

We opted for the first months full rent commission, and the management company was able to get us what we were asking (not lower) and a years lease signed.

I'm not sure if they put their tenants through a screening/interview process or what but he always paid on time and had zero problems in dealings with him.

Special K

10-17-2015, 10:32 AM

^^^ can you pm me the company? Thanks!

meme405

10-17-2015, 10:41 AM

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

10-20-2015, 08:10 AM

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

10-20-2015, 09:10 AM

Gumby

10-20-2015, 09:16 AM

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

10-20-2015, 09:41 AM

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

10-20-2015, 11:14 AM

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

10-20-2015, 11:41 AM

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

10-20-2015, 11:41 AM

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

10-20-2015, 11:56 AM

Mr.HappySilp

10-20-2015, 12:42 PM

Gumby

10-20-2015, 01:26 PM

the students' phone number? Do we get RS discount from her :fullofwin::fullofwin::fullofwin: ?
Don't we need to see pics first? :suspicious:

TouringTeg

10-20-2015, 06:25 PM

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

10-20-2015, 08:12 PM

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

10-21-2015, 08:40 AM

geeknerd

10-21-2015, 10:38 AM

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

10-21-2015, 11:13 AM

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

10-21-2015, 11:39 AM

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

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

10-21-2015, 08:59 PM

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?