landlord preferences
Landlords — Assuming tenants who are good, respectful, pay their rent on time, etc. etc., would you rather have renters who stay many years, say 10 to 20, or would you prefer some moderate turnover?
Landlords — Assuming tenants who are good, respectful, pay their rent on time, etc. etc., would you rather have renters who stay many years, say 10 to 20, or would you prefer some moderate turnover?
Christopher and others:
I am so glad I posted the question. I will definitely play the whole thing a bit cool. And you’re right: one might want to find a long-term home, but you can never know how things will turn out. I have an example from my own past — we rented an apartment in a brownstone with a landlord who lived elsewhere. Then, he sold it and the new landlord moved into the house, and was a very present presence, as it were. Before, we called our place the “Happy House.” Afterward, not so much!
Anyway, valuable observations that talk and promises are cheap, and what a LL actually sees will be the determining factor.
What about letters of recommendation from previous LLs? Or others? Are these of real value?
cpchkp,
You added an interesting twist. You are assuming you will be a long term tenant. When I answered your question I was thinking of the long term tenants in the buildings my family owns. They all started out as 1 year leases, and it was only after years and years of renewals did they become “excellent long term tenants”.
Don’t go in to the situation thinking you are a great catch for the landlord and telling them you plan on staying for 20 years. A landlord might not want to hear that now. If you find a place and stay for 20 years the landlord might be happy they rented to you, but the idea of tenant staying for 20 years might be a bit much to take for some landlords.
Also, your idea of respectful, et al might be different than that of the landlord and vice versa. You might find a place you can see yourself staying in for 20 years but a year from now you might realize it to be the wrong fit.
Personally I wouldn’t pitch myself as planning to stay for 20 years. Find a place you like and could see yourselves in for an extended time. Take the 1 (or 2 if they offer) year lease and then renew every year.
Your actual actions as a tenant will make the landlord want to keep you indefinitely, not your promise of those actions. And don’t think you wont see increases in those 20 years. Good tenant or not landlord expenses rise just like everything else.
Thanks to all for all the helpful comments.
I understand about dogs and woodwork (and other dog issues) but I own a house with hardwood floors, pine stairs, and other wood features, and I simply do not allow the dogs to do anything destructive. One dog just does not do that sort of thing, and the other is never allowed run of the house unsupervised (crated/penned when we’re out.) But it is impossible to convince a landlord of this, it seems.
No one will ever believe that a tenant will take the same care with a rented apartment that he would with his own home. I really wanted this attitude and promise to be my trump card to gain access to more choices and options in apartments, etc., but I can see it won’t be easy.
When I first rented to my tenants, I wrote a 2-year lease with a small rate increase built into the second year.
I constantly monitor the going rents on my block for similar space and never want to be the one charging the lowest or the highest. I also refer to the annual decisions of the city Rent Guidlines board. I want to be sure that the rent increases that I do impose are lower or equal to the lowest of their percentage increases. Over the years of the tenancy, my increases have remained lower.
I am a two family house (which makes a difference). My tenants have been there since I bought the house – January 2001. May they “live long and prosper” (to quote a phrase)!
I would not ever consider allowing dogs (pets) as the house and apartment have loads of exposed woodwork and hardwood floors in great condition.
This is just me, but as a LL, I don’t start with anything longer than a year. If after a year I am happy with the tenants and they want to lock in longer, I would consider doing it at that point.
I think you can say you are looking to stay long term without having to seek a longer lease. One year is a standard. As for the dogs, it will restrict who will rent to you, but be open and offer to have the LL meet the dog. We do not check the dog box on CL, but if someone we liked really liked the place and asked about dogs, it would lead to a conversation, not automatic rejection.
Good luck.
It depends on the landlord w/ dogs. I take people w/ smallish dogs (Dalmatian would be high end) that aren’t yappy. Size because of wear & tear, noise in consideration of other tenants.
Overall, I, too, prefer a long-term tenancy.
Thanks for the quick reply, Senator and Christopher. Now for the twists and turns to this question. Probably obviously, I am possibly a prospective rental tenant in Brooklyn and trying to figure out the best way to present myself, particularly since I have a few mitigating factors. For example, we have dogs. They are good, clean, well-behaved, cute, gentle, etc. but they are what they are. And we are the most considerate, best pet-owners alive, but still.
And we might like to get a two-year lease or even longer (is there such a thing?) to lock in rent. So I am trying to figure out the value of the fact that, no kidding, we will be looking for a place to take us into retirement (we’re in our 40s, with one elementary-age kid.)
We are homeowners ourselves, with a place in the country, and have rented in Brooklyn in the past, so I think we would be a real catch as tenants, but I know the dog issue can be a sticky one. Am I too worried about having pets? Or should I also offer to do work around the place (last time we rented we cleaned the stairs and halls every few weeks.)
Thanks for the quick reply, Senator and Christopher. Now for the twists and turns to this question. Probably obviously, I am possibly a prospective rental tenant in Brooklyn and trying to figure out the best way to present myself, particularly since I have a few mitigating factors. For example, we have dogs. They are good, clean, well-behaved, cute, gentle, etc. but they are what they are. And we are the most considerate, best pet-owners alive, but still.
And we might like to get a two-year lease or even longer (is there such a thing?) to lock in rent. So I am trying to figure out the value of the fact that, no kidding, we will be looking for a place to take us into retirement (we’re in our 40s, with one elementary-age kid.)
We are homeowners ourselves, with a place in the country, and have rented in Brooklyn in the past, so I think we would be a real catch as tenants, but I know the dog issue can be a sticky one. Am I too worried about having pets? Or should I also offer to do work around the place (last time we rented we cleaned the stairs and halls every few weeks.)
It’s nice to have a decent tenant who stays. No vacancies. No new surprises.
There may end up being a spread between market and actual rent over time but a reliable, no hassles tenant will be worth somewhat of a discount.