Good Tenants? What Does It Mean?

Each Landlord I meet tells me the same thing:

“Find me a good tenant!”

But what exactly does this mean?

To a novice Landlord this means:

1. Has perfect credit.


2. Someone with a high-paying job.


3. Low occupancy (tenant will not overcrowd unit)


4. Someone without a pet.


5. A non-smoker


6. Never been convicted of a crime.


7. Is not a nefarious character or associates with said characters.


8. Never been served by a previous Landlord.


9. Has never asked a unit be repaired.


10. Paints the place for the Landlord.
    etc.

The reality is that this tenant is VERY rare. And if I did come across one, they usually garnish a rental reduction on the order of 20 to 40%, which a typical Landlord is not willing to reduce to.

People have pets, if someone has perfect credit they likely qualify to own a home and know this (especially in the current buyers market). People have kids, smokers smoke outside, some have had experiences with bad Landlords. In other words, there is always something.

Which is why most experienced Landlords define a good tenant as:

1. Someone that pays on time all the time.


2. Someone that does not destroy the place.


3. Some that expects the same from the Landlord (repairs are done quickly).

As an example, I have seen tenants that were messy as hell, did drugs on a regular basis, played the home theater a bit too loud…but paid the rent on time each month without question and when they returned the unit it was spotless.

I have seen Landlords make $1000 cashflow a month in the WORST areas of the city because they understand that you can fix a hole in the wall but it is VERY hard to find a consistently paying tenant.

John’s Advice

Landlords: If you want a good tenant, be a good Landlord and attract the best.

Tenants: If you want a good place and good Landlord, make your rent the top priority of your finances. NEVER miss the rent. Return the unit BETTER than you got it. Do this and Landlords will line up to get you into your next place.