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The tenant pays on time....always. Tenant gives access when I ask.
Coming up on lease renewal time and I am on the fence about renewing the lease. The reason: MESSY PEOPLE!!! Front of house has vines over taking the shrubs, they never edge when they mow, the carport is always full of scattered toys, barbeque grill, shoes....the past few days there's a washer and dryer set sitting in the carport (have no idea why). The inside is a terrible mess. Not filthy, just messy. Bathtub is however always coated with grime, clothing is tossed all over the furniture and floors, kids toys all over the house. Just a mess, mess, mess.
No holes in the walls, they are not breaking appliances or fencing, etc. But the place is just an eyesore. Quite frequently I ask them to clean up and they are responsive (apologize with an excuse but do take care of it), but if I don't drop them a note (Example: the grass is too high, please have it mowed.) they don't take care of the place.
Still, they pay well......and are not damaging the property. Just messy.
Would you renew the lease? Last time I advertised that property I had 148 inquiries. Oh, and no neighbors have ever complained about them......
I'm not one, so I don't have a direct experience, but a family friend does own a 8-unit. His opinion - he'll take a messy but known payer vs. a clean but an unknown background anyday. Heck, even those that pass background checks is no guarantee ... he's dealt with those before too.
You mention kids toys everywhere ... that's where their priority in life is right now. If I were in your position, I'd reemphasize about keeping the front tidy, but inside the house, let it be.
I wouldn't turn them away. To have a tenant who paid on time, didn't cause problems with the neighbors, didn't cause damage is far better than NO tenant or one who was late repeatedly or simply disappeared. Have a chat with them, tell them you considered not renewing the lease because of the messiness. Ask them to please consider the neighbors and to be a little more vigilant with mowing the lawn and keeping the front yard/carport neater.
If you want to risk a good-paying tenant for whatever else you might wind up with, then consider raising the rent and having someone else take care of the lawn, but I would not.
My mother was a realtor with a big heart. When a client couldnt sell his/her house, my mother often ended up buying it (for close to the listing price). She acquired dozens of houses this way over the years and kept all of them for rental income.
Many, many tenants took advantage of my mother and came up with sob story after sob story about why they couldnt pay the rent, month after month. She often let them do maintenance work in exchange for the rent - but there's only so much maintenance that can be done and rental payments go on forever. Many tenants ended up living there rent-free for up to a year while my mother went through grueling eviction proceedings.
As a favor to her, I always cleaned the houses when the tenants moved out. The stories I could tell you about how many people treat rental houses (even expensive houses)! Fortunately, I have a strong stomach -- but the whole experience left me with a profound sense of admiration for landlords who dont get burned out on people.
So, if you have a tenant who always pays rent timely and allows you access to make sure that the house isnt being destroyed, my advice would be not to sweat the small stuff. Your next tenant may not be so good.
The tenant pays on time....always.
Tenant gives access when I ask.
No holes in the walls,
they are not breaking appliances or fencing, etc.
and no neighbors have ever complained about them
Still, they pay well......and are not damaging the property.
Just messy.
Would you renew the lease?
Yes.
Not only that I say go the extra mile for a steady no turnover tenant.
1) Expecting a tenant to do more than mow the grass (poorly) is asking a lot... so just hire someone 2X a year to trim and edge and rake and mulch etc and hope that makes the expectation for the exterior appearance line better known to them. it probably won't.
2) Sounds like Mom just simply may not know any better about the basic housekeeping and cleaning that most of us would probably call minimum. So again... hire someone to come in and do the Kitchen and Bath for them as a "lease renewal" gift (that protects your investment too).
2a) Get the carpets shampooed and wash the walls as well after another year.
You know some people simply have different standards as to the amount of junk they can stand lying around and what they consider "clean." I know over the years I have gotten much pickier about a clean house.
When I was MUCH younger, I rented a duplex and I thought I had it pretty clean when I left. Landlord called and asked when I planned to come back to do the cleaning.
you mentioned kids....i think that could be their "problem". it's hard to keep a house really neat and tidy when you've got kids running around the entire day and messing the whole place up immediately after you've tidied it. so it might not be that they never try to keep the house clean but it might be almost impossible to be on top of things all the time with the kids.
as long as they are responsible in all other ways i.e. like not cause damage to your house, pay rent on time etc...you should just close one eye about the tidiness. but do talk to them about maintaining good relationship with the neighbors.
agree with the rest that if you are particular about the yard....just engage someone to do the yard work once every 2 weeks of so. i'm already quite impressed that your tenants even mow the lawn!1!
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