Tenant Expectations You Should Set Immediately

By L. Roberts on July 27, 2019

As a landlord, you know how stressful it can be to have a tenant who’s irresponsible. You do a quick drive-by and you notice that the grass is overgrown, there’s trash overflowing from the receptacles, the windows have gaping holes in them, and you had no idea that shingles were falling off the roof. Your first reaction is anger, right? You can’t believe you picked a tenant who’s this irresponsible, and who has chosen to treat your property like it’s worthless. But maybe the problem isn’t that you picked a tenant who’s irresponsible, maybe you simply didn’t make your expectations clear in the beginning. Maybe when you wrote up your lease and the tenant signed it, you didn’t exactly discuss the details.

You know how stressful it can be to interview potential tenants, and think you have them nailed, only to discover that they aren’t people of their word, they destroy your property and you’re left to clean up the mess they’ve made in just a short period of time.

The eviction process is long and grueling and varies by state. There are different procedures, rules, and reasons for evicting in each state, and as a landlord, this is something you have to be well-educated on. If you’re renting out your property to strangers, you’re taking a big risk. You got involved in the real estate business to give yourself a financial boost, but the risk you’re taking on may or may not be worth it, depending on the tenant expectations that you set in the beginning. 

When you start looking for someone to rent your property, make sure you ask all the right questions. You’ll want to fully “vet” your renter options before you decide on someone (or two someones). Will they be bringing a significant other with them? Do they have pets? A stable income? What happens if they lose their job? Do they have enough savings to keep paying their rent on time until they can find something else? Do they even make enough money at their job to cover rent and expenses to begin with?

You have to decide whether or not you’ll require a co-signer, depending on their credit, of course, as well as what their deposit is going to be. Many landlords require a one-month deposit, and as a general rule of thumb I think that’s what renters mostly expect to begin with. But before you and your tenant settle on the terms of the lease, you need to spend some time thinking about what you want this relationship to look like.

Your expectations can range from ultimately-detailed to a bit more relaxed. Sure, you wish your tenant would clean the apartment, but there’s not really a way to enforce that. So instead, expect that they treat your property with respect. When you’re setting your expectations, put yourself in your tenant’s shoes. They’ll thank you for that, and you’ll thank yourself.

I cannot stress how important it is for you to truly give thought to the process of renting out something that you own. Whether it’s a house, a condo, a trailer in the woods, or a townhouse, when you own something and you let someone else live there, you are risking a lot as far as your finances, your personal stress level, and your time (the precious thing we all never have enough of!). As you decide who your next tenant is going to be, college student, young family, an elderly couple, single professional, etc., please consider what you expect of them. Consider how you want your property to be treated. Set the bar where you need it set, and then be sure to follow through by setting tenant expectations that can be easily explained and followed:

via Pexels.com

1. When is the rent due, in what form, and is there a process for giving the tenant a receipt?

Before you get too far in the process of interviewing tenants, make sure you explain how you accept rent. Can they write you a personal check and mail it? Do you prefer a cashier’s check? What day of the month is their rent due, and are you giving your tenant a “grace period” before you will penalize them for late rent? How will you give your tenant the proof they need that they’ve paid their rent?

These are all things to think through before you get a tenant into your place who suddenly “doesn’t own personal checks,” or “doesn’t have a bank account,” or operates strictly off of “cash only.”

You have to make sure that you’ll be able to give your tenant some kind of proof that they’ve paid their rent. It will come in handy if there’s ever a dispute, but more than anything, creating a paper trail of your “transactions” every month will give you both proof, should you ever need it for any reason.

2. What are the expectations of your property’s physical condition?

Is the yard work the responsibility of the tenant? What do you expect your property to look like from the outside when you drive by? What kinds of “normal wear and tear” will you accept when your tenant moves out? What kind of damages will equal you withholding their deposit?

Before you or your new tenant signs on the dotted line of a lease, you should all ensure that you know what’s expected. The tenant might think you’re coming by every week to mow the lawn, when in reality, you’re expecting them to both own a lawnmower and mow on a weekly basis.

It’s so important to write this out in the lease. Writing out your tenant expectations is one area where landlords tend to drop the ball. If you don’t write it out, and it’s just a verbal conversation that you have with somebody, there’s no way to prove what you agreed on. I know I might be preaching to the choir here, but consider adopting the idea that writing down “too much” will benefit you much more than writing “not enough.”

via Canva.com

3. How long do you expect your tenant to stay?

Whether you decide to do a month-to-month lease or you want your tenant to agree to stay for one year, you should map out exactly what you expect before your tenant moves in. Some apartment complexes charge more rent per month for the shorter length of the tenant’s stay. You might consider using this to incentivize your tenant to stay in your property longer. After all, when you have to “turn” your unit, it costs you more money, therefore, it’s financially better to keep your tenants in the unit as long as possible.

As you’re interviewing potential tenants, ask them how long they plan to stay in the area. You never know what someone’s plans are, and they might just be moving in for the next six months only to give you 30 days notice before they’re ready to move out.

4. Move In and Move Out Conditions

If you’re a prepared landlord, you’ll want to use move-in and move-out checklists. You should let your tenant know that you expect these to be used at the beginning and end of their lease. You’ll be able to create a paper trail by having them fill out the conditions of the grounds — were the blinds broken, were there holes in the walls, and was everything functioning like normal when they moved in?

This is important for both of you to understand. When your tenant moves out, you’ll want to evaluate the condition in which they left things. This will determine whether or not they’ll get their deposit back.

If you don’t set this expectation in the beginning, your tenant will claim they “didn’t know,” and you’ll only be setting yourself up for failure in the future. As you and your tenant get ready to sign a lease, make sure you’re clearly laying out your expectations.

5. Tenant Handbook

One of the easiest ways to communicate your tenant expectations is to write a tenant handbook. You’ll be able to use this over and over again, regardless of who’s moving into your place. You can use it as a central spot for storing information about trash and lawn responsibilities, when their rent will be due, and how to handle various emergencies.

When you’re writing this handbook, be sure that your tenant is going to understand the language you use. If you’re mainly renting to college students, keep in mind that they may not know words like “amenities” or “renters insurance.” Keep in mind that you might have to answer several questions regarding rental vocabulary if your tenants aren’t sure of all the meanings.

6. Renter’s Insurance

Are you going to require that your tenants take out a renter’s insurance policy? If you are, you need to make sure that this is explicitly explained in the beginning. There are several reasons why this is a good thing to require of your tenants. Even more so than other types of tenants, if you are renting to college students, it’s highly recommended that they take out an insurance policy. It covers a variety of emergencies, from medical to natural disasters, and can truly save both you and your tenant if they are covered by a policy.

As a landlord, you bare the bulk of the responsibilities in a tenant/landlord relationship. Not only are you responsible for the physical condition of the place, but you’re responsible for making sure your mortgage is on time, the insurance you carry is reliable, and it’s in an overall good condition. When you agree to let someone move into your place, there are expectations you should set in the beginning to be sure you’re both on the same page. These expectations can include things like when the rent is due, the penalty for late rent payments, and who is in charge of lawn care. You might consider writing a tenant handbook in order to keep everything in writing. After all, this legally binding agreement is a pretty big deal. It will serve you well to keep a paper trail for every decision you make.

In addition to preparing expectations of your tenant, you should also think about what your tenant expects of you. Many of your renters are going to have questions that they’ll expect you to have answers to. They’re going to ask you about the amenities of your place — are they allowed to use the crawlspace under the house for storage? Do they have to pay for a parking spot in the front of the building? When your tenants come to you with questions, they expect answers.

But they’ll also want to get to know you. So as you set your expectations for your tenant, know that they’re setting their expectations of you. Many tenants like getting to know their landlords because of the “just in case” scenarios they’ve written in their minds.

“What if I need an extra week to get my rent money together?”

“What if the water heater goes out and they take six weeks to get it fixed?”

These are questions that tenants worry about, so they’ll want to get to know they type of person you are as it will ease their worries. They want to know if you’re the type of person who will give them an extra week to get their rent together or prioritize whatever breaks on the property.

Remember that being a landlord is a pretty big responsibility. There’s someone who’s going to be living in/on your property and you’re responsible for their safety and well-being (for the most part). So when you’re setting your tenant expectations really envision how you want this to play out over the next twelve or eighteen months. The way you begin this relationship will determine the course it takes over the next several months.

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