need advice

[LoveFreedom]

Hi everyone,

Can anyone recommend a good techniques for attracting good tenants; we just moved out of our property and need to rent it out AND would like to find someone (1) soon and (2) who would take care of it and love it.

The problem is, I didn't like living there all that much - it's a matter of preference as it is very impressive and beautiful house, but is not very cosy. Would my 'personal preference' vibes need to be cleared somehow before I find someone that would like living here. We were quite happy here (no dramas or arguments or any nasties), I was just not in totally love with this place. But I know a lot of people love the way it looks!

I would appreciate al help.

Thanks

[garentee]

Give thanks for the good tenants that you have.

[smartile]

Hi LoveFreedom,

I have a basement apartment that I rent out. Originally, we had problems with our tenant paying on time, smoking in the house, etc.

When we found our new tenant (in June) he was a God-sent. He was a splitting image of our desire and wishes for a tenant. I can't urge you enough to write down the exact qualities and the experience that you expect with your new tenants.

This is exactly what my wife and I did:

We took out a blank piece of paper and wrote out all the details of the tenant we desired. He had to be a single male, good with money and honouring his commitments. We also wanted someone who wouldn't be around very much. We wanted someone who was clean, quiet and not too fussy because he would be living in a basement apartment.

The bottom line was that we wanted someone we could trust. We each wrote out the exact tenant we desired and dated the letter. In about 3 weeks our ideal tenant showed up. My wife and I both interviewed him and fell in love with this man.

I just got back from a two week vacation and our tenant has been fabulous. Although we had some complications with the hydro in the house, our tenant was more than willing to cooperate with a general contractor and manage without lighting in parts of his unit while the problem was remedied.

Once you write out your desire for a new tenant, re-write it again. You may miss out on a few specific details before you get it right. This is what happened to my wife and I.

With our original tenants, we each wrote out a detailed letter with specifics of our tenant. The problem was that we missed a few things in the first written letter. For example, we didn't specify that the tenant would pay the rent on-time, or if the tenant was female/male. We didn't specify if he/she smoked or not. That sort of thing.

In the second letter we learned to be more specific with our intention.

The last thing that I would add is that if you have a partner that both of you agree to the letter description. If one of you prefers a female and the other prefers a male tenant, you may confuse your intention. This is what happened to my wife and I and we ended up getting one of each: one female and one male. We had a couple move in even though that is not what we wanted.

Now we had two people living in the basement apartment, which was not an ideal situation for us. Good luck with your new tenants!

[LoveFreedom]

thanks a lot for your advice Smartile and Garentee. I was actually thinking of making a list of tenant's qualities so thanks for some pointers. I do need to make it specific, as yopu said! And appreciation, yes, works every time bus somehow I need to be reminded of that all the time too...