Low maintenance renters - Who are they?

[The_Bludger]

I've had a mix of renters through my IP's over the years and I have noticed that Asians that haven't been in Oz for long are the most low maintenance renters. They rarely ask for stuff and always pay on time, as well as being less demanding. The highest maintenance have been single divorced women with kids, probably because they know their rights more so than most due to having gone through the legal system.

I know it's a pretty general question and in no way am I trying to be racist or prejudice.

So, what has your experience been? Have you seen a pattern of who the low maintenance renters are? If not, just say so.

 

[marg4000]

Our "best" tenant so far was a single female age pensioner.

She was already installed when we purchased the unit. Because the place was so well kept and tidy we decided to self manage. She originally paid weekly direct into our bank account, but then requested fortnightly payments so she could pay the rent as soon as her pension was credited to her account.

There were very few repairs, and when any was needed she would ring around, get quotes and insist on the "penisoner discount".

She stayed for 16 years until we sold the unit, kept the place immaculate and we got top dollar for it.
Marg

 

[steveadl]

So far our worst group have been Aussie unemployed yobbo's on welfare.

The best group we've experienced have been asylum seekers from Burundi - always pay on time and have never heard a peep from with the exception of one broken window. Would highly recommend them to any LL's.

 

[handyandy]

Single men over 40 and asians.

The men as they simply exist and are able to deal with their own minor maintenance issues.

Asians fall into 2 categories The 1st is those that pay on time and ask for very little unfortunately they have very little idea as to what problems need attending to. The 2nd type are Australianised (been here a while or 2nd gen) who still pay on time but do tend to think that everything has to be done for them.

The tenants I try to avoid. Single females and single females with kids. Mind you I try and avoid kids altogether as to hard wearing. Also avoid grannies as they consider the LL their personal handyman.

The worst for me have been young single females(kids or no kids) who always end in problems due to boyfriends and also can't do anything themselves. Generally short stays.

Cheers

 

[Rob Williams]

Nearly all of my tenants are single women. They tend not to be much bother, look after the place really well and always pay on time. I've yet to have a late rent payment.
Also, they tend not to move, despite regular rent increases.

 

[skater]

The ones that I have had problems with have tended to be unmarried families of any nationality. Mum might have a number of kids, but the current squeeze is only the father to, maybe, one child. These families ultimately break up and the woman either can't or won't pay her way. The male, although on the lease can't be depended on to pay up either.

I have had this situation a couple of times now. Good renters until the split. I've got one at the moment that will be evicted shortly. It doesn't always end in disaster, but there does seem to be a pattern.

Surprisingly I have also had several single parent families that have been very good tenants. Some get into trouble, but pull themselves out of it and stay long term. I have two of these at the moment.

By far the best tenant that I have had, and still do, is a young family renting long term. They have painted the place (he is a painter by trade) and do repairs themselves (not dodgey ones either). They generally treat the place as their own.

I also have a block of flats that are rented to a Community Housing Co-op in a regional area. The tenants in these units change from time to time & I have no idea who is living there as the Housing Co-op does all this. Rent paid promptly and no problems so far.

 

[kathryn d]

Generally our best tenants have been college students who don't want to live on campus or in a party house.Single tenants with dogs are also great.
Our furnished bachelor suites have been great. Only one bad tenant out of about 50.

Our worse tenants have been single moms who get a new partner.

Families are mostly OK, unless they are on welfare.Too much time on their hands.

 

[weg]

I picked no pattern. I've had two single brothers x2 and families x2. One lot of both the brothers and the present family were/are perfect tenants and the others were very so so even though they always paid their rent on time.

An ex PM friend once told me she thought single 'working' mums were some of her best tenants and stayed for a long time.

 

[Jimmy255]

I concur with single tenants with dogs. I have a house with a big yard perfect for dogs and they are desperate to get a place that is animal friendly.

 

[joanmc]

Our best tenant at the moment is a young, single mum and the worst tenant we have ever had was a young, single mum! Although the one that went bad happened after loser boyfriend moved in! We have had everyone in ours, singles, male and female, families even fruit pickers. I can't tell, there doesn't seem to be a pattern to me. Interesting thread though.

 

[Minxdamanx]

My worst - is a pensioner couple - never pay on time and their reasons would break my heart (if I had one, but this is business). They constantly complain too about the most ridiculous things. The garden is lovely though.

My best - two young girls - I never hear from them, but every week the correct amount turns up in my bank account and the house is immaculate at inspection. The only complaint is the garden is a bit weedy, but they do make an effort (probably just prior to inspection).

 

[travelbug]

Nearly all of my tenants are single women. They tend not to be much bother, look after the place really well and always pay on time. I've yet to have a late rent payment.
Also, they tend not to move, despite regular rent increases.

MMMM!! any OTHER reasons?

 

[austini]

In my experience it is not really the type of person that is important but the quality of the area the investment property is located in. And also important is the quality of the property manager being used. Most of our IPs have been in what would be considered the better pockets of blue chip suburbs.

The odd property we have had over the years in lesser quality areas at one time or another had problem tenants.

Although I do think it's very hard to generalise.

Cheers - Gordon

 

[Rob Williams]

MMMM!! any OTHER reasons?

Yes. They take better care of the garden than most fellas. OK, so you sprung me!

 

[Perp]

Who are they?

Other people's tenants????

 

[Fire The Boss]

Another good poll would be Low Maintenance Properties - What are they?

My experience has been with 6 types:

Young family (Dad, stay at home Mum, 2 kids under 8 and 2 cats)
Single professional woman (no pets)
Single professional male (no pets)
Mature/retired single woman (no pets)
Young couple (early 20s and one large dog)
Young professional couple (mid to late 20s and no pets)

Only had one bad (learning) experience and that was the young early 20s couple because they split. The guy stayed on and became very demanding and hard on the property (him and his Rottweiler). He had the Sheriffs Department chasing him for stuff after he left...

The rest have all been excellent. The kids were a little hard on the bedroom walls but nothing a little filler and a repaint didn't fix.

I only rent out low maintenance 2 & 3 bedroom units in very good to excellent condition to well PM sourced and screened tenants though, and I think that has a lot to do with it. I voted No Pattern accordingly.

 

[BayView]

No pattern for me really.

Probably the best tenants I've had are our current ones in our PPoR, and we had an exemplary pensioner couple in one of the units.

In the same unit we now have a young single guy and he is excellent.

 

[Xenia]

Low maintenance tenants are those who live in a low maintenance house and have a great landlord that takes care of things on time.

 

[jaycee]

All depends on how you describe high maintenace Xenia. I suspect your definition is slightly different to the original & subsequent posters'

 

[Erin]

I don't think there is a pattern. Someone can present perfectly, have a perfect rental ledger and references, and still turn out to be a dud tenant.

One thing I have learnt from working in agencies (I'm a property economics student - have worked in real estate admin for 5 years) is to never make assumptions about the type of tenant someone may be based on how they present initially. I take how someone presents as a grain of salt - if only all PM's did this too.

The worse tenant that comes to mind was a divorced developer that was approved for a beach front penthouse at $1200 per week. 6 weeks later he stopped paying rent and did a runner. The PM department had a lot of trouble locating him, but applied to take him to CTTT for what he owed which was about 14K. The CTTT then contacted the PM in writing, stating the guy had declared himself bankrupt and therefore nothing could be awarded. I don't know what happened after that as I left the agency.

Another agency I worked for had a young couple (female was 19, male was 23) that were hassle free for the first 6 months of their tenancy. After that, they were in constant arrears, were sent termination notices but always caught up to avoid the CTTT. The premises required some repairs, they were a nightmare to deal with during this time. The owner then decided to sell the property and they kept refusing access to the sales agent and wouldn't allow the agent to take any internal photos. After 3 years, the owner finally decided to give them 60 days notice. They didn't leave on time, so a possession order was obtained. They left after this, but the place was unclean, carpet was stained, a couple holes in the wall and some furniture left. Out of interest I went through their ledger after they vacated and realised they were in arrears (varied between 1 - 4 weeks) for 2.5 YEARS!!! I don't know what the PM's were thinking keeping them in there. Anyway, coincidently, I found out through a friend who works as a PM at another agency that he leased a place to them back in September 08. As they had no rental history (haha, I wonder why), they paid 6 months rent upfront. Apparently the place was abolutely immaculate upon inspection, they haven't been a day late in rent since their fixed term agreement finished in March and he hasn't heard boo from them.