There's a tenant in one of my buildings who's been there less than a year, but somehow he's become my unofficial information desk. 
I needed to get into the utility room and he knew exactly which tenant had the spare key. A delivery wasn't where it was supposed to be and he knew the driver's usual drop-off spot. Then I asked about trash pickup after a holiday and he gave me the answer immediately, including the day it would actually be collected.
I finally asked him how he knows all this and he basically shrugged. 
He's not employed by the building and doesn't have any responsibility for this stuff.  He's just apparently been paying attention to everything since he moved in.
Honestly, every building seems to have one person like this, and I'm starting to appreciate having one around 😂

I was getting a unit ready last week and realized I didn't have the dresser I normally use for staging, so I left that wall completely empty. Didn't think much of it. Then three people came through that afternoon, and two of them separately said the bedroom felt bigger in person than it looked in the listing photos.
I went back and looked at some of my older listings and honestly they're pretty packed.
Now I'm wondering if I've been trying too hard to make rooms look finished when I should've just let them breathe.
Has anyone else noticed that removing furniture actually made their listings show better, or did I just accidentally stumble into something obvious?

Triplex in Ontario, Canada, so subject to the the Residential Tenancies Act. I inherited this tenant with the property when I purchased it this summer. This tenant’s lease agreement, which I also inherited, specifies that laundry isn’t included. But the apartment did have hook-ups, and they brought in their own machines.

Cue to this week - tenant reports big leak, mould, flooring damage. When I checked it out, the leak was very clearly coming from the hose connecting to the water hook-up. So I’m chalking this up to tenant responsibility. It’s going to cost probably a few thousand which I know they don’t have.

This particular tenant is already proving to be challenging (for example had a hissy fit when I asked her to keep her garbage in the garage, and in a bin with a closed lid - informing me that she refused to do so). I can only imagine how it will go if I present her with a bill. Anyone been in this situation? I see things going sideways fast but I’m also not going to own this bill - interested to hear how others have handled it.

I was grabbing drinks with a few friends last weekend when the conversation somehow turned to rentals. One of them asked what I charge for rent on a townhouse I own. I told him. His immediate response was, "That's it?"

Apparently similar places nearby are renting for a few hundred dollars more. But the thing is, my tenant has been there for years. Rent always shows up on time. The place is looked after. I barely hear from them unless something actually needs attention
My friend couldn't understand why I wasn't increasing the rent more aggressively.

His whole argument was that if the market supports a higher number, not charging it is just bad business.

Maybe. But I feel like people underestimate how valuable predictability is.

A good tenant who stays for years saves me a lot of headaches that don't show up on a spreadsheet. By the end of the conversation he was convinced I was being too nice. 🤷🏻

I left wondering if some landlords genuinely see every tenant relationship as a transaction that needs to be maximized?

I have a rental that gets good interest usually, but the lack of in-unit washer and dryer changes the things.

There is a shared laundry, but many of them hesitate.

I have considered to add a washer and a dryer, but the overall combined cost of plumbing, assembling and electricity will make it very costly.

Not sure if I would charge extra and include this in the amenities, or it would just become a costly upgrade.

Tenant paid through the portal on the 1st and the balance immediately showed $0. I didn't think anything of it because the tenant had submitted the payment and the portal showed it as paid from my side too.Four days later, the ACH was returned. The tenant genuinely thought rent was paid because there was nothing on their account telling them otherwise. I had to go back and tell them the payment didn't actually clear, and they're obviously confused about why I'm bringing it up days later
I know ACH payments can get returned, but I'm more bothered by how the portal handled it. If the money hasn't actually cleared yet, showing a $0 balance makes it look completely settled when it isn't
Do I treat the original payment date as the date rent was paid and just ask them to resubmit, or does the returned ACH mean the rent technically became late once it bounced?

I'm getting a rental ready for a new renter and found that the previous tenant had left their video doorbell installed
No big deal at first. It's still in good shape and I'd rather leave it there than buy another one. Then I tried setting it up and realized the thing was still connected to the previous tenant's account. Super uncomfortable because I have no idea whether they can still see the camera, get alerts or access recordings
I don't want the next tenant using someone else's account and I definitely don't want the old tenant having access after they've moved
Should I reset and reassign the device myself or require the previous tenant to fully remove it?

My wife and I own two duplexes, and we rent out the units we don't live in. We're both in our early 30s and got here by saving, taking on mortgages and accepting all the costs and risks that come with owning property.

My brothers think what we're doing is wrong. Their argument is that landlords contribute to expensive housing and make money from people who need somewhere to live. I understand some of the criticism because there are definitely landlords who exploit tenants, ignore repairs and squeeze every dollar they can.

But I don't understand how owning two duplexes automatically makes us part of that problem

We're not buying up entire neighborhoods or leaving houses empty. People live in these units because they want or need to rent, while we're responsible for the mortgage, taxes, insurance, repairs and everything else that comes with the property

Some people don't want to buy, can't qualify for a mortgage, or simply don't want the responsibility of owning a home

This feels like reaching to me

Tenant screening feels like it’s gotten significantly more complicated over the last few years.

We recently sat down with Hannah Hamilton from Rental Research, a Minnesota-based tenant screening company, to talk about what landlords should actually be watching for right now.

One of the more interesting parts of the conversation was how AI and better editing tools are making it easier for applicants to fake or manipulate pay stubs, income documentation, and other parts of an application.

We also talked about:

• What Minnesota landlords can and can’t legally consider
• How local screening rules are changing
• Ways to verify application information
• Common red flags
• How to create a consistent screening process without exposing yourself to unnecessary risk

Curious what other landlords are seeing lately—have you noticed an increase in fake documents or application fraud?

Watch the Full Episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/rN4NrV8eq8o

I've gotten pretty good at estimating what a normal turnover is going to cost me, but flooring is the one thing I still can't seem to predict.

I'll have one tenant move out after five years and the floor looks perfectly fine. Then someone else leaves after two years and suddenly I'm looking at stains, scratches, pet damage and what not.

I don't automatically blame the tenant either because some of this is just normal wear depending on the type of flooring and how old it already was.

What I'm trying to figure out is how often other landlords are actually budgeting for full replacement versus just doing repairs between tenants.

Should I start treating flooring as a regular turnover expense rather than something that only happens when a tenant really destroys it? What is done usually? 

I’m about to close on an owner occupied with a single unit upstairs. We’re retaining the tenant, who from all reports have been ideal, long term tenants and we hope to keep it that way. Their rent will only supplement the mortgage.

My question is do I keep separate account for the rent and home expenses? Because any expenses for the apartment will be 100% business expenses, but any expenses expenses for the whole house will only be 1/3 business expenses (I assume this will be the majority of expenses). I will have to keep such careful track, is there any benefit to having a separate account, or credit card?

I grew up in an owner occupied house, where my father acted as landlord. But he does his own taxes, and I suspect he isn’t maximizing his withholding as a landlord.

I've got fewer than 20 doors and I'm starting to think I may have overcomplicated things. When I first started, a spreadsheet felt completely fine. Then I started adding things & now I'm drowning man
I'm paying for software that seems to be built for people managing hundreds of units and I'm not even sure I'm using half the features. What I'm really looking for is something that handles rent, leases, maintenance requests and basic reporting without feeling like I need a training course just to find a tenant ledger. What PMS are you actually using day to day, smaller LLs?

I'm still pretty new to being a landlord, so maybe this is something everyone else already knows.
A former tenant contacted me recently because they needed a copy of something from their old lease, and while helping them I realized they could still log into the tenant portal. They could see their old rent payments, maintenance requests, messages and documents from when they lived there.
I honestly hadn't thought about what happens to those accounts after someone moves out.
Should I be doing something with the account once the tenancy ends, especially if there are personal documents or payment information attached to it?

Hi Folks. A potential tenant provided their credit score from BMO Credit Coach (it’s 720). Should I ask for a full credit check, or would you consider this to be sufficient? She has been in her last place for 7 years, and works full time as a nurse. Small car, nothing glam. Thoughts?

Edit: thanks for the consistent input. We had our applicant do a full credit, background and employment check.

Not sure whether my listing is actually doing well or if I'm just staring at meaningless numbers.
The unit has 74 saves right now. There have also been quite a few inquiries, so clearly people are interested enough to click through and keep the listing. But I've gotten only two applications.
That's a pretty big gap.
My first thought was price but the rent isn't out of line with other units around here. Then I wondered if people are saving it while they compare ten or fifteen other apartments and eventually finding something they like better
The annoying part is that the listing itself looks popular, so if I only looked at views and saves I'd think everything was fine. Meanwhile, the unit is still sitting empty.
What does this even mean?

I’m dealing with an owner who wants to sell a property that currently has a tenant with roughly 8 months remaining on the lease.
The owner wants to start getting the property in front of potential buyers, which is understandable. My concern is the tenant experience once the photos, showings, inspections, and buyer visits start happening.
I’m not really asking about what the lease permits or the required notice periods. I’m more curious about the practical side of managing the situation.
What to do to make the process as smooth as possible for the tenant while still giving the owner and buyers reasonable access?
Any lessons from experience would be helpful.

Goedemiddag allemaal,

Ik wil beginnen met duidelijk aan te geven dat ik hier niet ben om te promoten. Ik ben puur opzoek naar inzichten, feedback en het liefst zelfs een goed gesprek.

Ik ben de oprichter van TogetherRent. Wij leveren tekenklare duo dossiers aan voor het 2BR segment in Amsterdam (€2400-€3200). De gedachte hier achter is verhuurders snel complete tekenklare huurders kunnen vinden. Alle huurders worden van tevoren hard gefilterd op inkomen, budget, huurintentie (12+ maanden) en BRP geschiktheid.

Indien een huurder hieraan voldoet wordt hij uitgenodigd voor een intake gesprek waar we dieper ingaan op de situatie, intentie, geschiktheid voor ons model en leefstijl.

Als de huurder door de intake heen komt wordt er een profiel aangemaakt over apartment voorkeuren, leefstijl, tijdlijn en de financiële situatie. Alle documenten worden ingeleverd en geverifieerd voordat wij tijd en energie steken in het matchen.

Het proces is er bewust op ingericht om serieuze en verantwoordelijke huurders over te houden en twijfelaars en onstabiele huurders zo vroeg mogelijk er uit te filteren.

Denk aan:
- geen studenten
- geen mensen die stage lopen
- geen garantstellers
- geen korte termijn/onduidelijke huurintentie

Onze dossier hebben gemiddeld €11.600 bruto inkomen gezamenlijk. 95% is expat met 30% regeling. Alles is van te voren besproken en vastgelegd, er zit een heel process achter.

Mijn vraag is: hoe kijkt u als verhuurder naar zo’n dossier en waarom zou wel of niet een voorstel accepteren. Zo niet wat zou er voor nodig zijn om deze twijfel wel weg te nemen?

Het hele model draait om stabiele, rustige en verantwoordelijke huurders aan te dragen met als uitgaanspunt minder leegstand en een goede relatie met de huurders.

Elk inzicht vanaf de verhuurderskant is welkom ik sta volledig open voor feedback of liever nog een gesprek!

Bij voorbaat dank,

Niels | TogetherRent

The applicant is relocating for work and can't get here before the move. Everything checks out and they've done a video tour, but signing a lease without ever physically seeing the unit still makes me a little uncomfortable. Not because I don't trust them. More because photos and videos never show exactly how a place feels.
Anyone had this go badly after move-in?

​

We've changed our listing format quite a bit over the last few years.

Some details generated lots of questions but very few qualified inquiries.

Other things that seemed unimportant ended up being what serious applicants actually cared about.

Curious what everyone has changed over time.

I'm graduating soon and I've been seriously considering going into property management instead of choosing a more traditional four-year degree path. I've looked at real estate management programs and I like a lot of what I'm seeing, but it's hard to tell what the actual career looks like once you're past the entry-level stage

I don't mind starting as a leasing agent and working my way up. What worries me is putting a few years into it and realizing the pay doesn't really go anywhere unless you move into a completely different role.

If you work in property management now, what does your career progression actually look like and if you were 18 again, knowing what you know now, would you still choose this industry?

I've been trying to lease one of my units for the past couple of weeks, even paid for professional photos, refreshed the listing and all. They liked the layout, asked thoughtful questions, even started asking about move-in dates

Then, as we were walking back to the parking lot, one of the neighbors came outside and started yelling at someone over a parking space. Full-on shouting match in the middle of the afternoon. The applicant got noticeably quieter after that. They thanked me for my time, said they'd think about it and I never heard from them again

It's frustrating because there's nothing I could've done differently. The unit was exactly how I wanted it. I just got unlucky with the timing I guess

Just wanted to share is all