Finding a quality tenant for your income property can be a daunting task. It takes proper screening, a little bit of a gut feeling, and some luck. But when you have them, great!
I manage a property for one of my out of state clients. Both sides are Section 8 through the Independence Housing Authority. One tenant was in when my client purchased the duplex, the other we put in shortly after his purchase. And we got a couple of good ones.
First, working with the IHA is a delight. They are reasonable, responsive and fair. The IHA did their annual review of the property on the east side and came up with a list of about 7 repairs that needed to be tended to for them to continue to work with us. Little things like a slow drain, a missing dust vent, etc. I determined the necessary repairs and called to make an appointment to get them fixed. The phone had been disconnected.
Now, an experienced landlord would immediately begin to worry a bit. If the phone is being turned off...
I decided to deal with it the next day. I would drive over, put a note on the door to contact me and to notify of when I would be in to do repairs. But before that time came I got a call from the tenant. She wanted me to know her new phone number and that she had completed repairs on all but one of the items. An item she didn't know how to do. Could I help?
Well, of course. I was excited that the letter of repairs that she had clearly stated that it was the landlord's responsibility to make these repairs. But she felt that the little repairs were her or her children's fault and that she wanted to take care of them.
That, my friends, is a quality tenant. And believe it or not, there are plenty of them out there. I think a lot has to do with my landlords. I will not manage a property that is not properly maintained. If something is broken we get it repaired. We respect the tenants. In turn, they respect us. (Is Matthew 7:12 coming to mind?)
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