How do you cope with tenants or lodgers?

bobwilson

TheGardener wrote: »

interchangeable post for anyone with teen+ kids. I feel for you bobwilson.
I became a parent by choice so I signed up for the ungrateful, non-cleaning stuff, empty your car of petrol then look stunned when you ask them to re-fill it type stuff....
I'll be honest - I do agree it sounds like you are in the wrong line of business. Give the tenants their marching orders and either sell and downsize to a property you can afford on your own or just find the least worst price to charge.

I can relate! I hope your kids will one day be grateful and/or look after you when you're too old to do so yourself! After all, isn't that the point? :rotfl: Sometimes one wonders if non-westernised cultures have some things the right way around at least, such as the responsibility to look after their elderly relatives !

I wish I'd chosen this position or that it was possible to sell.. unfortunately, selling isn't always a viable option. It really depends what the market is like in your area, how recently you bought or how much less your property is worth. In some instances, it's hard to gather which is worse- selling and losing almost all capital or continuing and acting like their slave until the option to sell improves (which may take years!)..

Facknats

What age group are you letting to? Just I noticed from sharing far more houses than were good for me that:

- people who continue in HMO/shared houses seem to get dodgier after about age 35 as a lot of people without significant personality/financial/mental health problems have worked their way up to get a flat, got themselves into a council house, moved in with significant other etc

- People who have just left home sometimes have no idea what things actually cost and aren't paid the amount that it actually costs to live.

- There's a sweet spot around 24 - 30 where it's still fairly normal to share, so it's easier to find plentiful housemates/tenants who have money and life skills.. goes my possibly BS theory but here we go.

Currently I've just finished repairing the plaster that was blown when we moved in, on the threadbare carpet, trimmed the privet hedges which were as tall as the house when we started tenancy, screwed all the cupboard doors back on, mopped the floor twice daily as the fridge floods the kitchen constantly, fixed the cistern lever, replaced the broken taps, sorted fire alarms (fire alarms? Really?!) and am scouring gumtree to replace the warped back door for cheap, because frankly, if you want a property you can keep dogs/kids/live or breathe in, Landlords available have all the business skills of a secondhand turnip.

Turns out most people in life want to buy up all the cheap housing stock (which should be going to lower income families and social housing) as investments.. they want the regular rental income.. but they really, really don't want the tenants :money:

bobwilson

Facknats wrote: »

What age group are you letting to? Just I noticed from sharing far more houses than were good for me that:

- people who continue in HMO/shared houses seem to get dodgier after about age 35 as a lot of people without significant personality/financial/mental health problems have worked their way up to get a flat, got themselves into a council house, moved in with significant other etc

- People who have just left home sometimes have no idea what things actually cost and aren't paid the amount that it actually costs to live.

- There's a sweet spot around 24 - 30 where it's still fairly normal to share, so it's easier to find plentiful housemates/tenants who have money and life skills.. goes my possibly BS theory but here we go.

Currently I've just finished repairing the plaster that was blown when we moved in, on the threadbare carpet, trimmed the privet hedges which were as tall as the house when we started tenancy, screwed all the cupboard doors back on, mopped the floor twice daily as the fridge floods the kitchen constantly, fixed the cistern lever, replaced the broken taps, sorted fire alarms (fire alarms? Really?!) and am scouring gumtree to replace the warped back door for cheap, because frankly, if you want a property you can keep dogs/kids/live or breathe in, Landlords available have all the business skills of a secondhand turnip.

Turns out most people in life want to buy up all the cheap housing stock (which should be going to lower income families and social housing) as investments.. they want the regular rental income.. but they really, really don't want the tenants :money:

Wholeheartedly agree with what you say about tenants above 35, ones who just left home & landlords who want the income but not the tenants!

I've noticed exactly the same thing! And your sweet spot assessment makes sense- I realised exactly the same thing. :rotfl:

For those of us who fall into the unlikely category of decent lodgers or landlords, we're vastly outnumbered by our (crazy/lazy) peers and it gives the good ones a bad name

zagubov

The way some landlords moan about tenants is like reading about beekeepers who're angry at their being allergic to bees.

They've got fundamental questions that need answering.

FreeBear

I'm guessing the OP has had his fill of the current lodger(s).... Not all are that bad. In fact, the two I currently have keep the house pretty clean and tidy. Washing up is (usually) done by the time I get home, and the hoover put round regularly. One of them even did a deep clean in the bathroom last week. They both keep an eye on energy consumption, and try to minimise electricity/gas usage.

Perhaps I hit gold with these two, but I wouldn't want to swap them for anyone else (and certainly not the last pair :eek:).

bobwilson

zagubov wrote: »

The way some landlords moan about tenants is like reading about beekeepers who're angry at their being allergic to bees.

Comparing tenants to Bees that sting is an interesting analogy!

bobwilson

FreeBear wrote: »

I'm guessing the OP has had his fill of the current lodger(s).... Not all are that bad. In fact, the two I currently have keep the house pretty clean and tidy. Washing up is (usually) done by the time I get home, and the hoover put round regularly. One of them even did a deep clean in the bathroom last week. They both keep an eye on energy consumption, and try to minimise electricity/gas usage.

Perhaps I hit gold with these two, but I wouldn't want to swap them for anyone else (and certainly not the last pair :eek:).

You absolutely hit gold!! If only this were the gold standard.

Kentish_Dave

bobwilson wrote: »

Thank you for that insight. I might refer you back to the the original post, which I think makes it clear that reducing £Y would be impossible given the attitude of tenants.

It sounds like you must have made some pretty terrible decisions in your life, yet are determined to keep doing so. You seem utterly miserable, yet will not downsize as you will “lose capital.”

if your house has dropped in value that capital has already gone, and your insistence that your way is the right one makes little sense. Your way has brought you here. The people pointing it better options have generally made better decisions. Going with your judgement over theirs is just weird.

Murphybear

OP


According to official government figures in their Dwelling Stock Estimates 2017 there were 23.9 million dwellings in England at 31st March 2017.

15.1 million dwellings were owner occupied dwellings, 4.8 million private rented dwellings and 4.0 million social and affordable rented dwellings (Private Registered Providers plus Local Authority).

You made the following points in your original post:

“They never want to clean up after themselves, but they also never want to pay for a cleaner.”

How many of the 8.8 households that rent their homes have you visited to make such a sweeping statement? I suspect less than a handful. I live in an over 60s independent living community of 33 properties. I have seen inside at least 20 of them and every single one, without exception, is clean and tidy. I have a good friend who owns a large letting agency and according to him the number of tenants that don’t clean and tidy the properties is very low.

“What makes the majority of tenants or lodgers behave in this self-entitled way”

How do you know how the majority of tenants in the 8.8 million rented homes behave? The answer is, of course, you don’t.

lookstraightahead

Basically you don't like your customers. You need to decide whether you need your customers income, or close your business.