Quality Housing = Quality Tenants
By C. Finley Beven

The tenant from #3 had lived with us for nearly 6 years. She wrote to us early this month, letting us know that she'd been promoted, and transferred up to Northern California. She gave her appropriate 30 day notice.

In "normal" times, we'd be making plans for a quick turn©around. After all, it's a good rental market out there right now, and we should be able to re©rent her unit promptly with some new carpet and a coat of paint. But these are not "normal" times (if there ever were such a thing). These are very good times, and there are times in which we can improve our units, our business, in ways that will benefit us for years to come.

We have a simple goal here...to improve the quality of our tenants. I'm not talking about their looks, how they dress, their table manners, or their taste in music. I'm talking about their economic quality. This economic quality, the tenant's financial quality, is what will dictate the future security of our income stream from this business. So, as you ratchet up the economic quality of your tenants, you ratchet up the quality of your financial future. This is a time to be looking not just at unit #3 (the upcoming vacancy), but all of the units at your property. How does each tenant there fit into your vision of your property's future? Does each tenant add to the quality of that future? Does each tenant fit into that future? This is a great time for tenant housecleaning. If you have a tenant who has been a behavioral problem, if they continuously play their music too loudly, if they are abnormally hard on their apartment, if they can't seem to figure out where to park, if they are routinely late with their rent... Clean House. (This is much harder and more complicated if your property is under rent control.) These are the kind of tenants who will forever make it difficult for you to rent to new tenants with economic quality.

If your units are just about average, this is a time to make them better. We've spoken about this so many times before, but if you improve the quality of your product, you attract a better tenant. An economically better tenant. And that tenant will take better care of your property. That's the kind of tenant you want. That's the kind of business you want. It has worked well for us. This article is based on the lessons we have learned the hard way. The contents of these articles are merely opinions of the writer. They are not intended as specific legal advice and should not be relied upon for that purpose. Our practice is in constant refinement as we adjust the way we operate to an ever changing market.

I appreciate your questions, comments, suggestions, and solutions. Contact C. Finley Beven, CPM, 77 N. Oak Knoll, Pasadena. Phone 626-795-3282, ext. 111.