Renting to Diplomats?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best tenants are military families. Handy and trustworthy. Diplomats leave the country after a couple of years. They don’t care about their credit here. Can trash your place without much consequences.

Military can leave w/o consequences if they're called for duty

Maybe in terms of timing, but not condition. I grew up in a town with a military base, and military officers were the best tenants. The base had inspectors that would come check the house after move out to make sure it had been left in pristine condition. Literally the “white glove” test. I don’t know if they do that anymore, but there would be repercussions for a member of the military who trashed a house. The base has an interest in maintaining access to rental properties in the area, and they want a reputation for being good tenants.

I agree with you. They are nice people and leave the place spotless. But sometimes they just have to pack up and go if duty calls and I don't begrudge them for that. But it's a huge pain when I'm living halfway around the world to try and find a tennant asap. Even with a property manager it's a hassle

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We heard, if your house needs a make over rent to Aussies as they pay the most, but they are also harder on the house, so dont rent to them if you just remodeled the house. 😉

Hahathat might be true. I showed a Chevy Chase house to Aussie diplomats who brought their kids. And the kids proceeded to jump on the sofa and hang off the banisters. The parents didn't try to stop them. Hard pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My diplomat friend says never ever rent to diplomats

Why so? Is it because they entertain too much? Or is it because they normally cannot afford such nice housing in their own country so are inexperienced in taking care of large properties? I know some European and Asian diplomats could only afford to live in tiny apartments in their own cities, so can be very neglective of normal maintenance required by American houses. Plus they normally have too many children (the more children the more benefits and wife normally don't work)

They have too many children? The wife doesn’t work? What do you care if the wife doesn’t work?

Let’s put it this way, OP, I would not rent to diplomats who don’t have to do it through their embassy.

DP. We rent directly to embassies and we don't rent directly to diplomats. We don't rent directly to diplomats because they can hide behind their diplomatic immunity and .we have no recourse if they violate the terms of the lease and/or they damage the house beyond the amount of the security deposit.

Interesting. Is this unusual? B/c I understand diplomat signs but the Embassy pays?

Not usually. In most cases when you rent directly to the diplomat they have received a housing allowance that they pay you from. You want to rent directly to the embassy and you want the embassy to pay you directly. You do not want a lease signed by the diplomat. Now, this does mean that the embassy can move another person/family in and out but we haven't had any problems with that. Just knowing that their embassy is on the line is enough to keep the diplomats and their families in line.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best tenants are military families. Handy and trustworthy. Diplomats leave the country after a couple of years. They don’t care about their credit here. Can trash your place without much consequences.

Military can leave w/o consequences if they're called for duty

Maybe in terms of timing, but not condition. I grew up in a town with a military base, and military officers were the best tenants. The base had inspectors that would come check the house after move out to make sure it had been left in pristine condition. Literally the “white glove” test. I don’t know if they do that anymore, but there would be repercussions for a member of the military who trashed a house. The base has an interest in maintaining access to rental properties in the area, and they want a reputation for being good tenants.

I agree with you. They are nice people and leave the place spotless. But sometimes they just have to pack up and go if duty calls and I don't begrudge them for that. But it's a huge pain when I'm living halfway around the world to try and find a tennant asap. Even with a property manager it's a hassle

I agree that military tenants tend to be the best, especially if the military person is living in the house. If it is a spouse and the military person is TDY then that can be a different story because basically the spouse in the house is basically a single parent and that's tough on anyone. However, the kids and family tend to be super respectful of the property and even my tough love husband will go out of his way for a trailing spouse. We like renting to military above all other types of tenants, although of course we'll take anyone who can pay the rent we're asking and also pass our background and credit checks.

[Anonymous]

How do you rent directly to the embassy? Do you email a particular embassy (e.g., the German embassy) and ask them to advertise your house on their internal list-serv?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My diplomat friend says never ever rent to diplomats

Why so? Is it because they entertain too much? Or is it because they normally cannot afford such nice housing in their own country so are inexperienced in taking care of large properties? I know some European and Asian diplomats could only afford to live in tiny apartments in their own cities, so can be very neglective of normal maintenance required by American houses. Plus they normally have too many children (the more children the more benefits and wife normally don't work)

It’s also that Europeans are just….less picky when it comes to maintenance issues. I was friends with a bunch of young world bank folks in my twenties. Many of them, I would go to their places and could see about ten things they needed to ask their landlord to fix. Like, one group house the head barely worked! It was freezing. But they just accepted it as par for the course.

Maybe write in the lease that you have the right to inspect once a month or something. Just make clear that you want to hear about maintenance issues.

In some countries the tenants are responsible for repairs so that could be part of the issue

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My diplomat friend says never ever rent to diplomats

Why so? Is it because they entertain too much? Or is it because they normally cannot afford such nice housing in their own country so are inexperienced in taking care of large properties? I know some European and Asian diplomats could only afford to live in tiny apartments in their own cities, so can be very neglective of normal maintenance required by American houses. Plus they normally have too many children (the more children the more benefits and wife normally don't work)

They have too many children? The wife doesn’t work? What do you care if the wife doesn’t work?

Let’s put it this way, OP, I would not rent to diplomats who don’t have to do it through their embassy.

Your “diplomat friend” sounds a bit dim. We have had amazing diplomat tenants for years. Rent comes like clockwork through the embassy. Property manager does a quick walk through every 6 months and says they’re taking great care of our house

What a dimwit high ranking EU diplomat. You tell ‘em.

We had another friend, also EU, who told us about the landlords. Ew. The Bethesda houses with mold and crickets and snakes and mice. Their children embraced the “wildlife”. It goes both ways

Just because your friend is high ranking in the EU does not mean he's not a dimwit. Anyone who says things like "never rent to diplomats" without understanding the nuances of who is guaranteeing the contract, and the expat clauses is included, is in fact, "dim." There are plenty of lucky landlords who get rent paid directly by embassies. The Embassy of Country X is not going to be a deadbeat tenant.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Best tenants are military families. Handy and trustworthy. Diplomats leave the country after a couple of years. They don’t care about their credit here. Can trash your place without much consequences.

Military can leave w/o consequences if they're called for duty

Maybe in terms of timing, but not condition. I grew up in a town with a military base, and military officers were the best tenants. The base had inspectors that would come check the house after move out to make sure it had been left in pristine condition. Literally the “white glove” test. I don’t know if they do that anymore, but there would be repercussions for a member of the military who trashed a house. The base has an interest in maintaining access to rental properties in the area, and they want a reputation for being good tenants.

I agree with you. They are nice people and leave the place spotless. But sometimes they just have to pack up and go if duty calls and I don't begrudge them for that. But it's a huge pain when I'm living halfway around the world to try and find a tennant asap. Even with a property manager it's a hassle

I agree that military tenants tend to be the best, especially if the military person is living in the house. If it is a spouse and the military person is TDY then that can be a different story because basically the spouse in the house is basically a single parent and that's tough on anyone. However, the kids and family tend to be super respectful of the property and even my tough love husband will go out of his way for a trailing spouse. We like renting to military above all other types of tenants, although of course we'll take anyone who can pay the rent we're asking and also pass our background and credit checks.

We are military and rent to military for all of the reasons noted above. But the DC military rental market has a few things you might want to consider. For most jobs/ ranks of O3 and up there is usually 3 months or so of notice before they have to move. We’ve had 1 family in 7 years of renting have to terminate their lease early and they told us in February that they would have to move in May. The standard terms to break a lease due to military orders are that you have to give your landlord 30 days notice and pay the rent for the last month. We use military by owner and haven’t had issues with getting new tenants. The summer move cycle is by far the busiest and those orders are out in Nov-April for the following summer.

Beware of retiring officers. Our only bad experience was renting to a military family where they retired and then bought a house in the neighborhood. In the interests of not burning bridges/ COVID we didn’t do our usual move out inspection and it was really bad. There was no recourse to his command because he was retiring so he didn’t care. They were incredibly aggressive about getting their deposit back and hid damage. We assumed they were just house poor and needed as much cash as possible for closing. So DH did a quick walk through.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My diplomat friend says never ever rent to diplomats

Why so? Is it because they entertain too much? Or is it because they normally cannot afford such nice housing in their own country so are inexperienced in taking care of large properties? I know some European and Asian diplomats could only afford to live in tiny apartments in their own cities, so can be very neglective of normal maintenance required by American houses. Plus they normally have too many children (the more children the more benefits and wife normally don't work)

They have too many children? The wife doesn’t work? What do you care if the wife doesn’t work?

Let’s put it this way, OP, I would not rent to diplomats who don’t have to do it through their embassy.

Your “diplomat friend” sounds a bit dim. We have had amazing diplomat tenants for years. Rent comes like clockwork through the embassy. Property manager does a quick walk through every 6 months and says they’re taking great care of our house

What a dimwit high ranking EU diplomat. You tell ‘em.

We had another friend, also EU, who told us about the landlords. Ew. The Bethesda houses with mold and crickets and snakes and mice. Their children embraced the “wildlife”. It goes both ways

Just because your friend is high ranking in the EU does not mean he's not a dimwit. Anyone who says things like "never rent to diplomats" without understanding the nuances of who is guaranteeing the contract, and the expat clauses is included, is in fact, "dim." There are plenty of lucky landlords who get rent paid directly by embassies. The Embassy of Country X is not going to be a deadbeat tenant.

It depends. Are you renting a house that you don’t care much about? Are you being selective to whom you rent (remember DC laws though)? Otherwise they pay but if the place is trashed it’s your problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My diplomat friend says never ever rent to diplomats

Why so? Is it because they entertain too much? Or is it because they normally cannot afford such nice housing in their own country so are inexperienced in taking care of large properties? I know some European and Asian diplomats could only afford to live in tiny apartments in their own cities, so can be very neglective of normal maintenance required by American houses. Plus they normally have too many children (the more children the more benefits and wife normally don't work)

They have too many children? The wife doesn’t work? What do you care if the wife doesn’t work?

Let’s put it this way, OP, I would not rent to diplomats who don’t have to do it through their embassy.

Your “diplomat friend” sounds a bit dim. We have had amazing diplomat tenants for years. Rent comes like clockwork through the embassy. Property manager does a quick walk through every 6 months and says they’re taking great care of our house

What a dimwit high ranking EU diplomat. You tell ‘em.

We had another friend, also EU, who told us about the landlords. Ew. The Bethesda houses with mold and crickets and snakes and mice. Their children embraced the “wildlife”. It goes both ways

Just because your friend is high ranking in the EU does not mean he's not a dimwit. Anyone who says things like "never rent to diplomats" without understanding the nuances of who is guaranteeing the contract, and the expat clauses is included, is in fact, "dim." There are plenty of lucky landlords who get rent paid directly by embassies. The Embassy of Country X is not going to be a deadbeat tenant.

It depends. Are you renting a house that you don’t care much about? Are you being selective to whom you rent (remember DC laws though)? Otherwise they pay but if the place is trashed it’s your problem

I do care about my house. I have a 2 month security deposit from the tenants that could cover a significant amount of damage. I also don't know what you mean by being "selective" but these are professional staff at an Embassy and like I said, I have the property manager do a walk through every 6 months and everything looks great.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My diplomat friend says never ever rent to diplomats

Why so? Is it because they entertain too much? Or is it because they normally cannot afford such nice housing in their own country so are inexperienced in taking care of large properties? I know some European and Asian diplomats could only afford to live in tiny apartments in their own cities, so can be very neglective of normal maintenance required by American houses. Plus they normally have too many children (the more children the more benefits and wife normally don't work)

They have too many children? The wife doesn’t work? What do you care if the wife doesn’t work?

Let’s put it this way, OP, I would not rent to diplomats who don’t have to do it through their embassy.

Your “diplomat friend” sounds a bit dim. We have had amazing diplomat tenants for years. Rent comes like clockwork through the embassy. Property manager does a quick walk through every 6 months and says they’re taking great care of our house

What a dimwit high ranking EU diplomat. You tell ‘em.

We had another friend, also EU, who told us about the landlords. Ew. The Bethesda houses with mold and crickets and snakes and mice. Their children embraced the “wildlife”. It goes both ways

We live next door to a house in Bethesda that is regularly rented to World Bank personnel who tend to be in the DC area for 2-5 years. The landlord does cosmetic touch-ups and charges $4000 per month in rent, but has let the house fall into quasi-disrepair. So I do feel kind of feel bad for the tenants.

The World Bank tenants have all been completely lovely as neighbors. The only exception was the household from a particular country (not in Europe) where they paid their housekeeper $5 per hour (also from their same country) and asked her to work 12 hours per day. The tenants figured that US laws on minimum wages and overtime did not apply to them. Very cheap people, despite driving a luxury car and taking great vacations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My diplomat friend says never ever rent to diplomats

Why so? Is it because they entertain too much? Or is it because they normally cannot afford such nice housing in their own country so are inexperienced in taking care of large properties? I know some European and Asian diplomats could only afford to live in tiny apartments in their own cities, so can be very neglective of normal maintenance required by American houses. Plus they normally have too many children (the more children the more benefits and wife normally don't work)

They have too many children? The wife doesn’t work? What do you care if the wife doesn’t work?

Let’s put it this way, OP, I would not rent to diplomats who don’t have to do it through their embassy.

Your “diplomat friend” sounds a bit dim. We have had amazing diplomat tenants for years. Rent comes like clockwork through the embassy. Property manager does a quick walk through every 6 months and says they’re taking great care of our house

What a dimwit high ranking EU diplomat. You tell ‘em.

We had another friend, also EU, who told us about the landlords. Ew. The Bethesda houses with mold and crickets and snakes and mice. Their children embraced the “wildlife”. It goes both ways

We live next door to a house in Bethesda that is regularly rented to World Bank personnel who tend to be in the DC area for 2-5 years. The landlord does cosmetic touch-ups and charges $4000 per month in rent, but has let the house fall into quasi-disrepair. So I do feel kind of feel bad for the tenants.

The World Bank tenants have all been completely lovely as neighbors. The only exception was the household from a particular country (not in Europe) where they paid their housekeeper $5 per hour (also from their same country) and asked her to work 12 hours per day. The tenants figured that US laws on minimum wages and overtime did not apply to them. Very cheap people, despite driving a luxury car and taking great vacations.

I think I know the house and the family. The family was EU though.

The house was atrocious.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My diplomat friend says never ever rent to diplomats

Why so? Is it because they entertain too much? Or is it because they normally cannot afford such nice housing in their own country so are inexperienced in taking care of large properties? I know some European and Asian diplomats could only afford to live in tiny apartments in their own cities, so can be very neglective of normal maintenance required by American houses. Plus they normally have too many children (the more children the more benefits and wife normally don't work)

They have too many children? The wife doesn’t work? What do you care if the wife doesn’t work?

Let’s put it this way, OP, I would not rent to diplomats who don’t have to do it through their embassy.

Your “diplomat friend” sounds a bit dim. We have had amazing diplomat tenants for years. Rent comes like clockwork through the embassy. Property manager does a quick walk through every 6 months and says they’re taking great care of our house

What a dimwit high ranking EU diplomat. You tell ‘em.

We had another friend, also EU, who told us about the landlords. Ew. The Bethesda houses with mold and crickets and snakes and mice. Their children embraced the “wildlife”. It goes both ways

Just because your friend is high ranking in the EU does not mean he's not a dimwit. Anyone who says things like "never rent to diplomats" without understanding the nuances of who is guaranteeing the contract, and the expat clauses is included, is in fact, "dim." There are plenty of lucky landlords who get rent paid directly by embassies. The Embassy of Country X is not going to be a deadbeat tenant.

It depends. Are you renting a house that you don’t care much about? Are you being selective to whom you rent (remember DC laws though)? Otherwise they pay but if the place is trashed it’s your problem

I do care about my house. I have a 2 month security deposit from the tenants that could cover a significant amount of damage. I also don't know what you mean by being "selective" but these are professional staff at an Embassy and like I said, I have the property manager do a walk through every 6 months and everything looks great.

You know exactly what I mean. Not selective within an Embassy but between Embassies. Based on perhaps somewhat realistic criteria, yet illegal

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My diplomat friend says never ever rent to diplomats

Why so? Is it because they entertain too much? Or is it because they normally cannot afford such nice housing in their own country so are inexperienced in taking care of large properties? I know some European and Asian diplomats could only afford to live in tiny apartments in their own cities, so can be very neglective of normal maintenance required by American houses. Plus they normally have too many children (the more children the more benefits and wife normally don't work)

They have too many children? The wife doesn’t work? What do you care if the wife doesn’t work?

Let’s put it this way, OP, I would not rent to diplomats who don’t have to do it through their embassy.

Your “diplomat friend” sounds a bit dim. We have had amazing diplomat tenants for years. Rent comes like clockwork through the embassy. Property manager does a quick walk through every 6 months and says they’re taking great care of our house

What a dimwit high ranking EU diplomat. You tell ‘em.

We had another friend, also EU, who told us about the landlords. Ew. The Bethesda houses with mold and crickets and snakes and mice. Their children embraced the “wildlife”. It goes both ways

Just because your friend is high ranking in the EU does not mean he's not a dimwit. Anyone who says things like "never rent to diplomats" without understanding the nuances of who is guaranteeing the contract, and the expat clauses is included, is in fact, "dim." There are plenty of lucky landlords who get rent paid directly by embassies. The Embassy of Country X is not going to be a deadbeat tenant.

It depends. Are you renting a house that you don’t care much about? Are you being selective to whom you rent (remember DC laws though)? Otherwise they pay but if the place is trashed it’s your problem

I do care about my house. I have a 2 month security deposit from the tenants that could cover a significant amount of damage. I also don't know what you mean by being "selective" but these are professional staff at an Embassy and like I said, I have the property manager do a walk through every 6 months and everything looks great.

You know exactly what I mean. Not selective within an Embassy but between Embassies. Based on perhaps somewhat realistic criteria, yet illegal

No, I actually don't know what you mean. Your written outputs are not as sparkling clear and insightful as you may think they are.

[Anonymous]

Ok, I’ll bite. Would you equally rent to a Finnish diplomat and a Somali or Afghan one with their respective families? You should. But do you? Or do you pick? Based on conscious or unconscious bias? Or you could say, experience? In other words, do you ever discriminate?