Reply to how to be a successful landlord (i.e. right way to choose tenant and avoid problems)

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[quote=Anonymous]OP, we’re relatively new to being landlords, and our third tenants move in next week. Our rental property is a SFH in Virginia that we lived in for 20 years. Here is my experience.

Tenant 1 - Military couple, two young kids, husband deployed at the time, so I only dealt with the wife. Super nice, and understood that I was doing my best. We had a rocky start as the basement flooded every time it rained, within a month of them moving in (it never had previously), and I was there helping to dry everything out, and putting up a temporary solution, until a long term one could be put in place. Waived a month’s rent for their trouble.  Will rent to them again in a heartbeat.

Tenant 2 - Military couple, 4 older kids, and turned out to be surly, unfriendly people. Everything was a problem that required an emergency response. They were so bad I offered to let them out of their lease early, since they seemed so unhappy (I don’t really want unhappy tenants). When I went with the agent to show her the house, we were shocked at its condition. They were two boxes of crap short of being hoarders. There was barely enough room to walk around. I still don’t know how every wall from floor to ceiling had handprints and scuff marks.

New tenants- Also military. We couldn’t exactly list the house in that condition, so we put it up as ‘coming soon’ with pictures we had used previously. New tenants had been in town to look at houses, they had only a day left when our listing hit, they did a drive by, put in an application with a very sweet letter, and signed the lease without setting foot in the house. I value the trust they have placed in me, so the house has been repainted, every small item I could find has been fixed, and it has been professionally cleaned inside and out.  They seem like reasonable people, and I hope we will both act in good faith.

All three tenants were found through agents. They all have excellent credit scores. Prior landlord references were good (where applicable). Sometimes it’s just luck. 
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