For a landlord, what do you think are some considerations that you can grant to a good tenant? When we were renting an apartment, the landlord seemed to appreciate us because there were only 2 of us for occupants and that we always pay the rent on time. As a consideration, the landlord allowed us to use their telephone - there was no cellphone yet and the landline phone is the only means of communications. Another consideration is the parking. Our car is the only car that can park in front of the apartment's entrance.
I've always been puzzled with the rationale of giving 1 month FREE to attract a new tenant. I would rather give a current good tenant 1 Month Free to sign the next year's lease. Keeping a good tenant with 1 Month Free is worth the costs of turnover and the expenses of finding a new "good" tenant I think.
A golden rule in life, not just in renting, is treat people as well as they treat you. If the tenant pays his rent on time, doesn't cause any problems, and looks after the property, then as a landlord that's all you want.
In my experience, the best way to ensure you get your rent on time, every time is to take tenants on government assistance. Here in the UK, it is paid directly to the landlord. That suits me fine!
There are some landlords who offer their tenants discounts on rent when they sign the lease. It could be $20% off rent for the first three months. That would get you the tenant but might not help that much in convincing them to stay around longer. Maybe offering a free service [like sharing (unlimited) internet with tenants for example] could work well.
We don't have those promo here. The standard is 1 month deposit and 2 months advance so the new tenant would shell out 3 months of rent to be able to move in. But the privileges I am talking about is granted by a good landlord to a good tenant after a few months, when the landlord gets to know the tenant fully well. And if ever those promo discounts for apartments and other rentals would be in fashion here, I'm sure there will be lots of good tenants (only because of the promo).
