Ideal tenant-landlord relationship

We had rented an apartment for 2 years and after that we rented a house for 5 years. I'd say that our relationship with our landlords was ideal mainly because of our volition to help in the repairs and enhancements of the house. Our logic there is that we are the ones staying there so we are the first ones to notice the problems. And, of course, we see to it that the payment of the rent is always on time.

We have known a lot of problematic tenants that landlords hated and vice versa. And based on our observation, the main cause of the rift is the lack of cooperation that somehow creates a gap in the friendly relation.

 

Landlords shouldn't try to befriend tenants and tenants shouldn't try to befriend landlords either. As long as tenants pay their rent on time and landlords ensure the rental property is properly maintained there shouldn't be anything more between them. At best they should be acquaintances — nothing more.

 

When you have a tenant that lives in your house though..you are a bit closer. I do consider my tenant an acquaintance but he likes my cat and we are generally friendly. He is not really someone I would pick for a friend though. If I had someone else that could move in here and wouldn't complain I would allow them to.. I am a bit sick of this guy actually. I just keep telling myself someone else could well be worse!

 

That liking of your cat is one thing. I have a dog and I always appreciate when people notice my dog. As my husband would tell people, it is easy to be close to me, all you have to do is to love my dog. We have a housemaid who always makes mistakes in doing the house chores. But I can put up with her simply because I have seen her concern for my dogs. So I guess that tenant has a knack for being friendly by appreciating your cat.

 

I agree with this statement. That is exactly how I feel about a tenant and landlord relationship. If I was a landlord or a tenant I wouldn't want anymore then that between us. You should both have a mutual respect for each other and things should work out just fine.

 

I remember mentioning in another post that smart landlords form an LLC, use it to buy rental property and the tenants will never get to know who the landlord is. This gives the owner some latitude in all matters relating to dealing with tenants [to be as friendly or distant as they please]. You are managing the property on behalf of the company which owns it. No one's going to hate you for doing your work. They'll hate your employer

 

I think the relationship between a tenant and a landlord should be the same as any other business relationship or partnership, and as long as it's kept professional, there's no harm in being friendly at the same time.

 

There's a good article I found which explains why landlords should be friends with their tenants:

http://www.zillow.com/blog/pro/why-tenants-shouldnt-be-your-friend-2141/

That's it. Be friendly but don't don't make friends.

 

I like it when there is cooperation. Like the repairs you mentioned, if the tenant wants to repair something then yeah why not? Cheaper for the landlord, and faster for both. Communication and being flexible are the key things here as things don't always work perfectly, however that flexibility always needs to stop when it comes to payment deadlines etc. Can't be flexible with those when talking business.

 

A poor landlord tenant relationship is when a landlord doesn't care, keeps forgetting, and doesn't do repairs that need to be done around the property that you're renting. That's really obnoxious especially when you have kids.