Sometimes you get prospects that over qualify, think they would only stay a year and other prospects are not good candidates, would you rather sift through another 50+ applications until you find the one that will stay forever? Better left vacant until you find a longer term prospect?

I have a secret on this topic/subject that I learned with my second apartment property. 1st was in an "A" area, second building was in a "C" location.

If you rent to over qualified applicants, they will stay for a year or two then move.

Sometimes, there is No Rhyme or Reason.

It is a balancing act indeed. No one said this job would be easy. I find that folks that have mid to upper 600's to lower 700's are a good balance. But as landlords we need to interview folks to see where they fit into our portfolio.

I have someone moving in on the 7th that will be a long term stay. I also have someone moving about a week later - she is going through a divorce so I suspect they will not be staying to long. I am suppose to purchase this on the 10th, so I don't plan on doing much with the place. The home is an estate property that I bought at auction. It is well maintained but very dated. I will need about two days to get alarms in and systems double checked.

Since my crystal ball is still broken, I take the well-qualified applicants regardless of how long I "think" they might stay. While I get RB's tongue-in-cheek statement, these folks do actually have a plan. It may not make sense to us in, but it makes sense to them.

Having a plan is a characteristic of a well-qualified person.

When I first started, I rented to well qualified tenants. They took good care of my houses, but they didn't stay for more than 2 years before they bought. So, I decided to rent to folks who were qualified enough to rent but that couldn't get a mortgage to buy.

Well, guess what. The banks were happy to give them a mortgage and they bought and moved out. The banks will also give mortgages to people who are not qualified to rent from me.

The last house I sold, which was less than two years ago, the buyer bought with no money down and I paid closing costs. He literally didn't put any money down except for $1,000 he gave as earnest money. Having the money for the down payment is not a factor in tenants buying their own house.

I agree that you just never know how long a person will stay.

It is fun to guess, but too many variables involved to be 100% accurate.

My longest tenant, besides my M-I-L told me up front he planned to stay one year then if the job worked out he would buy a place.

He has now been with us 19 years. He will move next year when he retires and heads closer to his grandkids.

The place is not in great shape and he doesn't pay market rents. I put him in there when I still didn't give increases and allowed people to get by with housekeeping errors.

I have since changed all that but still have a couple people that I am slowly working on.

For me, right now, I am fine with a long term tenant that I keep raising rents (and now deposits) on. Most of my places I have updated as much as I feel is needed. The ones I have not have long term tenants in there and they are fine with the way the places look. None of my places were rented out as slums.

Several qualified prospects, turned tenants, over the years with plans to buy a house in 2 years. Many stayed longer, not as long as 19 years!

Yay, signing the lease on Saturday!