7 Secret Thoughts Landlords Have About Renters—Revealed

By Audrey Ference | Aug 17, 2017

Whenever you hand over your rent check late (again), do you wonder what your landlord is really thinking? Well, we’re here to help you find out! This is important intel for all sorts of reasons. For instance, landlords can choose to raise your rent once your lease is up, or hold it steady. They can jump on repairs right when you need them at 3 a.m., or wait until morning. So here’s a peek at some of landlords’ secret thoughts—along with some eye-opening lessons on how to stay on their good side.

‘Why did you sign your lease without reading it?’

“Renters are often so excited about getting the keys to their new rental that they rush to sign their lease agreement without carefully reading it,” says John Nuzzolese of the Landlord Protection Agency website. “I prefer to sit and explain each clause of the rental agreement to the tenants before they sign it. It’s crucial that tenants completely understand what their rights and responsibilities are before finalizing the agreement.”

Why is this so important? So you and your landlord are on the same page—about when rent is due, what penalties there are for violating the lease, and what you can and can’t change in your place. For instance, “I once had a tenant take it on himself to remove our new carpeting and replace it with carpet of an ugly color,” says Nuzzolese. “I was so annoyed—and it came out of that tenants’ security deposit to change it back.”

Source: http://www.realtor.com/advice/rent/secret-thoughts-landlords-have-about-tenants/