The Rental Experience with Guest and Renter, Lauren Howe

This article is transcribed from Episode 19 of The Accidental Landlord. Listen to the

full episode, here.

WELCOME, LAUREN!

Thank you for having me.

LAUREN AND I HAVE A DIFFERENT RELATIONSHIP BECAUSE LAUREN ACTUALLY WORKS FOR RINCON. LAUREN IS OUR BEHIND-THE-SCENES OF THE PODCAST. ALL OF THE BACK-END STUFF IS PART OF LAUREN’S ROLe.

That makes a lot of sense!

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN RENTING?

I have been renting for about seven years now. I have rented in college towns, in large cities, rented through property management companies, and self-managing landlords. So, I think I have a broad perspective on renting a property! 

LAUREN ACTUALLY WORKS REMOTELY FOR RINCON. SHE IS A LITTLE BIT OF A NOMAD. IS THAT INTENTIONAL?

I would say intentional, but a bit unplanned. I just like to go where life takes me! Right now, I’m going to be in Minnesota for the summer. I will keep you posted on where I'll be after that! 

HAVE YOU HAD ANY NEGATIVE EXPERIENCEs AS A TENANT? 

I definitely have a few examples. One of the experiences that stands out to me the most was when I rented from a smaller landlord while I was in College and I had roommates. I understand that sometimes college students are hard on properties, however, he wanted to check on the property we were renting a lot. We were allowed to have pets on the property but we decided not to. Still, he would come check if there were any animal footprints in the snow to see if we had an undocumented pet. So, I think the level of him checking up on us was an interesting introduction to renting for me. 

HOW OFTEN WOULD HE DO THAT?

I would say every week at least, during the winter. During the Summer if people were picking up after their pets, everything would be fine. There were no tracks visible to check on. 

INTERESTING, I WOULD SAY THAT ONCE A WEEK IS NOT SOMETHING THAT WE WOULD RECOMMEND TO OUR LANDLORDS. HOW LONG DID YOU STAYED IN THAT PROPERTY?

I decided to leave after that, because of the surprise visits. That also happened with maintenance; we would have surprise visits just to check up on things, even though we didn’t report anything. I think it was just a communication problem. There wasn't a big problem going on, but still it was uncomfortable. After that I started looking for something else, with less supervision.

PROBABLY YOU FELT LIKE AN INVASION OF PRIVACY, WAS THAT A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR OF YOU MOVING OUT?

Definitely, it was clear to me that he just cared a lot about his property. But, I would say that it was the main contributing factor to me moving out.

THAT’S A GREAT POINT, BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE HE WAS A NICE GUY, NOT A VILLAIN. WHAT HE WAS DOING WAS JUST CHECKING HIS PROPERTY, BUT IF YOU DO IT TOO MUCH, YOU MAKE YOUR TENANTS UNCOMFORTABLE.

If you want to learn more about some mistakes the landlords make with their tenants, listen to the full episode here.