In the early years, our tenants ran the full gamut of professionals, with minimum 1-year leases, but for the last several years, we’ve tried to stabilize things even further by trying to only rent to people with whom we have some connection, and whom we feel will stay long-term.
Two of the homes are rented to young retirees from the east coast who wanted to live in the area without making long-term investments–a friends of friends situation. They have, however, signed long leases, and we think they’ll be with us for a long time. They’ve even talked to us about having their kids rent from us in the future when they relocate out here.
Other homes are rented to extended family members who are stable, working, and are happy to be raising their families in the area. We think they, and/or their kids will also most likely be with us for a very long time. We do still have some other properties rented to other professionals–again, who are friends of friends.
I know this scenario isn’t possible for everyone who owns rental property, but over the years, it has worked out well for us, and we feel it has also worked out very well for our tenants.
