Being a tenant is not just about living in someone’s house and paying the rent. The relationship you build with the property owner is just as important. You may never have to meet your landlord and may only be dealing with him or her through third parties but being in his or her good books is beneficial to you.

For most people as long as they pay the rent no matter how inconsistent or erratic that may be is enough. A good tenant is one who pays his or her rent on time, lives peacefully with his or her neighbors and does not break the terms of lease. If your activities as a tenant has the attention of the landlord for all the wrong reasons, then just know you do not make the cut of being a good tenant.

Here are reasons why you should make it a point to be a good tenant:

It gives you leverage during any lease negotiation

During your lease renewal, you will have good leverage that will help you get more favorable terms. A tenant that does not have to be reminded when rent is due or who has received enough citations from the management because of uncomely behavior will not have much to use to have the landlord not increase charges during the lease renewal. You may even not get a chance to renew but a notice to vacate at the end of the lease.

It affects your mortgage application positively

If you are a first time applicant for mortgage, the financial institution may have to look at your rent paying patterns as a gauge of how you will make your payment. This will be present in your rental history report. It therefore pays to pay your rent in time, as this will indicate in your history. A poor rent paying record will see the mortgage company not giving you good credit terms as you may seem as a credit risk. If you are withholding rent due to a bad landlord, then you look for an alternative since how you pay rent does have consequences regardless of the reason of poor rent paying record.

You will always have your landlord’s attention

Being a good tenant means that you will always get the attention of your landlord or property management company. Do you have a problem with your utilities? The good record will see you get prompt responses and service. Do you want some changes or modifications done to your house? Then you can be sure that you will most likely get a more positive response.

You will always have a secure tenancy

Being a good tenant secures your tenancy. This means that you will not get a notice to vacate any time soon, which might disrupt your life. If the rental unit is located in a good neighborhood close to your workplace or good schools, you would want to secure it to the best of your ability. The first step is to ensure that you have paid your rent on time and that you give your landlord the most minimal fuss.

Bio

Christopher Michael works for a property management company and has seen the difference a good tenant-landlord relationship makes to a rental history report. Visit his blog for more information.