Ahh, I'm excited to hear about the details! I'm hoping that you are either going to be fast tracking your plug pull date (was it 2016/2017?) or that you don't have to take that awesome bus anymore, lol. Either way I am sure your decision will be a good one.spoonman wrote:... I am in the process of selling my house (I'll post something about that one of these days), so I am trying hard to find a good place to live. ...
I can tell you anecdotally what happened to me when I faced a multiple tenant offer situation with the corp rental (the previous time it was up for rent), and what really swayed my decision.
The first prospective tenant saw the place and during the viewing, she decisively wanted the place. She was already living in the building, and she worked for a law firm within a 5-10 walk from the property.
Slam dunk right? What's not to like? I mentioned I saw her as a strong tenant, and was thinking she will be the one.
Despite really wanting to close the deal after the showing (ie. start the paper work process) I had previously booked another showing for another tenant later in the day.
I told tenant #1 that I had another showing, and would give her a decision after that, no firm commitment or offer was made.
The second tenant saw the place and during the viewing, decisively wanted the place. Unsolicited, she then proceeded to hand me a package, with her credit rating info, employer and past references.
During the small talk of both viewings, I was able to extract that tenant #1 was moving from a roommate shared cost 2br situation (in the same building) to my rental (ie. a JR one bedroom), and that tenant #2 was moving from a full 1BR to a JR 1BR.
I.E. Tenant #1 was upsizing, and Tenant #2 was downsizing.
It was also casually extracted that Tenant #1 didn't have all her own furniture, and that Tenant #2 lived around the corner in another building (with all her furniture).
IE. Tenant #1 would have significant capital cost expenditures on move, Tenant #2 had no additional capital cost expenditures.
I did have some inclination to go with #1, because she was the first, but logically thinking things through, #2 was a better tenant. I also got a better 'feel' for tenant #2 (during the viewing she demonstrated more maturity and gave me a much better impression of mental and emotional stability) and a large part of it had to do with her preparedness with documentation. The situation (unconsciously) transfers in my thinking that I wouldn't have any issues with cheques, signing documents, etc.
Additionally during the viewing I told tenant #2 that I already had an offer from tenant #1, and that tenant #1 was a strong candidate that has a high likelihood of going through.
Tenant #2 really argued her case and actually pleaded why she would be a better tenant.
When I chose her, tenant #2, she was extremely grateful and happy.
I also did tell her exactly what I thought that indeed she was a very impressive tenant, and that she had changed my mind.
This made the landlord-tenant relationship a really good one from start to finish, as the relationship was built on mutual respect.
It never really crossed my mind to try and pit the two against each other and look for a higher rate, because again, the relationship would have started on a tenant who had to overbid. But that's just me, a good strong tenant is much more important that maximizing the bottom line.
Getting a really good tenant pays off in the long run in terms of headaches and stress. I'd much rather have a tenant I like with less headaches and less $$, than I tenant I don't like with more headaches and more $$.
Given your situation @spoonman, I'd think you'd make a very strong tenant (ie. professional job, downsizing, low expenses, etc) especially because I think you would 'beat' your 'competition' on paper and probably in person too. If you find the right landlord and property I suggest you try some of the tactics that swayed me!!