Anyone here rent a property to Polish people?
Discussion
I have a property in an area of former council housing (its a semi, still joined to a council house). I'm sexpecting it to be a little difficult to rent out due to the competition from houses in better areas.
However, a friend mentioned that he rents a similar property to 4 polish people who never miss a rent payment, never complain and dont mind living in a less-desirable area.
Now, I'm not suggesting that I should take advantage of them being foreigners, but they seem more willing to treat the house as simply a place to sleep and live in cheaply whilst working over here.
So does anyone here rent a property to foreigners?
However, a friend mentioned that he rents a similar property to 4 polish people who never miss a rent payment, never complain and dont mind living in a less-desirable area.
Now, I'm not suggesting that I should take advantage of them being foreigners, but they seem more willing to treat the house as simply a place to sleep and live in cheaply whilst working over here.
So does anyone here rent a property to foreigners?
Have a friend who rents out a fair bit pf prpperty, a few of which are to Poles. He has had not trouble at all, and he went round one day to find they had landscaped the garden! There are a few of them living there, seems to be one bloke who is the boss, and they pretty much do whatever he says.
If you get a group of Vietnamese who want to pay 6 months up front asking about it, say no though
If you get a group of Vietnamese who want to pay 6 months up front asking about it, say no though
My friend rents out a house that's been converted to four flats. He has an agreement with one Polish chap to look after the place and other tennants, also Polish, for a reduced rate.
Everything is paid on time and the flats require the least amount of attention of all his properties.
Everything is paid on time and the flats require the least amount of attention of all his properties.
My sister rented her 3 bed house out in Sheffield when they went abroad for a year, had a Polish family living there the whole time.
Apparently at one point there were 7 or 8 people actually living in the house, 3 or 4 working during the day and 3 or 4 working during the night.
Left the house in really good order - I had to go clean the carpets but generally it was in a very good state considering the foot traffic of 8ish people 24 hours a day
From a end of tenancy carpet cleaners perspective, the worst offenders generally are (worst first)
1) Single professional males working in area 5 days a week - they tend to leave the place in a complete tip as they dont really care about it. Most landlords I know refuse to rent to these now as the companies who guarantee the deposits don't actually pay up, and its a civil claim to recover the loss.
2) Family with very young children / toddlers - most places I have had to do, the parents take absolutely no responsibility for what the children do, and just tell the landlord that they are kids so its not their fault. I have had to advise landlords just to tear up the carpets and start again as they are simply not economically viable to clean afterwards. Teenagers are normally ok as the parents don't seem to have a problem b
king them...
3) People with roaming pets (cats / dogs) - usually do their best but try to rent a machine to do the carpets, which does not pull the majority of pet hair and grease out the carpet. Usually fine though. Very rarely do we get an ex-pet "house of horror"!
4) Students - thats a market in itself
Having done lots of cleans for multi-tenant overseas residents, they are usually very good at clearing everything up and have respect for the property.
Disclaimer -
The above is purely based on my actual working experiences of end of tenancy cleans, this has no real bearing to what you may or may not have experienced, yaadayadayaaaaa..
Apparently at one point there were 7 or 8 people actually living in the house, 3 or 4 working during the day and 3 or 4 working during the night.
Left the house in really good order - I had to go clean the carpets but generally it was in a very good state considering the foot traffic of 8ish people 24 hours a day
From a end of tenancy carpet cleaners perspective, the worst offenders generally are (worst first)
1) Single professional males working in area 5 days a week - they tend to leave the place in a complete tip as they dont really care about it. Most landlords I know refuse to rent to these now as the companies who guarantee the deposits don't actually pay up, and its a civil claim to recover the loss.
2) Family with very young children / toddlers - most places I have had to do, the parents take absolutely no responsibility for what the children do, and just tell the landlord that they are kids so its not their fault. I have had to advise landlords just to tear up the carpets and start again as they are simply not economically viable to clean afterwards. Teenagers are normally ok as the parents don't seem to have a problem b
king them...3) People with roaming pets (cats / dogs) - usually do their best but try to rent a machine to do the carpets, which does not pull the majority of pet hair and grease out the carpet. Usually fine though. Very rarely do we get an ex-pet "house of horror"!
4) Students - thats a market in itself
Having done lots of cleans for multi-tenant overseas residents, they are usually very good at clearing everything up and have respect for the property.
Disclaimer -
The above is purely based on my actual working experiences of end of tenancy cleans, this has no real bearing to what you may or may not have experienced, yaadayadayaaaaa..
Not me, a friend does.
Polish couple with a young baby, in his words "perfect tenants" even when the guy got made redundant he found temp work elsewhere so he could make the rent. Tennat seems a really nice chap, I chat to him regularly.
Another landlord in my street had a less than prefect experience though, This property was rented to four young polish guys, bit of a mare, this house was a bit scabby and as a house share was always going to attract those looking for cheap-as-possible accomodation, the 4 tennants turned to 6 without his aproval, and they regularly got complaints for noise etc, the final straw was when they all decided to get rat faced and have a massive fight in the street amongst themselves!! 6 people in a 2 bed terrace was always going to be a recipe for disaster. Having said that they did always pay the rent, he sold the house shortly afterwards though.
So I guess your answer is, depends on which Polish people you rent it to!
Polish couple with a young baby, in his words "perfect tenants" even when the guy got made redundant he found temp work elsewhere so he could make the rent. Tennat seems a really nice chap, I chat to him regularly.
Another landlord in my street had a less than prefect experience though, This property was rented to four young polish guys, bit of a mare, this house was a bit scabby and as a house share was always going to attract those looking for cheap-as-possible accomodation, the 4 tennants turned to 6 without his aproval, and they regularly got complaints for noise etc, the final straw was when they all decided to get rat faced and have a massive fight in the street amongst themselves!! 6 people in a 2 bed terrace was always going to be a recipe for disaster. Having said that they did always pay the rent, he sold the house shortly afterwards though.
So I guess your answer is, depends on which Polish people you rent it to!
Goochie said:
I have a property in an area of former council housing (its a semi, still joined to a council house). I'm sexpecting it to be a little difficult to rent out due to the competition from houses in better areas.
However, a friend mentioned that he rents a similar property to 4 polish people who never miss a rent payment, never complain and dont mind living in a less-desirable area.
Now, I'm not suggesting that I should take advantage of them being foreigners, but they seem more willing to treat the house as simply a place to sleep and live in cheaply whilst working over here.
So does anyone here rent a property to foreigners?
Rent in kind eh. I like your thinking. Kind of a brothel set-up is it?However, a friend mentioned that he rents a similar property to 4 polish people who never miss a rent payment, never complain and dont mind living in a less-desirable area.
Now, I'm not suggesting that I should take advantage of them being foreigners, but they seem more willing to treat the house as simply a place to sleep and live in cheaply whilst working over here.
So does anyone here rent a property to foreigners?
My sister rents out a 3 bed cottage to a Polish couple who are expecting their first child. Never a problem, they keep the place tidy, and are almost embarassed to ask for any work to be done - e.g. when the boiler failed they didn't want to make a fuss! Guy's a PC repairer and seems to be a very hard worker.
Dad rented a flat to four Polish guys who worked in a local meat processing plant - had to ask them to leave as they started getting drunk nearly every night, having loud arguments at stupid hours, partying hard, and generally making life cr@p for other tenants.
I guess they're like anyone else - you get good & bad everywhere. Do your usual credit checks etc. as you would with any tenant.
Dad rented a flat to four Polish guys who worked in a local meat processing plant - had to ask them to leave as they started getting drunk nearly every night, having loud arguments at stupid hours, partying hard, and generally making life cr@p for other tenants.
I guess they're like anyone else - you get good & bad everywhere. Do your usual credit checks etc. as you would with any tenant.
I rent one of my places to 2 polish blokes.
I suspect they "hot-bed" and there may be 4 of them sharing.
Out of all of my rental properties, they have caused me the least hassle and always pay on time, every time.
They even covered up all the communal carpet area with thick plastic protectors.
They must like a tipple mind! I've never seen so many bottles of vodka lined up on a kitchen worktop. There must have been 30 litres of the stuff.
I suspect they "hot-bed" and there may be 4 of them sharing.
Out of all of my rental properties, they have caused me the least hassle and always pay on time, every time.
They even covered up all the communal carpet area with thick plastic protectors.
They must like a tipple mind! I've never seen so many bottles of vodka lined up on a kitchen worktop. There must have been 30 litres of the stuff.
TheCarpetCleaner said:
1) Single professional males working in area 5 days a week - they tend to leave the place in a complete tip as they dont really care about it. Most landlords I know refuse to rent to these now as the companies who guarantee the deposits don't actually pay up, and its a civil claim to recover the loss.
I remember viewing a flat when I was looking to buy mine that was rented to a young lad, however, he was there full time. I've never seen anything like it, the whole floor of the flat was just covered with clothes, papers and other crap such as dirty plates. An utter mess.What puzzled me more was that anyone could think that was an acceptable state to show a potential buyer! Insane.
From someone who doesn't rent, but visits a lot of rented properties as part of my job - try and rent to a family with child, rather than singles.
If you rent to a single person, whichever nationality, you may find additional 'guests' are actually sub-letting off your tenant, and therefore you won't know how many are in your house. Also, if singles or couples with no problems, you may find the partying and drinking becomes worse and worse, the police are there following arguments or brawls, and the neighbours gradually fall out more and more.
Not all singles/couples are like this, some are model tenants, however some clearly have an 'active' social life.
Family rents seem a safe bet. Those with young children, toddlers even, are probably a better bet. The houses i have been in, where there are children, are very clean. One or both parents will work all the hours there are, in order to pay the bills, landlords get paid on time, never any problems, houses kept clean and often improved ie new carpets, garden sorted, redecorated, really well looked after.
Of course there are exceptions, but if it was my property i would be trying to rent to a family rather than single tenants.
If you rent to a single person, whichever nationality, you may find additional 'guests' are actually sub-letting off your tenant, and therefore you won't know how many are in your house. Also, if singles or couples with no problems, you may find the partying and drinking becomes worse and worse, the police are there following arguments or brawls, and the neighbours gradually fall out more and more.
Not all singles/couples are like this, some are model tenants, however some clearly have an 'active' social life.
Family rents seem a safe bet. Those with young children, toddlers even, are probably a better bet. The houses i have been in, where there are children, are very clean. One or both parents will work all the hours there are, in order to pay the bills, landlords get paid on time, never any problems, houses kept clean and often improved ie new carpets, garden sorted, redecorated, really well looked after.
Of course there are exceptions, but if it was my property i would be trying to rent to a family rather than single tenants.
Goochie said:
OK, so the next question is this......... How can I target Polish tennents? I dont think I can get away with putting an advert in the paper saying "House to rent - Polish people prefered"
Just put in "House for rent, Eastern European Family desired, etc etc etc" You should have no problems with a working Polish family/group, In my expirence Polish people are some of the nicest/decent people i have met. I meet a lot too as i work on the borders..... As with anyone you have to go on instinct with these things, and if your comfortable i am sure you will have no issues. They are here in the UK for a reason (poles,Lithuanians, Czech etc etc) very few actually want to settle permantly in the UK so the money they earn (earning money being key! Not dole money!) is precious, and a means to an end...
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