Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Leveraging, renting vs owning, making an investment or buying a home?
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HoTiCE
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Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by HoTiCE »

Assuming your ISP does not mind and you log everything for legal purposes, do any of you currently offer Internet & Phone line services to your tenants?

Does it cause more headaches for the gains for those that have done it in the past or present?
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by kcowan »

A friend ran a B&B and had a standard charge for LD but was using VOIP so most costs were zero beyond the initial set-up. Occasional overseas calls were charged at cost plus 20%. The service revenue dried up as more client had their own phones.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by Just a Guy »

I've never offered to provide extra services for tenants. It's an uncontrollable expense in some cases that can have huge reprocussions. If you pay for water, what prevents a vengeful tenant from running the water on full for a month? If you pay for internet, what if they set up a child porn server?

What is the benefit of providing "extras" to a tenant? The margins in real estate aren't that high that I'm willing to jeopardize them.

I should point out that I don't have a lot of vacancies, so I could be biased. I provide nicer than average places for a fair rent, and I keep my good tenants happy. I don't need to bribe them.

I should point out, for the record, I've never experienced those "worst case scenarios", nor have I heard of them happening, but that doesn't mean they couldn't happen and I'm not willing to be the first person to encounter them. I've seen enough bad tenants in my day with my limiting factors as it is.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by Hogwild »

I agree and also disagree. Before I decided to sell my house, I was tempted to rent out the basement. We already have a roof-mounted HQ antenna, so charging a few dollars a month for TV wasn't unreasonable-we get 24 channels. We already had antenna outlets on 3 levels.

As for Internet complications, it is not difficult if you are tech. savvy or even if you're not, to use traffic shaping (often called QoS) to control who gets allotted how much bandwidth. I did it here for years when we had a rent-free housegest. It's harder to control which content for various technical reasons.

I do agree that it will probably hinge on whether the small-ish amount of extra income will be worth it to you.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by myabundance »

I have a couple of rental properties and do not provide any extra services inclusive in the rent. It keeps my paperwork and business simple to run.
Also, if the tenant then has issues with the phone or internet, or they themselves create problems, it is their responsibility. This means you don't have to spend extra time trying to fix a connection or run over to their home to replace a broker router.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by kcowan »

We have a Telus landline and Shaw Cable Internet. We do not put any restrictions on usage. We monitor usage when the bills come in email each month. So far we have never had a problem. The only usage is our housekeeper calling us in Mexico. But even she uses her own calling card most of the time.

We leave phone numbers for the Internet and procedures for doing the cable modem/router reset. We also encourage them to call us in Mexico if they have a problem. Although this seems pretty loose, our tenant screening seems to be working.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by Peculiar_Investor »

Just a Guy wrote:I've never offered to provide extra services for tenants. It's an uncontrollable expense in some cases that can have huge reprocussions. If you pay for water, what prevents a vengeful tenant from running the water on full for a month? If you pay for internet, what if they set up a child porn server?

What is the benefit of providing "extras" to a tenant? The margins in real estate aren't that high that I'm willing to jeopardize them.
I concur. For our rental property we provide the building and expenses related to it, but the tenant is responsible for all services and utilities.

Unless one is providing a turn-key rental, i.e. fully furnished and move in ready, or a "short-term" rental where the landlord expects to move back in, I don't see the advantage or requirement to provide services such as phone and internet. Plus it gives the tenant the full choice of which providers to use rather than restricting them to our choice(s).
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by mragile »

Hi everyone. 1st post. And it will be a stupid question.
I just bought my first rental. Someone said something about keeping your tenants happy. This is the second time i would hear that. How do you keep tenants happy? I have to say its been just over a month and I consider them very good. But how do I keep them happy?
Thanks.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by AltaRed »

Welcome to FWF. Not sure why you are asking after the fact? What does your business plan for rental RE say regarding the landlord's (your) relationship with the tenant? That had to be part of the plan in setting rent in the first place.

Example: Charge what you can and skimp on maintenance that will provide more profit margin than the cost of replacing that tenant, i.e. higher turnover? Or keep rent competitive and resolve maintenance issues quickly and satisfactorily to keep your tenant happier for a longer time? Discount rent a bit in return for the tenant, if the tenant wants, to do some of the maintenance on their own?

Why not tell us what your business plan was/is so that responses can be better targeted.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by kcowan »

We provide both to our seasonal tenants. So far so good. They are not big talkers or streamers. But if they become so, we will charge a nominal charge, e.g. 25 cents per call (local or LD), and a daily charge for streaming over 5mb. Both of these would not deter big users, I.e. Movie streamers but since we provide good satellite TV for free, we think it is a middle road view. We have found that tenants use their cell phones for calls and will even use their data service to stream. This is exactly what we want.

Some have even commented that hubby really likes our complete satellite service which they had never had before.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by mragile »

I am just a person trying to secure my retirement and hopefully give my child a good life. That is my business plan, lol.
The agreement is they pay their utilities. I take care of maintenance. And the rent is competitive, same rate as goes for in the area.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by AltaRed »

Then that should be good enough to keep them happy. The key from your perspective is good and timely maintenance. Get on top of problems right away.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by mragile »

Thanks Altared!
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by Just a Guy »

Keeping a tenant happy usually involves leaving them alone, making sure that a place is repaired very quickly, and showing them that you respect them (for example, if a neighbor makes rediculous accusations about them, you're willing to defend them). Other things like not raising the rent, or cutting them a break once in a while don't hurt. Some landlords even give small gifts at Christmas (a Home Depot gift card with the idea they'd probably spend it on maintenance of your place), but I've never done that personally.

Most people just want to be left alone.
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by kcowan »

Our landlord has a Christmas celebration in the lobby of our building with wine punch and poopoos. It is a great way to meet neighbours. Our renters love it!
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by adrian2 »

kcowan wrote: 15 Jun 2017 11:24 Our landlord has a Christmas celebration in the lobby of our building with wine punch and poopoos.
The only meaning I'm aware of for poopoo is "a babyish word for feces". :P
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Re: Do any of you provide Internet & Phone services to your tenants?

Post by kcowan »

adrian2 wrote: 15 Jun 2017 11:45The only meaning I'm aware of for poopoo is "a babyish word for feces". :P
Yup Pretty much and even the wine was harsh. But hey it was the thought that counted...
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