As a military family that has rented numerous apartments and homes over the years, we've had some memorable landlords.
There was the one in Florida who let us keep the fruit off the abundant orange and grapefruit trees on the property we rented and kindly let us out of our lease when we were offered base housing sooner than expected.
Some others have not been so great, including one who routinely took days to respond to urgent maintenance issues (naturally, we found another rental when that lease was up).
While most property managers and landlords probably fall somewhere in the middle of the 'good landlord' spectrum, there are a few things you can do to set yourself as a cut above the rest when it comes to attracting--and keeping--renters from the vast military market.
Like most tenants, military renters will desire to have a good working relationship with you, their potential landlord, but they'll also have needs specific to military family life.
Qualities military renters look for in a landlord:
- Regular communication. Communicating expectations and responsibilities is important, as well as being responsive to maintenance requests and other questions.
- Having a move-in ready home. Military renters may have less time for moving in than typical renters. They'll want a clean slate and a turn-key experience when it comes to renting.
- Understanding of the military clause in the lease agreement. Make sure you know the ins and outs of what the military clause means in your state. (Resource: The Military Clause: A Landlord's Perspective)
- Responsive to repair issues. Whether or not you're local, responding quickly to needed repairs or urgent issues is high on the list for military renters.
- Regular maintenance inspections. Military renters will want to know that your property, their home, is a priority to you as you or your agent make timely inspections of appliances, HVAC, gutters, chimneys, fences, etc. It's also important to be clear on which maintenance tasks are theirs and which are yours (for instance, power washing).
MilitaryByOwner has partnered with the following companies to provide resources for landlords and others, making renting and property management even easier and successful!
