Quick Tips for Landlords and Newcomer Tenants

Newcomers arriving in Canada often form their first transactional relationship with … their landlord.
It’s an important one, and worth nurturing whether you're renting in a multifamily apartment building or share part of a house.
Here are some quick tips to help make that relationship work:
1- Pay your rent on time. This will build trust. Being late (better to be early) with payments will irk even the kindest landlord.
2- Be tidy and neat. You wouldn’t want a sloppy, garbage collecting, clutter hoarding person for a tenant. Neither does your landlord (or your neighbours!).
3- Report any damage immediately. And if you caused it, offer to pay. Your landlord will appreciate it. Treat the property as if YOU own it.
Sending my real estate agent pictures of me and Mowgli trying to convince this landlord to accept pets 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/IxGhhXFcLY
— Ravenna Tran (@RavennaTran) July 12, 2021
4- Be honest. Don’t run a business from the apartment (unless the landlord agrees) and don’t take in boarders or pets (again, unless it’s allowed or the landlord agrees).
5- Say thanks. Appreciating the work a landlord or property manager does will make them more attentive to future maintenance problems that your unit or building may face.
6- Appreciate your neighbours. Communicate with them. Be friendly. Say hi. It costs nothing and it might start a friendship.
7- Temper your demands. Landlords, particularly in multifamily dwellings, get a lot of requests from their tenants. It’s possible to be pleasant, firm and patient when it comes to requests and repairs.
8- Leave your place in great shape. Your landlord can be a great referral for your next apartment or job. You want them to think of you as a responsible, great tenant.
9- Purchase renters insurance (most landlords will request/demand this).