It’s one of those day being a landlord, I just have to write it out, ranting about it a little, unwinding so I can go to bed. 🙂
So I inherited 3 sets of tenants from the ex-landlord, more like the ex-management company. I don’t know how he screen these people. But one unit, I had a bunch of Asian guys, they work and go to the university nearby. Nice, quiet and pay rent on time.
The second set is 2 girls and a guy. One girl decides to move out with her boyfriend, still paying rent, but the space is hard to advertise because she still have a messy room with a lot of stuff. That’s what I’ve been dealing lately, advertise and show the room. I decide to help her because there is no point of risking she just take off for the last month.
Third set, is 3 working “professionals” one girl is a musicians, like tonight, decides to take out the big base and hash/bashing it out with a few other people, causing the whole building to shake. OMG. Landlord fun, since I don’t know which one is causing it. I had to text all three of them. The noise finally stopped, but I think there might be some retaliation. Their place is a big mess, as I estimate having to change the carpet, repaint the whole apartment. A lot of holes and tons of work waiting for me when the contract end. I feel pain just to think about it. Hahaha
The forth set is the ones that I put in myself. They are a bit naive but workable. They decided to put a bunch of boxes in front of the return air, helped causing the heating unit to go out, $400 to fix for me, since it’s below 0 Celsius, I wouldn’t want to to live in the cold, so I paid for the same day service, instead of shopping around. They complain a lot, but they made the place look presentable. If I resell this place, this one unit will make it worth like its $200k more than it really is. In the meanwhile, every month, it seems like they have something to complain about. They keep me busy.
Key points if you are thinking about being a landlord, you must be prepare to do the following:
1. Maintenance – if you don’t like to do the work yourself, you should have a few people on your list that you can call. For my case, I have two handymen companies, two HVAC companies, two electricians, one lawn care guy, and a few craigslist guys that I found on my call list.
2. People skills – landlord work including PR work, you then have to show and act as a sale person to sell the place, so they feel comfortable renting from you. Dealing with late payments, talk and coach them when they have issues with each other.
3. Be available – I think even if you hire management company or you manage the property yourself, I. The end it’s still your property, you don’t want to stay out of all the issues until the building collapse or police or lawsuit is involve. Management company only get 5-10%, they only make $100 out of $1000 you earn, they wouldn’t put your interest or tenant’s interest as a priority if they have 20 other properties to care for. That is why you should be ready to be available, ask for progress report make them work for their money. And after all it’s your investment, you want to make sure it’d still be there in 100 years.
Like today, when the tenant contacted me at night, I’ll was available to take care of the noise issue prior to it escalating. Everyone is happier without the noise pollution.
4. Work ethic – I think if you have a good heart and be proactive on fixing issues, tenants can mirror your action and take care of it like their own.
Being a landlord can take up a lot of time, but the profits can be very handsome. As my investment has increased in value by 20%, and the cash flow allow me to invest in equities, securing my retirement in two years. You know what you sign up for when you’ve become a landlord, treat this as your part time job, and it’ll be alright, just another walk on the beach.
Wow, seems like you have your hands full there! Lots of rentals, it seems. I only have 2 now (had 3 but selling one), and they can be a pain sometimes… Doing evictions and spending money on repairs isn’t fun, but getting the paychecks sure is.
I’m just going to raise the rent really high for them. Give them 1 month of respond, if they decide to stay, I’ll get cleaning people to come in to clean things up. More time on my part, but I hate having dirty places even I don’t live in it.
Very nice summary of requirements to be a landlord! Since I was not able to buy my own house, I do consider rentals in the back of my mind…this list would be very nice to have.
We have cleaners over appx every month…nothing fancy…bathroom cleaning mainly and vacuum and dusting. What I have realized is that to get the most out of the cleaner, we have to clean the house before the cleaner cleans the house 🙂 So, maybe you can offer two cleaning appointments for free over the year to your tenants…hopefully, this will force the tenants to clean up some before the cleaner visits…..and the cleaning investment may help reduce the cost of cleaning up in the long run.
Hope that helps.
Yeah, I did that when they have the pest issue. I had to pay $700 for 1 year pets control. But their place look a bit better since then.
Blimey, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Still, good relationships with these people will mean that they’re kinder to your sanity and home
When it pours, it rains. Like my water pipe at home is broken, and the valve goes. Lowes is out of insulation because everyone else I. The same city have the same issue. It’s the coldest winter here so far. We ended up, go to a few store before getting what we need. S, not just me, but the whole city.
Now, for those who says rent is better, but whether you take care of it yourself or somebody else take care of it, you’ll have to go through the trauma of not having water or waiting for it to get fixed. I’m not sure which one is more traumatic. However, issues like this don’t bother me as much anymore. As I ran into more and more issue, I learned to deal with them.
Hi Vivianne,
Landlording sounds like a difficult job and that I can do only when I have full time capabilities. I heard that theres a lot of safety regulations involved too and people could sue you for not keeping your properties safe. Sounds like a big responsibility that I will look forward to when I start investing in properties. 🙂