Landlord Experiences?

Von · Sep 2, 2004

Don, That works if they make the balloon payment and the value goes up. When we sold are now 56 unit complex (lost one building to a fire) We had to start forclosure to get the $1.3 million balloon payment! it took 6 months, but they finally paid. this was 15 years ago, and the place just resold for $800k this spring! Thats half of what we sold it for!! So sometimes it does not go up in value! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

B7500 · Sep 2, 2004

Mark,
MY two cents....
After 15 years of owning three rental houses I can emphatically tell you go for it.
The bottom line is other people paid for them. They also paid my taxes and my insurances. Every once in a great while some money came out of our income but most of the time we broke out even or made money for the year.
Now they are all paid for and the equity on all three homes is about $200,000.00. How can you beat that?
Yes, I've had some problems but not much. My philosophy (and some would disagree) is I make friends with my tenants. We buy little gifts when kids are born, I may help out a little when their heating bills they get are high in mid winter or my wife will send over cookies every now and then.
The end result is we always get our rent and no one has ever damaged our homes.
I feel people treat you like you treat them.
Good luck with your decision. In our case it has worked out well.
-Terry

ScottAR · Sep 4, 2004

Mark,

I too thought the war stories would start in as well. The thing to keep in mind landlording is a business and it has pitfalls the same as any other business.

Everyone remembers their bad apples, cleaning up the living room with a leaf rake, the full Fridge of Christmas dinner in Febuary, making 3 runs to the dump just to begin cleaning, etc...

I also remember the handful of tenants that left the place cleaner than when they got there, and the MANY that left the place as clean as it was. Be honest and fair, but firm. Call before coming over to fix whatever and the heat/A/C will always go out on the coldest/hottest day of the year. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

If you decide to make a bigger go of landlording after this intial purchase, I can tell you that the rewards outweigh the bad stuff if one is willing to put out a little effort.

I'll type out some more tomorrow.... sleepy...

LBrown59 · Jan 6, 2005

( some I would bet have gotten out of owning rental for one reason or another.
MarkV
)
===========
I got out because the regulations became lord and I got tired of them landing on me.

LBrown59 · Jan 6, 2005

If anyone gets desparate or pushy, there's likely to be a good reason I don't want them there.
================
Good advice: I ran into my worst tenant from **** this way. It was the biggest renting night mare I ever encountered but at least it made me come to my senses and get out of the rental business.

LBrown59 · Jan 6, 2005

My Uncle started in the early fifties and done very well as a landlord.He was able to retire at an early age due to that.

However things are much different now than they were back then.
In later years he coined the prase: There is no such thing as a good renter and if you do happen to get one the Government will take them away from you.
He statement is pretty much on the money.

After 40 or so years in the business he knows from which he speaks.

LBrown59 · Jan 7, 2005

( The first thing you need to do is study your state's landlord/ tenent laws. You don't want your tenants knowing more about the law than you do. street.
Avoid Section 8, government paid rents, like the plague. Remember, you are rich, you have all that property )

All tenants think landlords are rich. Landlords have more than one home, tenant can't even afford one home so the landlord has to be rich.
The first thing you need to do is study your state's landlord tenant laws. You don't want your tenants knowing more about the law than you do _ There are scam tenants that use these laws for the sole purpose of living rent free moving from landlord to landlord.

PineRidge · Jan 7, 2005

The old man used to tell me as a kid, "When you're a tenant you think like a tenant, and when you're a landlord you think like a landlord." Never really understood those words until some years later when the wife and I purchased a twinplex and started to manage a triplex next door to our unit.

All of a sudden I had calls from folks who though they shouldn't have to change burnt out light bulbs. I had folks call me that didn't know how to use toilet plungers. I had a guy with a low slung sports car call me when we had only 2 inches of snow because his hot rod was scraping bottom. And oh ya there was a tenant that was into stealing high end cars like Porsche's and then repainting them in one of the garages. Boy did I have a surprise when I came home from work one day and noticed that one of the overhead garage doors on the triplex was a shade of blue from over-spray when he painted the Porsche inside the garage with the door up. All the other doors were sand in color, think the blue stood out some? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Police took care of that little problem for me without being asked to do so. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif They furnished him with rent-free space for a long time.

Put up with it for about 5 years before I decided that being a landlord just wasn't in the cards for us. I sincerely hope that if you own or manage rentals that your tennants are good ones.

TC-40D SS web pictures click here

LBrown59 · Jan 7, 2005

( The old man used to tell me as a kid, "When you're a tenant you think like a tenant, and when you're a landlord you think like a landlord." Never really understood those words until some years later when the wife and I purchased a twinplex and started to manage a triplex next door to our unit.

All of a sudden I had calls from folks who though they shouldn't have to change burnt out light bulbs. I had folks call me that didn't know how to use toilet plungers. I had a guy with a low slung sports car call me when we had only 2 inches of snow because his hot rod was scraping bottom. And oh ya there was a tenant that was into stealing high end cars like Porsche's and then repainting them in one of the garages. Boy did I have a surprise when I came home from work one day and noticed that one of the overhead garage doors on the triplex was a shade of blue from over-spray when he painted the Porsche inside the garage with the door up. All the other doors were sand in color, think the blue stood out some? /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Police took care of that little problem for me without being asked to do so. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif They furnished him with rent-free space for a long time.

Put up with it for about 5 years before I decided that being a landlord just wasn't in the cards for us. I sincerely hope that if you own or manage rentals that your tennants are good ones.

TC-40D SS web pictures click here )
==========
All of a sudden I had calls from folks who though they shouldn't have to change burnt out light bulbs. I had folks call me that didn't know how to use toilet plungers. I had a guy with a low slung sports car call me when we had only 2 inches of snow because his hot rod was scraping bottom
*And oh ya there was a tenant that was into stealing high end cars like Porsche's and then repainting them in one of the garages
===================
Seems renters are of the general attitude that the landlord owes them the whole world and everything in it.

Had the same type problems with warranty work on MH homes till I wised up and offered a refundable warranty.
You can do the same thing with rental property-It's called an earned discount.

You have to set your terms so that a tenant who screws up makes you money instead of costing you money.
You have to assume every tenant will take you because you can't tell who will and who won't.
*If he had been into the drug scene you could have forfeited your property to the law officials.

LBrown59 · Jan 7, 2005

( Stay away from roommate situations.
*The place doesn't ever seem to be in the problem's name.
)
*Are you saying the person causing the problems isn't on the rental agreement?

LBrown59 · Jan 7, 2005

(
All of a sudden I had calls from folks who though they shouldn't have to change burnt out light bulbs. I had folks call me that didn't know how to use toilet plungers. I had a guy with a low slung sports car call me when we had only 2 inches of snow because his hot rod was scraping bottom.
)
---------------
 The best one along those lines that happened to me was when the guy I was renting a trailer space to quit paying the rent and got a couple of months behind.
When I told him he had to catch up the rent or move he said He wasn't going to pay the rent because the water well pump was connected to his electric meter and he refused to move too.
Guess he thought the pump hooked to his meter entitled him to live there rent free for the rest of his life.

OkeeDon · Jan 7, 2005

"...he said He wasn't going to pay the rent because the water well pump was connected to his electric meter..." 

Let me see if I understand this correctly. As the owner, you were stealing the electricity that he was paying for in order to pump the water for the entire trailer park, at no cost to you? And you think he had no right to be upset?

PineRidge · Jan 7, 2005

It's hard to justify stealing from a tenant to pump water for the whole building. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

If a tenant knows about a shared pump on their meter up front, and it's spelled out in the lease, and their rent is reduced to compensate them for that loss, then it might be O.K.

TC-40D SS web pictures click here

bgott · Jan 7, 2005

Here in Texas you only want one name on the contract. If you have two or more names you have to evict each separate person. For example, If you rent to Joe Blow and John Doe, you have to file an eviction on Joe Blow and an eviction on John Doe. Now as far as names on the lease, if I went after these people every time they let someone else stay there I would constantly be running myself ragged chasing unauthorized people out. If they are paying the rent and not tearing the place up I turn a blind eye to an extra tenant or two. We have lots of immigrants here, they all live two families to a three bedroom trailer. Good people to rent to as long as I need a translator to talk to them. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

Someone made comment on tenants calling about burned out light bulbs. Believe it or not, a whole lot of the **** can't change a light bulb. I hate having to dig a light bulb base out of the fixture because someone had never heard of "lefty losey- righty tighty". /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif I've went to ball valves for water shut off. These people can't turn the water off with a regular ballcock. I've watched them, they will turn the ball cock two turns to the right and then forget what they are doing and turn it all the way to the left and wonder why the water is still on. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

sweettractors · Jan 7, 2005

MarkV-We own, rent and sell rental property and acerage. The best advice I could give is to buy at least 75% below appraised value (at the courthouse) and then renting, and or selling is a lot easier to come out on the + side. We rent for a set amount for a property and that includes xyz maintainence (spelled out in the rental agreement. If the renter is capable, we sometimes offer to lower the rent by 10% and specify in the rental agreement that the renter agrees to fix ALL basic maintainence issues that may arise. I tell them upfront that I would like to be a friend, however, I dont want to be called about a broken/frozen water pipe or faucet leak, light bulb out, etc. EVER! Around here there is a "Old Saying" that you make your money/profit when you buy something (not when you sell it). I have found that there is a lot of truth to that. --Ken Sweet

Sweet Farm Equipment LLC

LBrown59 · Jan 7, 2005

( "...he said He wasn't going to pay the rent because the water well pump was connected to his electric meter..." Let me see if I understand this correctly. As the owner, you were stealing the electricity that he was paying for in order to pump the water for the entire trailer park, at no cost to you? And you think he had no right to be upset?)
~~~~~~~~
But does that entitle the tenant to live there for the rest of his life rent free? ?
Would you trade your house payment for your water bill?

LBrown59 · Jan 7, 2005

( It's hard to justify stealing from a tenant to pump water for the whole building. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

)

But does that entitle the tenant to live there for the rest of his life rent free? ?
Would you trade your house payment for your water bill?

LBrown59 · Jan 7, 2005

( /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

If a tenant knows about a shared pump on their meter up front, and it's spelled out in the lease, and their rent is reduced to compensate them for that loss, then it might be O.K.

)

And how do they get water if the pump is disconnected from the meter????

LBrown59 · Jan 7, 2005

The best one along those lines that happened to me was when the guy I was renting a trailer space to quit paying the rent and got a couple of months behind.
When I told him he had to catch up the rent or move he said He wasn't going to pay the rent because the water well pump was connected to his electric meter and he refused to move too.
Guess he thought the pump hooked to his meter entitled him to live there rent free for the rest of his life.

PS
I don't see the term trailer park or Building listed here does anyone else?

People just don't pay anyattention to what they read.
Starting to get old getting put down for things i never said or did.

DUMBDOG · Jan 7, 2005

Could you please explain why he did not pay his rent then?

I do not think that he would not pay the rent if he was just paying the electricity for his own water would he?