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
)
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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.
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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 )
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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
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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?