Who should be a Landlord
Who should be a Landlord
Recently I attended a meeting of various landlords discussing the needs of being a landlord.
Two perspectives were repeated by many of the people.
The first is the law says you are able to do this and they would respond, I don’t feel comfortable doing that. This is the first problem we experience with landlords who often have had bad experiences. They are not prepared to make the hard decisions and follow the law to manage their tenants.
An owner indicated they had an elderly tenant living in their basement who needed assistance to live there. Multiple people provided her some information about solutions including raising the rent which would provide a legal opportunity for eviction but she said I just can’t do that because he doesn’t have the money. People suggested contacting health care providers to engage them to help him move to another location. They provide hospice type care to this individual who is just a tenant in their rental property. Well beyond the responsitibilty of the landlord’s duties.
The second issue, I was deperate so I rented to them. Patience is a supper power in rental management. Many stories we hear of people talking about a negative tenancy experience start at the beginning. When the unit is vacant landlords are feeling the pain of no rent coming in for the property. This creates anxiety for many landlords expecially the small mom and pop landlords. This is when mistakes are made and tenants are good at sniffing out desperate landlords. In all aspects of life when we are desperate we often make poor decisions.
The most important trait you need to be a landlord is patience. When your unit is vacant, take the time to continue to do the due diligence to make sure the people you are renting to are “good people”. When the vacancy rate is high and landlords are deperate the bad tenants seek these landlords out and take advantage of them. When you have a tenant that is not following the law and you are not prepared to enforce the laws then you will end up with a negative situation. Take the time to follow the law, sometimes it takes longer to get the result you want but it always provides a positive experience.
In many aspects of life rushing the process often leads to a negative experience, being a landlord is not different
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