Are Slumlords really that bad...

[Patrick Connell]

I was driving into the office today and had this thought.....are slumlords really that bad? Hear me out and then you decide.

I think it's safe to assume that most of the folks on BP would consider themselves better than average landlords/REI. I mean, that's one of the main reasons we're all here, to better ourselves, share with one another, and be more successful.

We learn to screen tenants better, keep out the bad ones, only accept the good ones, stick to our criteria, cover our backsides with specific clauses, etc. But where do all the tenants that we reject or don't even process go; I mean, they have to live somewhere???

Perhaps, slumlords are not simply people that are trying to cut corners or provide horrible conditions to earn an extra buck, but maybe that's just how they make their return on renting to tenants that no one else would dream of touching? This also begs the question of whether or not those same tenants are entitled to anything other than what's provided for them in the law?

I don't present this as a support of "slum lording" (is this even a word) but perhaps as another niche for certain investors; whether or not any of us would ever touch it....

Thoughts?

[John Horner]

I have always thought of a slumlord not as someone who owns properties in bad areas, but someone who owns properties in bad areas and doesn't take care of them. Here in Columbus, the city is really cracking down on landlords who have been deferring maintenance to the point where tenants done have heat or a roof that doesn't leak.

You're exactly right that those people have to live somewhere, and for those who can stomach the risk of owning in these areas, more power to them!

You can be a good landlord in a bad part of town, IMHO.