Can I be a good landlord?

Question

Hello, all!I am new to REI and have loved learning more about the process through Bigger Pockets. I do not yet have any properties, but am spending as much time a I can learning until I feel confident enough to purchase my first property. However, I find myself questioning whether or not I can be successful whenever I consider the fact that I will have to act as a landlord. I am hoping that someone may have some advice in regards to overcoming the fear of being a landlord with no experience. Any personal experience/advice, helpful books, etc. would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance to anyone who is willing to share.

Greg M. · Answer

Most people don't have the stomach to be a landlord and that includes a significant percentage of actual landlords. Tenants view their unit as their home/property and it can be difficult to say to their face "No, you can't have a pet Kangaroo" or "No, you may use a charcoal burning BBQ inside" or worst of all to the tenant, "I understand that the cost of everything is going up and your wages didn't, but the new monthly rent is $75 higher". Truth is that you may never feel comfortable doing this. This can be compounded by the type of units you have. The rougher the neighborhood, the rougher the tenant. What scares you about being a landlord? Write it out, these are the things that I will have to do as a landlord and figure out which ones you're comfortable with and what you're not. Attack the things you're not comfortable with. For example, if you wouldn't be comfortable assessing a late fee, consider using an online payment system that automatically tacks on the late fee. Or set up an email like accounting(at)KyleKlineProperties(dot)com and send the tenant a generic looks like "auto generated" notice of the late fee. To prevent eviction, pay the last fee within 5 days. Do not reply to this mailbox as it is not monitored... Maybe split the duties with a spouse. Some people will tell the tenants that they are just the property manager. I do not recommend this as it is super easy to find out who the owner is, but it can help take heat off you.And just because you want to invest in real estate doesn't mean you have to be a landlord. You can purchase REITs, buy fractional ownership (Arrived), or invest in hedge funds / stocks of companies that own property.

Noah Bacon · Answer

Hi Kyle! Welcome to BiggerPockets and thanks for joining! Here are some tips for networking and making the most of your account. 1) I'd fill out your profile fully before you do anything else! As that will at least help folks that you reach out to know that you are a real person, with a picture and professional bio. Particularly be sure to include your goals for real estate investing so that folks can help you. 2) Go to the Search bar, and look for some local members in your area! Reach out to a few of the folks, perhaps those with hundreds or thousands of posts in this forum, and connect. You can do that here. 3) Check out some of the local meetups that you can find in this forum! There are so many so be sure to filter by your location. 4) Review this comprehensive 64 page deck on the state of the 2023 housing market (in your resource page as a member of BiggerPockets!) for real estate investors put together by Dave Meyer and available for all BiggerPockets members. 5) Consider meeting with a few agents in your area even if you are just getting started! An investor friendly agent can do all sorts of helpful things, like setting you up with a search for properties or connecting you with folks who have recently done deals like the ones you want to do. 6) Consider analyzing a deal or two in your local market, just for practice, with a free use of our Rental Property Calculator (or other calculators). Hope this helps! Please reach out with any questions you may have!

Jim K. · Answer

@Kyle Kline I've been doing this for a while and in the beginning, I felt confident that everyone was cut out to be a landlord in every sort of situation. Many years later, I am absolutely certain this is not true. This website and especially @Nathan Gesner have really helped me to understand this. You usually need a certain kind of mentality plus a certain trust in the discipline of your judgments, that a lot of people don't really have.

Steven Foster Wilson · Answer

In my case my heart is too big to be a landlord, Ill end up giving away more money than I make. That is why I use a management company.

Kyle Kline · Answer

Thank you all for taking the time to respond! This is all fantastic advice. As most of you mentioned, I am sure there are plenty of resources to take advantage of for learning. It is mostly just the lack of experience/knowledge that is frightening to me. But again, thank yo all so much!

Kyle Kline · Answer

Thank you!

Marc Rice · Answer

The best advice is to just force yourself to do it on the first house and ask for advice/watch youtube videos to learn along the way. It's super helpful to find a local mentor in your area who was once in your shoes.

Jon A. · Answer

It's not that hard, at least at first. If you read these forums, you'll see a lot of idiotic comments by people who've built significant portfolios. I read them and think, Wow if this isn't proof that you don't have to be intelligent to be successful in real estate. Being a landlord becomes more complicated as you move into the commercial asset classes. But assuming that you're starting w small residential properties, you'll be fine.

Kaylee Walterbach · Answer

The Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon Turner is an excellent resource for a first-time landlord!

Bud Gaffney · Answer

@Kyle Kline GO FOR IT AND DONT LOOK BACK.