Best advice you were given?

[Krystallin Baker]

With so many landlords on here and so many good tips always being shared for newbie landlords, I'm curious what has personally been the best first few pieces of advice you got as a landlord? 

Conversely, were you ever given bad tips or advice?

[Aaron Mazzrillo]

Never "work with people." It's a loser excuse for not having any money and a job for you that won't pay very well at all. 

Johnnie Cochran once famously said, "If the glove don't fit, you must acquit." Well, if the tenant don't pay, you just evict. If they say they are going to pay on the 15th and you buy into that BS, tell them no problem, but you have to file the 3 day notice now just to protect your rights and if the rent shows up on the 15th you'll be all set. If it doesn't, the lawyer moves forward with the eviction.

Never accept personal checks for move in expenses. They will bounce. The squatter will have possession. You'll be paying for an eviction. Cash, cashier's check or money order only.

If you can't afford to keep it vacant, you can't afford to keep it. In other words, if you're so desperate for the next person with even remote evidence of income just so you don't have to make that next mortgage payment, you need to sell. Keep your house vacant until you find the perfect tenant. In my world, that is stable people who are collectible, stay and pay. 

If they ask if they can plant flowers, they won't. In reality, 99.9% of the time they are pigs.

Based on my experience talking to lots and lots of prospective tenants, they will tell you the exact person they are not. If they say, "I'll pay all the rent early." They'll be late every month. If they ask to plant flowers, they'll trash your house, never water the lawn, and live like pigs. If they say, "I can fix everything" they probably can't even tie their own shoes and you better never trust them with plumbing and certainly not electric repairs. I call them opposite talkers. Whatever they say they'll do, is the opposite of what they are going to do.

Don't be fooled. This isn't property management. Property does not need to be managed. It is people management and there are lots of sociopaths out there. 

The best way to get a crappy tenant out of your house is to never let them in in the first place.

My first landlord mentor told me, "You can't pay for this type of entertainment!" It is quite fascinating the stuff people will do and try to get away with. Just laugh about it and keep charging forward. All businesses suffer loss so expect some tenants won't pay, some will need to be evicted. If you can't handle that reality, quit now and go work for someone else.