Problem with Landlords

[Emily Dixon]

Yes I own a home. I rent out the rooms in that home individually because I hate the idea of not being able to come into my house and check on things anytime I want. I do not like Tenant rights, so I board instead, less rights! LOL

But let me talk a bit about landlords. It seems that some landlords do not consider their Tenants like customers. Some landlords on this forum the way they talk it is more like they do not even think of their tenants like people.

Remember to treat tenants like if you were in any other business- like Customers. These are the people providing your income. Treat them in such a manner please.

When you are meeting tenants to show them your home make sure you realize that YOU are selling your self as a landlord as well. If you are just focused on the home you are missing something marketable about yourself that will help you lure a tenant. Do you pay for a certain utility? Do you give a discount on rent when paid early? What is it about YOU that would make ME want to rent YOUR home?

I see a lot of your posts venting about tenants or not being able to find tenants, so I wanted to share my personal story about choosing a rental and it is all about for my husband and I, choosing a landlord.

My husband and I rented two different places in Missouri recently. I can honestly tell you the houses were junk but cheap! The reason we chose those particular houses over others we had checked out was the LANDLORD was a nice and genuine authentic friendly warm person who I felt I wanted to do business with.

So keep treating RENTERS like idiots, and you will keep having problem renters and you won't find those people who want to do business with you. If you want to find good tenants by golly be a good respectable landlord.

We own property and still rent for ourselves now. We went from having mortgage and insurance of 2000+ every month, huge utility costs of our pool home, constant leave raking and maintenance to a little apartment in Anaheim, CA total expenses 1300/month. NO Maintenance. So simple. We collect rent from our income boarding house but rent a little apartment for ourselves. And we save a lot of money doing it. No Interest to the bank! I love renting because finally the bank isn't taking all of my money!

LIFE IS EASY and not all RENTERS are idiots.

[Jon Holdman]

I think you're mistaking experiences with bad tenants for an assumption that all tenants are bad. I've had a few bad apples. Some of them were actually good tenants. Right up to the point they fell off the cliff. But more have been good tenants that took care of my place, paid the rent, and gave proper notice when they left.

That said, you cannot assume they will be well-behaved and compliant and just hope for the best. Strong leases, strong screening, and clear guidelines will help. When things go wrong, deal with them. That applies to the property (i.e., fix problems), but also with the tenants.