I am especially fond of #3 because "Every Landlord's Legal Guide" is the best book ever written for Landlords!Do you agree with this Top 5 list, or would you include something else?https://www.kiplinger.com/real...

@Nathan G., they forgot to add "keep the security deposit, and charge for random and overprice everything" so many times I hear about people getting stressed out, going to court, wasting time/money when the right thing is just to return the deposit - regular wear/tear. #1 is so true, that's the first bit of advice I got from our friend/mentor, if someone is pushy and tries to give you cash--run, they are trying to bypass the screening process. Also with the fake pay stubs, so many people think because it's a private landlord, they're idiots and can't identify them, unfortunately it's very common place in C/D housing.

I know a lot of owners that fall into the second trap. Beyond the initial purchase/reno if needed, they forget that sometimes homes needs maintenance. Or when the initial reno is done and they say lets not do certain things...but then those certain things come back costing them 2x as much, never pretty.

Most landlords are pretty good about those things. The real problems I see people having involve making the tenant's problems their problems. Trying to help tenants out, being "understanding", making exceptions to policies and "cutting tenants a break". Landlords who take this approach get stressed out, feel taken advantage of by tenants, and get out of landlording.

Removing emotion is definitely a tough one. Even rougher in a small town like mine where friends and acquaintances ask for special consideration.

I would add making emotional vs business decisions. I hear plenty of sob stories and genuinely want to help the person out on a human level. Business wise though the risk is too high and the likelihood that they will fall behind rent is beyond what I feel comfortable with. We get a lot of posts where something happened and the problem was 10x worse by the time they are addressing it because they tried to be the nice guy but finished last.

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