Pushback from rent increase in new acquisition

[Ryan Hesselberg]

My wife and I recently purchased a multi use rental property. 4 offices down 2 apartments up. The apartments are well below comps. The building is in wonderful condition for the most part especially the interior. Previous owner owned it for 5 years set the rents low, never increased, and didn't maintain the exterior. We spent around $2000 already on exterior maintenance and will need to do another $1000. We own other properties and take pride in providing updated quality units with responsive maintenance. We had already planned on raising rents and decided to let the apartment tenants know well in advance (6 months) so they could have plenty of time to make their decision. One Tenant notified all the tenants in the building of their letter and there's a bunch of drama now lol. They think we should only increase 5% a year. My wife figured this may happen. ("Told you so lol"). To me it's unfortunate, however from a business standpoint I know I'm doing the right thing. I'm shocked to hear one Tenant tell me what I should charge for another tenant. #nothappening

[Nathan Gesner]

It's always fun when tenants collaborate and attempt to determine what you can do with your property. One thing I think is very important: always notify all the tenants at once so they don't hear it from a neighbor.

Stick to your guns. We live in a (mostly) free society where they can accept what you're offering or they can buy from someone else. If they choose to move on, it's often an indication that you've removed a problematic tenant.