What to do when called a "bottom feeder" at landlord/tenant court?

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What to do when called a "bottom feeder" at landlord/tenant court?

Residential Real Estate Agent · Liberty, MO · Member since 2014 · 2 posts · 0 votes

I went to tenant/possession court today. My goal was to determine if it is a good method of finding disillusioned landlords who would want to sell their properties and get out of being a landlord. I had some time to spend with the judge, bailiff, and other employees who were VERY helpful and shared some helpful experiences with me.

At the end of the session, as I was leaving, the judge said bye and good luck determining whether or not I wanted to go this route with investing. Another couple leaving the court asked why I had come to observe and I told them.

The man looked at me and said, "that is genius" and a couple seconds later his wife/gf/? said, "you're a total bottom feeder."

I laughed and explained why that isn't bottom feeding and that I wouldn't be coercing anyone to sell, but wanted to see if that was an effective method of find people who already wanted out.

How would you have replied?

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Dawn AnastasiPro Member

Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 4k+ votes

It sounds like you're trying to be a problem solver.

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Elizabeth Colegrove
Hanford, CA · Member since 2013 · 5k+ posts · 1k+ votes
12y
I have been called a slum landlord by many of my husbands co-workers. While many think of a crazy and a few think of a genius. You aren't going to make everyone happy. Honestly stay with in the moral and legal laws. Be able to sleep at night and don't worry about what other people think.
FYI that is ALOT easier to say than do :)
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Wilson Churchill
Madison Heights, MI · Member since 2014 · 472 posts · 132 votes
12y
I can think of a response, but I can't post it here and it would get you into a fight with her husband. :-)
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Patrick L.
Real Estate Investor · Saint Petersburg, FL · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 951 votes
12y
I would just laugh it off. Landlord tenant issue are just business and it's a legitimate way to find people that want out of that business. It was probably just a stressed out landlord/accidental landlord that really didn't want to be there anyway.
Now if you were at divorce court trying to find deals those comments might be a little more justified.
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Dana WhickerPro Member
Investor · Fernandina Beach, FL · Member since 2014 · 557 posts · 374 votes
12y
I've been called a slum lord by a couple of my best friends, and we're still friends. I wouldn't care if some random stranger called me a bottom feeder. It's pretty funny though that the husband and wife had such strikingly different first reactions.
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Paul S.
Investor · Valparaiso, FL · Member since 2014 · 374 posts · 76 votes
12y
@Account Closed
Sounds like her prerogative is much different than her husbands, I am betting the husband will not be doing much investing anytime soon. I think you did the right thing by keeping your cool. I would also take it with a grain of salt just like @Elizabeth Colegrove said, you are not going to make everyone happy.
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Matt R.
Sherman Oaks, CA · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
12y
"That's funny, but it is more like top feeding when I get to meet nice folks like yourself:) "
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Chris K.Pro Member
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 655 votes
12y
I would have just smiled and taken it as a huge compliment even though she didn't mean it that way. For those of us who literally started at the bottom and have or are working our way up we have had to get our hands dirty. I'm way more impressed with people who are out there getting their hands dirty chasing a dream than people who were born "swimming with the sharks"
I also sit in on rent court sessions when I have the free time.
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Doug P.
Investor · Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario · Member since 2008 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
12y
@Account Closed Your response seems fine to me. And her reaction has nothing to do with being at tenant/landlord court. I've been called similar names while calling FSBOs.
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Dawn AnastasiPro Member
Rental Property Investor · Milwaukee, WI · Member since 2013 · 6k+ posts · 4k+ votes
12y
It sounds like you're trying to be a problem solver.
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Sharad M.Pro Member
Carlsbad, CA · Member since 2010 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
12y
just smile and say "I am going to remember this if I ever negotiate with you for a house you need to sell"
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Joel OwensBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Canton, GA · Member since 2010 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes
12y
An higher emotional response to an emotional response gets you nowhere in these situations.
Now everyone reacts differently but in whole women tend to be more emotional in response and want to talk things out to express themselves. Men tend to be more introverted thinking internally about the solution only and then waiting to speak it.
The woman sounds like she took your comment as an attacking statement and the husband just saw the thought behind it and the opportunity as a different way to approach things.
I have seen the opposite before with the woman composed and the guy all flustered.
It's just business. I have people in commercial that are idiots and it just comes with the business. I don't care what people say. I chalk it up to they are having a bad day and my total worth isn't hanging on every word of what they think of me. Once they know you don't care and they do not have power with their words over you then they quickly move on. Words or phrases thrown at you over and over will become the effect of someone asking how is the weather today etc. It will be second nature to have little if any impact value when you take it in. In fact emotional control is one of the hallmarks of negotiating power.
I will give you an example. I have taken self defense and martial arts for decades. Someone can have no control and just flail their arms everywhere, wear themselves out, and have limited to no impact simply because they do not have targeted control and laser focus on the objective.
Conversely a few well placed strikes with proper technique in a matter of seconds will render the attacker down with the least amount of energy spent.
We had an exercise over 10 years ago when I was first licensed. We were in a room and the new agents ( me ) and others had to role play with the brokerage companies attorney. He objected to the listing price in the listing agreement by crumpling it up and jumping up and down on it and stomping around the room. We have to act like nothing happened and pick up the paper and slowly unfold it and sit back down with him and say what specific points can I help you with to be ready to sign.
The point of the exercise is to stay in control focused on the end result and not get sidetracked by all their antics and noise.
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Account Closed
Investor · Honolulu, HI · Member since 2013 · 3k+ posts · 1k+ votes
12y
I was in the waiting room at the childrens leukemia ward and mentioned to a parent how the medical bills must be hard with the mortgage. He pulled a pistol out and killed me.
Time and place for everything.
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Justin Escajeda
Contractor · Pittsburgh, PA · Member since 2013 · 143 posts · 36 votes
12y
Im glad that many others of you have been called a slum lord too, I just say that I don't recognize that terminology. Someone else said, you WILL NEVER make everyone happy. When I first renting property, I used to serve as a slave (it seemed like) to my tenants, always trying to appease them, always trying to ensure their happiness. Ive come to realize that it is not your job to appease anyone by your actions, THEY ARE THE TENANTSAND I AM THE LANDLORD - act accordingly. Ill do my job, just don't wreck my place and pay me on time.
As far as other people out there, who cares what they say about the way you acquire a house ( I mean within some ethical limits), but that's a pretty creative way to make a contact with a distressed landlord man, great idea.
People are going to hate on you the more successful you become and if your doing something different. Case in point; I started my own masonry company when I was 29 (now 32) and quit my union job. I got (and sill do) get a lot of **** from older masons - who taught me- about what I am doing, about how I finance work out to people, etc. It used to bother me, but I feel better when I bring home double from 1 little job then they do from a entire week of work.
Bottom line is, trust your gut and never ever let anyone discourage you from trying anything just because they don't agree with it or are too scared to do it themselves.
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Pat L.
Rental Property Investor · Upstate, NY · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
12y
Have been called a slumlord & worse many times .... but I humbly refer to myself as an arbitrageur in a zero sum game .... the look on their face is priceless !!!
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Mark Brogan
Investor · Roanoke, VA · Member since 2012 · 1k+ posts · 374 votes
12y
i have been called a bottom feeder by a seller that talked to her lawyer b4 she met me
she told me her lawyer called us bottom feeders
that was funny coming from an ambulance chaser haha
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Jerry W.Pro Member
Moderator
Investor · Thermopolis, WY · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
12y
I have several options depending on the situation. One is to smile and say nothing, two is to say I do rent houses, most folks prefer that to living in a cave, and three I say funny it is usually only folks on welfare who don't pay their rent who call me that. It depends on the situation.
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Jerry W.Pro Member
Moderator
Investor · Thermopolis, WY · Member since 2012 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
12y
There truly are some bad landlords. Like other professions the bad ones can give everyone else a bad reputation. There is a local landlord in my town who has now moved who has several very bad rentals. In one bathroom where it had a leak and the floor needed replaced he told the handyman to just lay a board across the floor for them to stand on, and would not authorize him to tear out and replace the particle board flooring that crumbling. A few of his houses have become so bad that he cannot rent them, or he only gets the tenants for one month who don't pay and linger until kicked out without heat or running water.
All of my houses are nice enough for my own mother to live in.
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OP
Residential Real Estate Agent · Liberty, MO · Member since 2014 · 2 posts · 0 votes
12y
Ultimately it was just funny. I hadn't even used it for negotiating, but was simply seeing if it was a viable option. People are entertaining. It's always fun to hear stories.
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Matthew Paul
Severna Park, MD · Member since 2013 · 7k+ posts · 7k+ votes
12y
The best response ....................... So ?
1 Reply
Rick H.
Lender · Greater LA/Orange County area, CA · Member since 2012 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
12y
As the long-time leader and host of uber-exclusive Bottomfeeders conference held semi annually in Santa Barbara for well over a decade, I think I'm qualified to weigh in.
When trashblows from your neighbors yard onto yours, you pick it up. When your neighbor is having a short term problem, you do what you can to offer help or support, if wanted.
But when your neighbor has died and no one knows it, and it August and it's over 100 degrees, who is going to deal with that? Anyone anxious to enter and deal with a corpse? Who would do this, if it wasn't their job?
Who removes dead animals from the roadside, for free?
Who does the dirty jobs that no one else wants? Discovery channel's Mike Rowe has made a profitable career celebrating the people who performs the jobs that others don't want to or even refuse to do.
Someone's got to do it. The people who are willing to can charge a premium if they are smart about it.
Also, other than attorneys and staff, people found at courthouses are rarely asked to go to court to be recognized for their brilliance. I sure haven't ever received any such awards.
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Account Closed
Investor · Baltimore, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 688 votes
12y
Unless youre trying to offer fair market price instead of utilizing these peoples disgust to offer less, youre a bottom feeder.
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