{"id":45182,"date":"2013-07-01T10:19:59","date_gmt":"2013-07-01T16:19:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/renewsblog\/?p=45182"},"modified":"2021-03-16T10:08:23","modified_gmt":"2021-03-16T16:08:23","slug":"2013-07-01-landlord-tenant-relationship-inherently-adversarial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/2013-07-01-landlord-tenant-relationship-inherently-adversarial","title":{"rendered":"Five Ways to Eliminate Most Landlord\/Tenant Adversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Several years ago when I was just starting out as a real estate investor, I remember talking with another much more experienced investor at one of our local reia group<\/a> meetings.\u00a0 A portion of that conversation has always stuck with me.\u00a0 He stated that \u201cThe Landlord\/tenant relationship is an inherently adversarial one and you have to treat it as such.\u201d\u00a0 Many years ago, I believed what the more experienced investor said.\u00a0 Today, after many years of experience under my belt, I reflect back and wonder if that is truly the case.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s first think about that landlord\/tenant relationship.\u00a0 You as the landlord are providing a good and a service.\u00a0\u00a0 The tenant is paying you for that good and service according to the terms of a signed contract, the lease.\u00a0 You are responsible for providing a living space and services as spelled out in the lease.\u00a0 In one sense, tenants are our customers.\u00a0 But they are also a bit more than that.\u00a0 They are also sort of trustees, holding our property in trust.\u00a0 And as trustees they have a certain responsibility to return the property entrusted to them in good condition.<\/p>\n

This relationship certainly has the potential to be adversarial.\u00a0 Adversity is stressful and not at all a good business practice.\u00a0 So, I try my best to avoid adversity.\u00a0 We have worked hard over the years in our business to reduce adversity in this relationship. \u00a0These five techniques have worked well for us.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Set the tone upfront<\/strong>.\u00a0 Be professional, polite and respectful towards your potential tenants.<\/li>\n
  2. Screen your tenants<\/a>.\u00a0 Not only with credit and background checks but also listen to and observe how they act.\u00a0 Are they rude and obnoxious, or are they respectful and polite. \u00a0Do they show up on time for appointments?\u00a0 If not, even if all else is perfect, consider not renting to them.\u00a0 Remember, there is no protected class for jerks. For more information, check out our Ultimate Guide to Tenant Screening!<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. If you decide to lease to an applicant, clearly spell out your lease terms and house rules.\u00a0 Take the time to go over these documents with your tenants line by line.\u00a0 Yes, actually read the lease to your tenants so they see and hear what is expected and what will and will not be tolerated.<\/li>\n
  4. Respond to repair requests and other tenant issues quickly and professionally.\u00a0 Even if it is just a text message.\u00a0 It lets the tenant know they have been heard, which itself can go a long way to reducing adversity.\u00a0 Unresponsiveness by the landlord is perhaps the number one complaint by tenants.\u00a0 By not responding, you also allow the tenant to make up all sorts of responses in their minds such as \u201cWell if he does not care about me, I do not care about this property.\u201d\u00a0 It can quickly go downhill from there.<\/li>\n
  5. Know when to say when.\u00a0 Let them know you do not do drama<\/a> and expect them to act like adults and settle differences like adults.\u00a0 Sometimes you just have to say no and not get involved.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So there you have it.\u00a0 Five ways to reduce if not almost eliminate most landlord\/tenant adversity.\u00a0 Is the relationship inherently adversarial?\u00a0 I don\u2019t think so, but it can become that way if the landlord manages things poorly.\u00a0 Plus, if you go into a relationship expecting adversity, I think you are going to find it. \u00a0What do you think?<\/p>\n

    Photo: david_shankbone<\/a> <\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Several years ago when I was just starting out as a real estate investor, I remember talking with another much more experienced investor at one of our local reia group […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":726,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5183],"tags":[190,1606,58,59,3073,790,256],"class_list":["post-45182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-landlording","tag-landlord","tag-landlording","tag-real-estate","tag-real-estate-investing","tag-rental-properties","tag-rental-property","tag-tenants"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/726"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45182\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}