Positive virtues of being a Landlord?

Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes

Jumping off from another thread where a young man is facing negativity and hate from his lefty friends over his decision to become a landlord. Landlords get a negative reputation and backlash constantly, I rarely see anyone list the positives...

So I thought I'd ask y'all...what do you see as the positive things that a landlord does and provides to the community? Here goes:

1) A landlord takes the risk to acquire a property..it may or may not work out, there are liability issues, etc.

2) A landlord employees many people to acquire, repair and manage properties...from Realtors to Lenders to Contractors

3) Sounds obvious, but a landlord provides a safe, secure place for someone else to live.

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Bjorn AhlbladPro Member

Investor · Shelton, WA · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 6k+ votes

One more! My tenants love me and I love them right back!

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Shiela R.
Investor · Boulder, CO · Member since 2017 · 304 posts · 347 votes
4y
Interesting @Bruce Woodruff. I agree with your 3 reasons and would like to add:
4) A landlord improves the communities they invest in. From home values to safety. I've received multiple thank you notes from neighbors who live next to my properties.
4 Reply
Bruce WoodruffPro Member
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Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
4y
Quote from @Shiela R.:

Interesting @Bruce Woodruff. I agree with your 3 reasons and would like to add:
4) A landlord improves the communities they invest in. From home values to safety. I've received multiple thank you notes from neighbors who live next to my properties.
Good point! I've also always gotten compliments and praise for my houses after I 'rescue' them....
1 Reply
Paul De Luca
Real Estate Agent · Chicago, IL · Member since 2018 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
@Bruce Woodruff
You listed pretty much all of them. You're providing real, tangible value to people. Competition among landlords promotes higher quality housing at more affordable prices for tenants.So tenants actually benefit from there being more landlords because there are more options.
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Bjorn AhlbladPro Member
Investor · Shelton, WA · Member since 2017 · 6k+ posts · 6k+ votes
4y
One more! My tenants love me and I love them right back!
4 Reply
Galen Ikonomov
Member since 2021 · 256 posts · 213 votes
4y
Shiela added the last one that was missing. You pretty much listed all the BIG ones and if something to be added it fall into the 4 reasons already provided.
I assume whoever has friends with "victims" mindset, he/she could look for new ones.
1 Reply
Jonathan R McLaughlin
Rental Property Investor · Boston, Massachusetts (MA) · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
4y
@Bruce Woodruff
In addition to above,
1)you may face external challenges, like any business, but ultimately you are the final decision maker. Running your own business is satisfying.
2) you can determine or at least significantly influence the integrity and level of quality with which you and your vendors and others operate. Work for an organization and those determinations are often made by others
3) it’s one of the few professions where you have to/can deal with everyone from high finance types to craftspeople to tenants with a wide variety of backgrounds. You can challenge your assumptions and broaden your world.
4) deep immersion in the markets and dynamics of particular neighborhoods
1 Reply
Bruce WoodruffPro Member
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Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
4y
@Jonathan R McLaughlin
True all, but I was thinking more about how we benefit the community....
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Jonathan R McLaughlin
Rental Property Investor · Boston, Massachusetts (MA) · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
4y
@Bruce Woodruff was just realizing I misread the question!
I still think the quality issue is a big one.
Local control—buy local has caught on for a reason. People who invest in the community and who earn their living from the community have more incentive to make it work. Doesn’t always work, there are places that work better than others but id take my chances on the local landlords rather than blackrock for instance
The push towards home ownership has been a part of creating the housing crises, taking many places off the market. For the 46% of Americans (and rising) who don’t own a home a decent place to live depends on the housing stock of landlords.
Town laws and zoning and many other subtle things are designed to benefit homeowners, landlords can provide a voice for the rest of the people in town discussions
Young people—you don’t wanna buy a house yet, you have a number of job choices, don’t wanna be tied down. Show me a town with no rental stock and I’ll show you a place soon to be incapable of supporting its basic infrastructure as the community ages
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JD MartinBusiness Member
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Rock Star Extraordinaire · Northeast, TN · Member since 2015 · 10k+ posts · 16k+ votes
4y
Landlords stabilize the housing stock in the communities in which they purchase because they have the resources to maintain housing stock, especially in C class housing which is always on the bubble - either about to fall into D class housing or be improved into B class housing.
Landlords stabilize the tax rolls of communities by keeping properties from declining precipitously in value.
Landlords improve the diversity of upper-class neighborhoods by providing a path to residency for those who otherwise couldn't afford to purchase in those neighborhoods.
Those are just 3 off the top of my head. And it's not just lefties that bash landlords.
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Russ B.
Investor · Cleveland, OH · Member since 2017 · 319 posts · 330 votes
4y
Landlords provide housing to people, which is one of the most fundamental needs in life.
Sure, we want to make money doing it, but so does everybody else that goes to work in the morning.
3 Reply
Sergey A. Petrov
Real Estate Consultant · Seattle, WA · Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 784 votes
4y
How about helping renters understand the value of property ownership through active communication and feedback on maintenance and other requests? Tenant says “I’d like this thing”. You say “ok but that costs money and doesn’t affect the habitability of the property so it can be done but we have to talk about how it gets paid for”. Learning the value of money vs “things” that are “musts” and “nice to have”
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Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
4y
If it weren't for Landlords, renters wouldn't have a place to live.
Most Landlords are good, honest people trying to provide quality housing for a fair price. Most renters are good, honest people trying to pay the rent and live their lives.
It's the minority that abuse the relationship.
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Greg WeikBusiness Member
Property Manager · Denver, CO · Member since 2020 · 263 posts · 327 votes
4y
Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Jumping off from another thread where a young man is facing negativity and hate from his lefty friends over his decision to become a landlord. Landlords get a negative reputation and backlash constantly, I rarely see anyone list the positives...
So I thought I'd ask y'all...what do you see as the positive things that a landlord does and provides to the community? Here goes:
1) A landlord takes the risk to acquire a property..it may or may not work out, there are liability issues, etc.
2) A landlord employees many people to acquire, repair and manage properties...from Realtors to Lenders to Contractors
3) Sounds obvious, but a landlord provides a safe, secure place for someone else to live.

@Bruce Woodruff The answers on here are good, but society views lawyers similar to how they see landlords. Much of society has a general sense of disdain towards both, because they see them as taking advantage of people who don't have the tools or resources to fight against them. If we're being honest, this perception is often accurate. Most of the negativity towards landlords is based on a sense of inequity.

I've owned a property management company for 15 years. In that time, we've had many landlords show up as clients who were the very definition of slumlords. They hired us (or in some cases, we didn't let them hire us) thinking we would continue their abysmal operation in the same manner. We've had clients or would-be clients bring us run-down properties inside and out. These landlords do the bare legal minimum with their rentals just to avoid getting sued. This type of landlord has no interest in paying a professional to fix an issue that requires a professional (such as serious electrical issues.) They're the type of landlord that "finds a guy" or "knows a guy."

Some of those landlords have been shown the light by RES, and some have been shown the door. The smarter landlords have seen that spending money to make money is indeed a great strategy when executed well. We've convinced many of these types of landlords that by investing in their property, we make them a lot more money over the long term. Better tenants, less turnover, higher rents, better move-outs, etc.  Many of those landlords, however, didn't cut it in the RES system, and they're out there in the world now, being the slumlords they always wanted to be.

But... just like lawyers, it's not right to paint an entire industry with a broad brush. There are always good ones, not-so-good ones, and objectively bad ones. The overall negativity towards landlords is unfortunate, but it's not likely to change. The best we can do in our little slice of the world is to try to move the needle in a positive direction by being ethical, and professional, and by keeping our properties in better condition than is required.
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Adam Martin
Rental Property Investor · Member since 2020 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
This one depends on where you are coming from but there is a stigma that landlords and REITS are driving up real estate prices making them unaffordable. If you are a first time homebuyer this may not be great for you. If you are looking to upgrade arguably you should be fairly neutral since you may feel you are overpaying however you are also overcharging so a break even minus the increasing interest rates we have no control over. If on the other hand you are a nice single little old lady who is looking to sell her house to move into assisted living the increase in property values may be the difference between living your final years in comfort vs. being kept alive in a place nobody would want to live. Perspective is everything.
Lets also not forget that everyone has different underwriting requirements and some of us are more lenient than a bank would be for a sale. Even assuming the person had the cash but not the credit without us where would they live.
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Bruce WoodruffPro Member
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Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
4y
Quote from @Greg Weik:

I do not agree at all that this perception is accurate regarding the average landlord.
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Henry T.
Member since 2022 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
4y
Aside from the risk we take, If there were no landlords (to pay all those property taxes) every state government and school system would collapse. In a nutshell, we save the world! ;) So BIG pat yourself on the back people.
1 Reply
Greg WeikBusiness Member
Property Manager · Denver, CO · Member since 2020 · 263 posts · 327 votes
4y
Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Greg Weik:

I do not agree at all that this perception is accurate regarding the average landlord.

How many landlords do you know?
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Bruce WoodruffPro Member
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Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
4y
Quote from @Greg Weik:

Quote from @Bruce Woodruff:

Quote from @Greg Weik:

I do not agree at all that this perception is accurate regarding the average landlord.

How many landlords do you know?

Lots. Hundreds over the years.....Never met a true slumlord, but then I don't associate with those kind of people...
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Billy Daniel
Rental Property Investor · Russellville, AR · Member since 2014 · 684 posts · 509 votes
4y
This argument always tires me. Someone who takes the position that "all landlords are evil" is largely ignorant of what it means to be a landlord. I bought 2 houses last year that were unlivable eyesores. They are now clean, updated, and occupied with great tenants (neighbors). But ok, I'm evil because I cleaned up and rehabbed the drug house.....
1 Reply
Drew SygitBusiness Member
Property Manager · Royal Oak, MI · Member since 2012 · 12k+ posts · 9k+ votes
4y
@Bruce Woodruff Interesting topic.
During 2008-2010 Housing Crash, landlords were often the only ones buying foreclosures! They fixed them up and rented them out paying property taxes and more for their communities.
Landlords get a bad rep, mostly because of media sensationalism. Class C & D tenants trash their homes and don't pay rent, yet everyone expects that landlords involved to keep the affected properties in tip-top shape.
Slumtenants deserve slumlords, but no one wants to understand that!
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Greg M.
Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 5k+ votes
4y
To the anti-landlord crowd, every positive will fall on deaf ears. The (mainly younger) people today desperately need a villain to blame for their lack of success/failures. Their inability to accept differing opinions and lack of real world education only magnifies this.
Landlords offer mobility. People can easily move where there is a better job/life opportunity.
They allow people to start their adult life. Could you imagine people living with their parents until they could afford a home because there were no rentals?
Landlords create housing. Places are built because renting them produces a return on investment that meets the investors requirement. Building for sale does not meet the requirement or they would be build for sale.
They provide housing for people who would not be able to buy any home due to poor life decisions.
They allow people to live in areas that they could never afford to buy in.
Provide shorter-term housing for life advancements, like going away for college or training.
They provide housing for people who don't want to take on the risks and responsibilities associated with owning a home.
They provide safe places. I bet your rentals have had their smoke detector batteries changed more often that your home.
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Bruce WoodruffPro Member
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Contractor/Investor/Consultant · San Diego / Phoenix · Member since 2021 · 12k+ posts · 15k+ votes
4y
@Greg M. Great points as usual. I was just getting tired of being bashed as a landlord, nice to hear some positives...!
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Ace Goodrich
Phoenix Metro, South Florida · Member since 2022 · 37 posts · 19 votes
3y
Quote from @Jonathan R McLaughlin:

@Bruce Woodruff
In addition to above,
1)you may face external challenges, like any business, but ultimately you are the final decision maker. Running your own business is satisfying.
2) you can determine or at least significantly influence the integrity and level of quality with which you and your vendors and others operate. Work for an organization and those determinations are often made by others
3) it’s one of the few professions where you have to/can deal with everyone from high finance types to craftspeople to tenants with a wide variety of backgrounds. You can challenge your assumptions and broaden your world.
4) deep immersion in the markets and dynamics of particular neighborhoods

these are valuable points !
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