[Erie - CO] Being a great landlord is easy? What am I missing?

Question

I've managed two rentals for the past 6 years and things have been pretty smooth sailing. I keep the units up very well, respond quickly to maintenance requests, and treat my tenants as valued guests. It only takes a min of scrolling through the sub to find that it can be very different.

I've thought of trying to expand my rentals, or do something else in the realm of property management, but don't want to get blindsided by something I have not seen.

How does the landlord-tenant relationship turn sour? What can be done to prevent or fix it when it does?

James Carlson · Answer

Great question.

A few ways I see it go wrong for us and for some of our STR and MTR clients here in Colorado. (Not an exhaustive list, I'm sure.)

VettingThe best offense is a good defense. (Sorry, sports cliche.) Best way to avoid problems with tenants is to get good tenants up front. Back ground checks, financials checks, references checks. Sounds like you've done a good job of this. Also, set your standards for credit scores and other metrics and don't waiver.

Tenant treatmentLove that you said you treat your tenants as valued guests. Too many tenant-haters on BP, in my opinion. They are paying your damn bills. I am grateful to be in a privileged position to have rentals at all. In my experience if you treat them with respect and kindness and give in on easy requests, you'll curry favor and avoid future problems.

Pushing the priceThis may be more about short-term rentals and midterm rentals, but I think trying to squeeze out the most of a rental can lead to guest/tenant expectations that lead to conflicts.

Wesley W. · Answer

What @James Carlson said can minimize any problems, but to be honest you have an extremely small sample size.  If you grow your portfolio, you will eventually encounter difficulties like you read on here.  Many of the folks post on BP looking for advice on their challenges, not to boast about their successes, you it creates the illusion that most of landlording is fraught with problems.  Kinda like the opposite of "your Facebook life."

Steve K. · Answer

A few things: I'm guessing in addition to the small sample size, your two rentals are also in desirable locations and either Class A or Class B properties? Probably SFR's in CO?

We've had a range of different class properties in our portfolio at different times and I can tell you that the experience of managing a Class A or B SFR in the Front Range is nothing compared to managing a Class C or D MF building, or even a SFR in a bad location.

Also if you've been doing it for the past 6 years, the market has been in your favor in a big way. Operating when values and rents are going down and tenants are having a hard time paying their rent is quite a different experience.

Drew Sygit · Answer

Do you also get along easily with ALL your family members?

How about friends?

Neighbors?

Coworkers?

If you interact with enough people, you'll eventually encounter someone you can't make happy.

Erin Spradlin · Answer

EDIT: I wrote from my wife's computer, so it posted as her.

No offense taken, and no, I dont use AI. I was a journalist for years before becoming a realtor. I just usually think in headings.

Ryan Denman · Answer

@James Carlson take no offense at the following question...but do you use AI to write your posts?  Bold formatting is something that my experimental post writing always has.  If you do use AI to help write your posts, how do you train it to speak in you vernacular?

Colleen F. · Answer

@Ryan Denman  Lots of reasons, not all in your power to change.

Things you can't change: the relationship goes sour because the tenants life goes south and they are just mad at everyone. They lose a job, health turns south etc. Your repairs take more time than they think they should or multiple repairs hit at once.        You can fix on time, you can be responsive but the fact is repairs can take time.   So not every time it goes south can it be prevented.    The electric got knocked off my building and I gave the tenants a concession, I didn't have to, it wasn't my fault but hey after 3 electric free days I did.  for some that kept it good, for some they still felt I should have done more.

Chase Busick · Answer

Always maintaining good communication with the tenants, and following your standards during the leasing is very important to ensure that you have a smooth sailing ship.

I like @James Carlson's post & summarized it very well.

I think maintaining a good sense of boundaries are always good too. Getting referrals from your prior tenants can always help & decrease the amount of time in between vacancies.

Usually situations can get sour when things go neglected, handled wrong, bad communication through a particular situation, etc. I think staying on top of inspections, whether quarterly, semi annual or annual is a great way to maintain the property. You can follow the Landlord on Autopilot book tips & tricks. Usually if something turns bad, being empathetic & understanding is great.

If you are thinking about expanding, eventually you will probably run into leasing issues eventually. Always try to stay consistent with all marketing, screening, processes & following the standard for fair housing/equal opportunity to try not to discriminate.

Adam Bartomeo · Answer

- Treat them fairly and have a clear lease that spells out both the tenant and landlords obligations.

- Fix maintenance concerns properly and in a timely manner

- Always act courteously and kindly no matter the tenants disposition

Andrew Syrios · Answer

They're unlikely to turn sour if you do the things you've mentioned (which not everyone does unfortunately). Still, if someone stops paying or communicating, evictions can be very messy. Or if a tenant damages a property and doesn't want to pay or a maintenance job goes sideways, these can all be huge headaches.

But I think it can really get tough mentally as you start to scale. That's when you have to rely on others to get the job done and sometimes have arguments with tenants or contractors without having been there. But if you are respectful, rent out good properties and respond to maintenance orders quickly, most of the time, it will be smooth sailing as you say.

[Erie - CO] Being a great landlord is easy? What am I missing?

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