What are the biggest fears of becoming a landlord?

[Thelonious Jones]

What are the biggest fears of becoming a landlord?

- Maintenance/Repairs

- Bad/Messy Tenants

- Turnover/Vacancy

-Other

Thoughts and feedback are appreciated.

[Roy N.]

@Thelonious Jones

While I do not recall any real fears about becoming a landlord, there are things about which you become more relaxed (or desensitized) as time goes on.

In the beginning, I use to get too irritated by messy/dirty/careless tenants, particularly in freshly rehabbed units.  Once I acknowledged that everyone lives differently and there's not really anything I can do about it, I let it go.

We've still have our standards, but have adopted a pay-as-you-go approach.  We inspect our units semi-annually - quarterly for our student rentals - anything damaged we address promptly and invoice the tenant if they are responsible.  If the unit is messy/dirty to the extend of being damaging or a health hazard, our lease also gives us the right to send-in a cleaning service at the tenants expense.

Your biggest concern as a landlord will be vacancy - both physical and economic - as vacancy is foregone revenue.  You combat vacancy by knowing your market; targeting the correct tenant population; insuring your units solve a problem in their life / facilitate their lifestyle; providing value for the rent dollar and managing leases.   While you will never entirely control vacancy, with a solid business plan, there is not reason to fear it.