Rio Rancho, NM · Member since 2016 · 57 posts · 41 votes
I know probably some of you actually have. What's a typical year like in the landlord-tenant relationship, though? Do you expect two or three issues per tenant a year or two or three a month? A week?
Thanks for any replies to my first post on BiggerPockets.
I have a protective clause in my lease that makes clogged toilets the tenant's issue, not mine, unless it is an issue with the pipes in the home (which is very rare). The exact wording of the clause is "Landlord shall keep the plumbing in working condition, however, Landlord is not responsible for sinks, bathtubs, water basins, or toilets that have been clogged by Tenant’s or Tenant’s guests use. Tenant shall immediately repair any clogged sinks, baths, or toilets and notify Landlord of such clogging and repair.
I have my phone on automatic "do not disturb" between the hours on 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in general so I will not hear any communication between those hours. If there is an emergency, that is what "911" is for, otherwise, it can wait until normal hours. I am very good about communicating with them though during normal hours (which to me is between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.). I will answer and text promptly to make sure they know their concerns are addressed.
It really depends on the property, things will come up and as long as they are legitimate you fix them. Typically 2-3 things a year with usually a small list of things that can wait and all be done at once.
I did receive a call about midnight on overflowing septic backing up into the house. Most months are non-eventful. It is the PITA tenant, the evictions, and slow payers that really are an aggravation.
@Account Closed I can't say that I've ever gotten calls at 3AM, but I have got calls about septic systems when I'm at nephews birthday parties or text messages while I'm on vacation. It is inconvenient, but ultimately I've saved a lot of money by dealing with these issues myself instead of hiring a PM. You should note that I currently only have 4 doors so as you scale up your chances of a 3AM phone call increase.
I should add that my rentals have working class people that are reasonable to deal with. My dad had a larger apartment building back in St. Louis with low-income tenants and he got some stupid calls. I remember one about a clogged sink drain that ended up being spaghetti caught is the p-trap, so stupid, such a waist or time.
I also wonder about this sometimes. I'm sure it depends on the area and the quality of the property and the tenants it attracts. For example, my house is in an "A" neighborhood and recently renovated with high end finishes. It could cash flow $600 a month if I were to rent it. Everything is pretty much brand new so it shouldn't require any CapEx for a while. I'm wondering if high end tenants can also be picky and needy in similar ways that a "C" area tenant could be.
We have properties with and without septic systems in Cape Coral. In a lot of areas, if you want to buy there you have no choice. I prefer city water/sewer but you take what you can get. Over 1/2 of mine are on septic but the city is coming in with water/sewer. Sounds great huh! Yes..for only about 22K assessed to each owner! This will only cost me about 110K for those.
I should add that my rentals have working class people that are reasonable to deal with...
Ah, good point. Are working class people more likely to handle a problem on their own. I would imagine so. I'm working class and I wouldn't call if it was something simple like a clogged toilet, but I can imagine if one were paying $3000/month, one might be inclined to call for every little thing.
Well, referring to our area, yes we are barely above sea level. New building codes require properties to be elevated before building. Good idea to buy here or not? Everyone has to make their own decision. Am I going to let a septic system keep me from buying? Not if the deal makes sense.
I recently dealt with a 5am call from a 3rd floor tenant in a building in which the roof was torn off in a storm. They were there with the fire department and everyone with water pouring in through the smoke alarms and lights in the ceiling. That was a fun day....landlording is not the horror stories those that have never done it make it out to be, nor is it a sit back and simply collect checks and get rich game that tenants think it is. It is what it is.
My very first tenants called us at 2 am saying they had no hot water when they tried to take a shower. I was so new at the rental game I didn't ask who the heck takes a shower at 2 am but dragged Bill out of bed and went over there (in a cold January rain) to GUESS that a water line might have broken under the house (the pilot light on the gas hot water heater was lit and I could hear water running out of it).
No way were we going to crawl under the house at that time of night to check this out. Tenants were all worried about the "cost" of water being lost. I shut the water off at the street, turned the gas off at the water heater and left them with 5 gallons of water I had brought until we got a plumber over early the next day to do the repairs.
I have had 1 rental for $3,000 per month, my house, when I moved to Europe. They were high-end clients and they knew the law and had lawyers to make things difficult. They also expect everything to be catered to them. They broke my glass dining room table and threatened to sue me? Go figure. I did this for 2 years in a row, only for seasonal rental for 4 months, each. I stopped after the 2nd season and let the house sit vacant rather than put up with this non-sense.
I have had 6 houses with average working class clients and they will just up and leave in the middle of the night without any notice, and then want their security deposit back, even to the point of writing to the Real Commission. They even painted the interior pink without informing me. What a mess.
As you mentioned, being a landlord is not for the faint of heart. You have to look to the long-game vs. the short game.
I have a protective clause in my lease that makes clogged toilets the tenant's issue, not mine, unless it is an issue with the pipes in the home (which is very rare). The exact wording of the clause is "Landlord shall keep the plumbing in working condition, however, Landlord is not responsible for sinks, bathtubs, water basins, or toilets that have been clogged by Tenant’s or Tenant’s guests use. Tenant shall immediately repair any clogged sinks, baths, or toilets and notify Landlord of such clogging and repair.
I have my phone on automatic "do not disturb" between the hours on 10:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. in general so I will not hear any communication between those hours. If there is an emergency, that is what "911" is for, otherwise, it can wait until normal hours. I am very good about communicating with them though during normal hours (which to me is between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.). I will answer and text promptly to make sure they know their concerns are addressed.
I thought of another one, again on my dad's old building. While he was out of town my mom got a call around 9PM from a tenant claiming the electricity wasn't working in the unit. Minutes before sending out a union electrician that lived down the street it's determined that the tenant hadn't paid the power bill......
I had a call around 2am that one of my apartments was burning down.
That's pretty much been it, i'll get texts every so often about crap breaking, but for the most part it's pretty rare because we try to go in and fix whatever needs done BEFORE we rent them out, so ongoing maintenance calls are pretty rare.
I find that most of the clogged drain, no AC/heat, and water leak calls occur around Friday at 5-6pm. The tenants don't have my number so it's a problem for my maintenance guy to sort out, he uses his discretion whether those items can wait or not.
I think this whole 3am toilet fixing cliche was created by people that don't invest in RE in order for them to justify to themselves why they don't invest in RE and to discourage others that say they want to invest in RE.
Not saying that it will never happen because it absolutely can but it's not like you're going to get a call once a month that a toilet is leaking at 3am, and if you do-time to change out the toilet.
I have one door and my primary residence that I rent out the upstairs.
In my rental over the last year I have had the following issues/calls:
In the first week (when I think you will get the most calls from tenants):
After that I had 2 calls over the course of the year:
The AC unit wasn't draining properly and was leaking out into the house. Caused minimal floor damage and cost $50 to fix. Paid a handyman.
Other call was the heat being out. Called HVAC service and they fixed it same day for free.
In my personal residence I have made tons of upgrades, but the only 2 things that have ever needed fixing was a dripping shower. The mechanism needed to be replaced and cost $40 to fix. Actually just 2 days ago my water heater gave out. It was 15 years old so I was waiting for that to happen any day. That cost $650. Installed it myself.
Things breaking and needing fixing is part of our business. When getting into RE I think you need to accept that things are going to break, upgrades are going to be needed (capex), and tenants won't always pay on time. It doesn't change the fact that RE is the best investment class available. (in my opinion)
I have a protective clause in my lease that makes clogged toilets the tenant's issue, not mine...
This seems like a good way to handle it. I'm surprised it seems so uncommon.
I have a bigger problem with bugs rather than toilets. I have fixed one toilet that legitimately needed repair, not just clogged.
Being a landlord is what you make of it.
If you buy rentals in bad condition, in bad neighborhoods, don't screen tenants before leasing to them, and don't proactively build a good working relationship with your tenants, you're probably going to have a bad experience.
If you buy good rentals, in good neighborhoods, screen tenants, and are genuinely interested in providing them with a good living experience, you'll get fewer complaints.
A clogged toilet is a very minor problem, and everyone knows it has the same easy solution - get a plunger and go to town.
A tenant is more likely to be happy, flexible, and proactive with repairs if they think of the house as "theirs" rather than "yours."