TENANTS FROM HELL #5

Sinks from hell.

Running one of the largest rental portfolios in the Cleveland, Ohio area I have managed 1,000's of properties & dealt with countless tenants. In short, I have seen it all. From death threats to tenants being murdered to overdose to theft, property damage, fire, destruction, damage & everything else in between.

The purpose of this blog is to peel back the curtain on the Property Management Business and show you some of the real life things that have happened to me or members of my company 1st hand. It's not always sunshine & rainbows. If you have the stomach for it, it's a very rewarding business but sometimes it can be scary, disturbing, challenging & sometimes down right disgusting.

ENJOY!

____

The situation:

Think about your sink at home. Could you ever imagine having a sink at your house that looked like these sinks from hell? Or imagine you went to a friend house & had to use the bathroom. You walk in, turn on the light & are hit with the unforgettable image of a sink from hell. Ya see, Tenants from hell have a VERY different outlook on sink cleanliness then the rest of us do. 😷😷😷🤢🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮 #TenantsFromHell

Jim you keep doing these post like this and NO ONE is going to buy rentals ever again LOL

but seriously I like that you balance out all the blue sky and bring reality to the equation.

buying rentals is not a set it and forget investment no matter what.

can be with really special A class to strong B class but no way with blue collar 800 to 1000 dollar tenants.. don't care where how or what.. they are all people. some are pigs some are clean and neat some in the middle and you can't tell with an application .

I suspect if you took the time to go check out their automobile before you rented to them.. or did a sneak pop in on where they are living now before they move into yours you might catch the pigs before they move into your freshly rehabbed home.

@James Wise Oh man, that is horrible, I can only imagine the smell. Where there any red flags on their application?

Originally posted by @Jay Hinrichs :

Jim you keep doing these post like this and NO ONE is going to buy rentals ever again LOL

but seriously I like that you balance out all the blue sky and bring reality to the equation.

buying rentals is not a set it and forget investment no matter what.

can be with really special A class to strong B class but no way with blue collar 800 to 1000 dollar tenants.. don't care where how or what.. they are all people. some are pigs some are clean and neat some in the middle and you can't tell with an application .

I suspect if you took the time to go check out their automobile before you rented to them.. or did a sneak pop in on where they are living now before they move into yours you might catch the pigs before they move into your freshly rehabbed home.

Ehh, I'm the #1 listing agent of the stuff. Don't need to chase bees when you've already got the hive lol.  It's like you say when we see a bunch of newbies bashing their property manager's in the forums. The assets, market & tenant base are going remain the same. So unless your Property Manager is doing something egregious the same issues will rear their head from time to time as they are simply part of the business.

Originally posted by @Sean Carroll :

@James Wise Oh man, that is horrible, I can only imagine the smell. Where there any red flags on their application?

 Truth be told the business is a little too large for me to know that information off the top of my head for these particular ones. The maintenance staff goes out to these properties daily & they send them in to the office staff to catalog, send to owners, make formal estimates, save for evidence in court etc.... The office staff saves the special ones for me to blog about. We have a back log of ugly sinks, hence the post you see today. We also have tubs, toilets, kitchens etc all coming down the pipeline.  

Sometimes when there is a particularly horrible tenant I'll write about their specific story but not the case here. Also worth noting that our business we are taking on a lot of problem properties. The overwhelming majority of savagery that we see is typically from inherited tenants. Think about it, if everything was running smooth as ice most folks wouldn't need to pick up the phone & call us.

This kind of stuff really needs to be talked about out in the open a lot more then it is. Many people entering this business would have no idea that there are tons of people out there in the world living this way. I see it with my employees all the time. The 1st couple times an office staffer fresh out of college sees some of these photos or hears the story about what's going on they have this look of shock & confusion on their faces. Likewise the 1st time a new investor client sees this stuff they have a healthy level of shock & disbelief as well. Case & point it's a numbers game. One day; no matter who you are, your number is going to be called.

I am gonna guess that these properties are not  the most desirable  part of town ?    ( just by noticing the background )

Originally posted by @Matthew Paul :

I am gonna guess that these properties are not  the most desirable  part of town ?    ( just by noticing the background )

 C & D class

@James Wise thats where the cash flow is , and the headaches 

I have seen alot. I use to own a housekeeping business and the move out cleanings were insane.  The smells and the layers of dirt and trash that is left by some tenants are very jaw dropping. I have also been in hoarder homes. When you think that you have seen the worst of it all, something more mind blowing arises.

Originally posted by @Philissa Gilliard :

I have seen alot. I use to own a housekeeping business and the move out cleanings were insane.  The smells and the layers of dirt and trash that is left by some tenants are very jaw dropping. I have also been in hoarder homes. When you think that you have seen the worst of it all, something more mind blowing arises.

 Amen. 👊 keep hustle going though. It's worth it in the end.

I'm hoping I dont find one of those messes in my brewing military tenant from hell - Those sinks are pretty disgusting. :D

www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/549239-mili...

Originally posted by @Shane H. :

I'm hoping I dont find one of those messes in my brewing military tenant from hell - Those sinks are pretty disgusting. :D

www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/549239-mili...

 Gotta take it all in stride. One day you will get one of these messes, but you'll get through it.

Don't you guys buy insurance against any situation like this?

Originally posted by @Mark Pitt :

Don't you guys buy insurance against any situation like this?

 Not sure what exactly what you mean by that.

Are you asking if an insurance policy would cover the cost of these types of things? Or if you can ensure that things like this won't happen?

Originally posted by @James Wise :

Originally posted by @Mark Pitt:

Don't you guys buy insurance against any situation like this?

 Not sure what exactly what you mean by that.

Are you asking if an insurance policy would cover the cost of these types of things? Or if you can ensure that things like this won't happen?

So to cover if something like this happens. 

Originally posted by @Mark Pitt :

Originally posted by @James Wise:

Originally posted by @Mark Pitt:

Don't you guys buy insurance against any situation like this?

 Not sure what exactly what you mean by that.

Are you asking if an insurance policy would cover the cost of these types of things? Or if you can ensure that things like this won't happen?

So to cover if something like this happens. 

 No. Stuff like this comes right out of the landlord's pocket.

Originally posted by @James Wise :

Originally posted by @Mark Pitt:

Originally posted by @James Wise:

Originally posted by @Mark Pitt:

Don't you guys buy insurance against any situation like this?

 Not sure what exactly what you mean by that.

Are you asking if an insurance policy would cover the cost of these types of things? Or if you can ensure that things like this won't happen?

So to cover if something like this happens. 

 No. Stuff like this comes right out of the landlord's pocket.

Thant's no fun is it. So it's so important to pre-screen tenants from all angles. I am curious to know how you do that.

Before I ever bought my own property, I would do independent work for some PM’s I know personally. Most of my calls were “shovel outs,” and they were literally what they sound like. Seen lots of stuff like this. When I bought my house hack duplex, one side looked very close to some of these pictures, and the rest of the house matched. Friends would come over to see our “new house” and be shocked. I told them it was relatively mild compared to some stuff I’d seen doing work for the PM. I figured that if the (literally) ugly side of investing didn’t scare me, I could do this thing. I have no unrealistic rosy expectations, and reserves prepared for my day of this. Thanks for the post and thread, they are eye-opening and entertaining even.

@James Wise ,

I'm not sure if it just shows how a few years in the industry jades you, but with 75% of them, i thought "Not that bad, just need some good bleach and a hefty scrub brush!"  Although I will add... pictures don't capture smell, and that can make it unbearable!!        

I always appreciate when people talk about this side, because it happens!    People are so quick to say "slumlord" when they see bad conditions like this... but the truth is, sometimes people are just gross and messy and cause the issue! 

That is awesomely disgusting. All part of the fun of investing......’one man’s plunger is another man’s etc’

Originally posted by @Jonathan Boyd :

Before I ever bought my own property, I would do independent work for some PM’s I know personally. Most of my calls were “shovel outs,” and they were literally what they sound like. Seen lots of stuff like this. When I bought my house hack duplex, one side looked very close to some of these pictures, and the rest of the house matched. Friends would come over to see our “new house” and be shocked. I told them it was relatively mild compared to some stuff I’d seen doing work for the PM. I figured that if the (literally) ugly side of investing didn’t scare me, I could do this thing. I have no unrealistic rosy expectations, and reserves prepared for my day of this. Thanks for the post and thread, they are eye-opening and entertaining even.

 Absolutely. That's the thing, the stuff isn't that bad. You CAN & WILL get through it. If it was easy everybody would be a millionaire real estate investor.

@James Wise I am a property manager in Connecticut, you should do the refrigerators next! I love when the tenant complains about the refrigerators and how they don't work or there is something wrong with it. But when you go over there, they have food busting out of the refrigerator or the thermostat turned all the way up freezing all of the food. 

I especially love the move out, I've had tenants turn the refrigerator completely off. And when you go to the property and open up the refrigerator it smells so horrible. Tenants are fun, what I have learned throughout the years is that you really have to spell out the process to the tenants and in some cases give them tough love. 

Some, you have to treat them as if they were your children and just educate them, hold their hand a little bit until they get the process down packed. and if they can't then don't renew their lease/ worst case scenario evict based on failure to follow agreed upon lease/policy of the building. I am pretty strict on our policies and its because if you allow one tenant to get away with certain things then their neighbori will also try the same thing. 

Long story short, hold the tenant accountable and let them know what your expectations are. I also frequent the properties to check up on the property and sometimes they allow me to go in and check out their apartments as well. If I see something out of the usual, I simply ask them to clean it up. 

Originally posted by @Melissa Gittens :

@James Wise I am a property manager in Connecticut, you should do the refrigerators next! I love when the tenant complains about the refrigerators and how they don't work or there is something wrong with it. But when you go over there, they have food busting out of the refrigerator or the thermostat turned all the way up freezing all of the food. 

I especially love the move out, I've had tenants turn the refrigerator completely off. And when you go to the property and open up the refrigerator it smells so horrible. Tenants are fun, what I have learned throughout the years is that you really have to spell out the process to the tenants and in some cases give them tough love. 

Some, you have to treat them as if they were your children and just educate them, hold their hand a little bit until they get the process down packed. and if they can't then don't renew their lease/ worst case scenario evict based on failure to follow agreed upon lease/policy of the building. I am pretty strict on our policies and its because if you allow one tenant to get away with certain things then their neighbori will also try the same thing. 

Long story short, hold the tenant accountable and let them know what your expectations are. I also frequent the properties to check up on the property and sometimes they allow me to go in and check out their apartments as well. If I see something out of the usual, I simply ask them to clean it up. 

 Ask & you shall receive. I will make sure the next installment of tenants from hell include a ton a fridges from hell. Too bad there is no way to understand what a fridge from hell smells like by looking at photos.

Originally posted by @Melissa Gittens :

@James Wise I am a property manager in Connecticut, you should do the refrigerators next! 

I especially love the move out, I've had tenants turn the refrigerator completely off. And when you go to the property and open up the refrigerator it smells so horrible.

 Ugh!  Had one of these.  There was so much mold in the seal on the doors, we just threw it away & replaced it.  No amount of cleaning that I was going to do, was good enough imo for a future tenant.  It's like "You chose to leave half of your furniture, but went the extra mile to unplug the fridge?".

Originally posted by @Linda D.:

@James Wise,

I'm not sure if it just shows how a few years in the industry jades you, but with 75% of them, i thought "Not that bad, just need some good bleach and a hefty scrub brush!"  Although I will add... pictures don't capture smell, and that can make it unbearable!!        

I always appreciate when people talk about this side, because it happens!    People are so quick to say "slumlord" when they see bad conditions like this... but the truth is, sometimes people are just gross and messy and cause the issue! 

 I agree it's funny how people see this stuff & revert to blaming the landlord. Like bugs. Many folks blame the landlord for the bugs. How exactly does a landlord who doesn't live at the property bring bugs into it?