What to do with a slum lord across the street from you

Question

Team-

I own a duplex in Daytona Beach and we've worked really hard over the years to update and renovate the property. I believe we're now turning the corner and seeing the "fruits of our labor". Not only do we get great renters, we also get top dollar for the area.

BUT... (there's always a but right?)

Directly across the street there is a small apartment complex. I'll be frank- it's trashy. It's the ugly duckling on the block on an otherwise really nice street. My renters have commented that sometimes they don't feel perfectly safe with some of the "riff raff" coming in and out especially at night. They haven't had any trouble but, some of the people are "sketchy". It was hinted this spring that the apartment was a part of the reason one of the renters were not going to renew.

So what is a lanload suppoda do? The only thing I can think is to simply write the owner a letter (if so, what in the world do you say?), OR have a lawyer write something up with some teeth to it. If I'm losing a renter b/c of his horrible upkeep, I'd think there's some liability there?? Dunno.

Surely I'm not the only one that's had to deal with this...

Thoughts?

Dennis M. · Answer

You should be happy . He makes your place look that much better ! We could not enjoy the stars if we never had darkness .

Bob Woelfel · Answer

@Jim Morris my first thought would be to try and buy it from them.  At the very least get in touch and see what their future plans are.  See if they want to sell and if not ask them to help you with cleaning up the street.  Without knowing numbers I would imagine if they improved their building a little bit I'm sure they could command higher rents so see if you can chat with him about that.  They are probably leaving quite a bit of money on the table because of poor management.  If they aren't inclined to do that I guess you could talk to the city about any code violations, etc.  Good luck.

Alex Craig · Answer

Call code for sure or even local news. Code hates slumlords and news eats up stories like this.

Scott Mac · Answer

Hi Jim,

Rather than focus on the tenets of the building being an issue (possible legal issues),

you might want to focus on the controllable things like code violations, etc...

Also, maybe call the owner and introduce yourself and maybe offer him an OWC (he might want out).

Good Luck!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

Two things: buy it or manage it.

If you can't buy it and clean it up, try to contact the owner and see if they will hire you to manage it. You can demonstrate value by showing them your own units directly across the street. If done properly, you can show the owner that his units will make him more money even after paying your management fees.

Theresa Harris · Answer

Do you have the funds to buy it?  You could contact the owner and see if they want to sell as his property needs work you should be able to get it at a good price.  If not, you've planted the seed in their mind about selling the property.

Kurt Snyder · Answer

I'm literally having the same issue. Our only difference is that the property is owned by a non-profit that supplies "low-income" housing. Like others, my initial thought is to offer to purchase it; though the thought of offering to manage it is intriguing as well. That thought experiment brought up this idea; could you also offer to manage only the exterior (truly this is the only part that affects you assuming the tenants aren't problems). Depending on how much rent you are missing out on it might make sense to pay $100-150/mnth for landscaping, power wash, touch up paint until you get the tenants you need and then cut him off. Again this is purely an initial thought but it could be worth looking into.

Also, the idea of letting him in on what you are earning compared to what he is might spur him on to look into rehabbing the building himself.

Please keep us posted on what you do as I'd love to learn how you handled it!

Caleb Heimsoth · Answer

@Jim Morris I’d say buy it and if not then not much you can do

Ned J. · Answer

If you cant buy it yourself, then find a partner to buy it with or wholesale it to someone that can buy it...assuming they are willing to sell

Trying to convince the owner to "clean it up" won't work..... some people just operate that way and you wont change them.

What to do with a slum lord across the street from you

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