Holliston, MA · Member since 2017 · 38 posts · 14 votes
Hello BP we are all on here because we take pride in our properties and doing everything we can do to be great landlords. Everyone always says oh your a slumlord, and I really don't like that and actually kinda take offense. My question is how do you deal with this? What is your response when someone calls you a slumlord?
Investor · Hawaiian Gardens, CA · Member since 2015 · 308 posts · 386 votes
5y
I half-jokingly tell them that all my tenants live better than I do. I'm renting 1 room in the bay area with shared facilities. My properties have AC/heater/their own bedrooms/bathrooms/washer/dryer/amenities.
I wouldn't mind living in any of my units, they're nicer than my current living arrangements.
Investor · Hawaiian Gardens, CA · Member since 2015 · 308 posts · 386 votes
5y
I half-jokingly tell them that all my tenants live better than I do. I'm renting 1 room in the bay area with shared facilities. My properties have AC/heater/their own bedrooms/bathrooms/washer/dryer/amenities.
I wouldn't mind living in any of my units, they're nicer than my current living arrangements.
Developer · New Brunswick, NJ · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 2k+ votes
5y
Our property management company works hard to break that stigma. Landlords get a bad wrap because frankly most Mom and Pop owners don't know what they're doing. They over pay for property, don't want to pay for any repairs, micro manage the tenant, etc.
I also don't care what people think. You're the bad guy/girl no matter how hard you try in this business. Give it your best effort and if they don't like you, it is what it is.
Realtor · Oakland, CA and a Real Estate Investor with Multi-Family Units and a Self Storage Facility · Member since 2016 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
5y
Sounds like jealousy. The only people who have ever said that to me have said it in "jest"......and none of them own rentals themselves. The only time you need to worry about that term is if a tenant ever calls you that.
Rental Property Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2017 · 33 posts · 27 votes
5y
I have literally never had anyone call me a slumlord. Plus, I think I over do it with what we offer above safe rentals to tenants. treats on valentine and other holidays. Gift cards during xmas and a welcome bag.
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
5y
Get a tougher skin. If someone says that I ignore it or put them on the spot asking why do you say that? The latter is usually reserved for friends or family and I only had that happen once. It put them on the spot and it actually turned into a discussion on what it takes to rent property. and the quality of properties I rent.
Real Estate Investor · Hayward, CA · Member since 2015 · 134 posts · 88 votes
5y
Does not deserve a response. Most of us do the best we can. You need to walk in our shoes for a few months to get the real feel of landlording. I have been walking in those shoes for over 50 years.... This is a TOUGH job, and oftentimes hurts you to the bone when you are not appreciated. Sometimes you can just not please people no matter how hard you try. Just do your best. If it is a tenant, give them the option to move without giving 30-days' notice...just a heads up. That's what I would do. First and foremost, this is a business...and you have to look at it that way.
Rental Property Investor · Collierville, TN · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 13 votes
5y
@Peter T. It’s the opposite in the memphis and north Mississippi markets. The property management companies are awful and tenants can’t stand them. Every time I post a house for rent , I have a lot of potential tenants ask me if it’s managed my a property management company or self managed.
Investor · Jackson, MS · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 769 votes
5y
I got really mad when the property manager of our HOA called me that. I think said that because we weren't getting along and she knows I own 9 properties in Mississippi and my tenants are mostly African-American. I may have bought them cheap but they are a lot nicer than my condo in California. And I have a reputation for keeping up my properties. I only own one property I wouldn't live in and its kept up, it is just that the neighborhood is so bad. Right now I'm living my 88 year old mother because it is no time to be away from our elderly parents.
@Peter T. It’s the opposite in the memphis and north Mississippi markets. The property management companies are awful and tenants can’t stand them. Every time I post a house for rent , I have a lot of potential tenants ask me if it’s managed my a property management company or self managed.rne
I have a property manager now, but not a property management company. In Mississippi would never use one of those. I see their properties sit vacant for months and get vandalized before they are rented out. When I relocated to California I turned most of my properties over to my real estate broker to manage. I kept three properties under my own management. I called up one tenant last week because the rent was late. He was coughing up a storm. I got his wife on the phone and said, 'forget the rent, get him to a hospital now!' Sure enough he tested positive for Covid and for awhile it looked like they were going to have to put him on a ventilator. I don't regret I kept that property under my own management. He's my oldest tenant and property managers aren't paid to have a heart.
@Peter T. It’s the opposite in the memphis and north Mississippi markets. The property management companies are awful and tenants can’t stand them. Every time I post a house for rent , I have a lot of potential tenants ask me if it’s managed my a property management company or self managed.
It's exactly the same here. Whenever new landlords ask here why tenants looking for houses to rent ALWAYS ask them if they self-manage or use a property management company, the property managers here on Bigger Pockets insist it's because the tenants are targeting self-managing landlords as suckers or weaklings. The reality is that tenants dislike property managers. For many long-term tenants, the use of a property manager is a statement right from the get-go that the landlord has better things to do than talk to his tenants and the property manager is just there to run interference, say no to as many requests as possible, and generally treat them like they get a bonus to replace them (which they often do).
Nobody likes to talk to puppets. It's impressive how deep in denial many property managers are about this.
Investor · IL · Member since 2019 · 151 posts · 135 votes
5y
I actually was on the other side of this not long ago. A good friend who I had not been able to visit with in a couple of years told me he was buying property to hold and rent. I looked at him and said so you're a slumlord? He simply said no not really, why don't we get in the car and go for a ride. So he showed me all 9 of his well kept properties and 1 that was in the process of being rehabbed. He explained his philosophy that if he had nice places he would get a better tenant, and that had worked well for him to that point.
This was the reason I got back into buy and hold investing, (I had a bad experience many years earlier.) To this day 3 years later and 4 1/2 years into my fiends landlording journey, he is still having good relationships with his tenants. there are slumlords out there for sure, but we can choose not to be!
Hello BP we are all on here because we take pride in our properties and doing everything we can do to be great landlords. Everyone always says oh your a slumlord, and I really don't like that and actually kinda take offense. My question is how do you deal with this? What is your response when someone calls you a slumlord?
You mean a tenant? Usually it's just grouchy people upset because you won't add some amenity to their apartment.
I can't say anyone else has ever called me a slumlord though as anything other than a joke.