All Forum Posts by: Megan S.

@Anthony Gayden - I'd love to hear more about how you go after "those customers no one else targets." Do you work with any organizations, post listings in any particular places, etc?

Care to share a little bit about your motivation for doing so?

Keep up the good work!!

@Ronald Hayden - Thanks for the tip! I'll check it out!

@Account Closed - Yep! That certainly happened, too! I wasn't making a point about those folks, though. :) I was specifically addressing ways people accumulate wealth (and I don't believe many of the people who lost their mortgages accumulated great wealth as a result of the financial crisis).

@Thomas S. - So great to read your thoughts - thanks for the input.

Re: #2: Here's an excerpt -

"What will you do if calamity strikes one of your tenants, and they’re suddenly unable to pay rent? Evict them? Subsidize their housing indefinitely? Personally, I don’t think either of these are particularly responsible options. But here’s an alternative: be ready and willing to connect your tenants with community resources that can help them through times of financial hardship...emergency financial assistance provided by the city, state or local non-profits helps keep tenants in your rental property (paying full rent), which is good for them *and* your business!"

Re: #3: You're not the first one to raise this concern. I'm pretty sure that as long as the language states that ALL genders, ALL races, ALL x, y, z are welcome to apply, you're okay from a legal standpoint as long as you include the same statement on all property listings. But I think I'll run this one by a lawyer in Oregon to get clear on the nitty gritty details.

Re: #4: Again, I think you'll have more info if you read the full blog post, but you're right - it's not necessary. My argument is that it's a way to be socially responsible, regardless of necessity. :)

Re: #5: Yep! Neat, tidy AND sustainable. :)

Re: #7: In the full post I explain that I include information in my tenants' welcome packet about neighborhood organizations, resources and businesses they may want to check out. I don't think this is interfering too much in their lives, and/but I hear you - it's not good to overstep!

Re: #8: I agree that tenants are empowered through existing law, and that's awesome. I'm curious if there are other ways tenants and property owners could both benefit from new creative policies, though, so I explore a few thoughts in #7 (in the full post).

Thanks again for adding your voice to the discussion! It's really great to get feedback from folks who have been at this a lot longer than I have.

@Brooklyn A. - Thanks for those thoughts! I've never been involved with HOAs (as a renter or a landlord) so your experience and input is helpful. Good stuff to consider!

@Alan DeRossett Awesome to hear what you're doing. I hadn't thought about planting fruit trees! I wonder if it means more work keeping the yard clean (from rotting fruit, etc.?) Have your tenants been engaged in maintaining the fruit trees or does someone else take care of them? 

Great ideas!

@Bettina F.

Thanks so much for chiming in!

I'm curious - did my post come across to you as an attack on landlords or real estate investors? That was not my intention, and I don't have anything against landlords/investors in general (I am both of those things)!

I disagree that " real estate investing in general" is by default a socially responsible enterprise. I think it *can* be, just as it can be socially irresponsible (or simply ethically/morally neutral), and I'm interested in determining which RE practices fall into which category.

Similarly, wealth certainly *can* result from deferred consumption, but it can also be inherited, or earned through a high-paying job (regardless of whether one buys designer handbags or not), or accumulated via practices that negatively impact society (i.e. how about those big bankers/brokers/execs who committed fraud that basically initiated the sub prime mortgage crisis).

At any rate, it sounds like you feel you are adding value to your community through your real estate investments AND earning a nice profit - and that's the sweet spot! I'm happy you've found it!

@Alex Craig - wow, thanks so much for your thorough response! I really appreciate it.

People have already called me crazy for a few of these ideas and I'm certainly not wedded to any of them, just brainstorming.

Again, thanks for your input!

Hi BP community!

I'm just starting out in REI. I'm looking for thoughts or feedback for me on what it means to be "socially responsible" when it comes to REI and property management.

Anyone think I'm being naive? :)

I put together a list of best practices for socially responsible landlords. Here are the highlights:

1. Know the landlord-tenant laws in your city/state and follow them.

2. Inform yourself about organizations and programs in your community offering housing assistance to people who need it, even if you’re not providing “affordable housing.”

3. When posting a vacancy, be explicit about who is welcome to apply.

4. Post vacancies where people who may have a hard time finding housing will see them.

5. Keep your yard looking awesome (and landscape sustainably).

6. Meet your neighbors! And make sure they know how to get in touch with you if they need to.

7. Help your tenants get involved in their new community.

8. Consider setting policies that empower tenants, going above-and-beyond legal requirements.

Would love your thoughts! 

It would be *so* helpful to be able to skip to the bottom of a thread when viewing discussions on iOS. As is, if a thread is long, it takes way too much time to scroll-and-scroll-and-scroll-and-scroll-and-scroll to view most recent posts. Thanks!