All Forum Posts by: Patrick M.

Do you live in a trailer park?

@Russell Brazil once again hits it right on the head. 

I want to be the first person my tenant calls when a problem arises. They are saving me money by reporting a small leak, why penalize them and encourage them to keep quiet. Or worse yet, have a douche bag friend temporarily fix it for a 6 pack.

If your cash flow is so small that you want to nickel and dime a tenant at the expense of your asset... then you are in the wrong business.

If this is because a specific tenant is causing you a problem with "put skicky thing into drain" then don't renew.

They will keep them going until someone tells them to stop. Why would they not?

May be helpful to look at this through the eyes of someone else as well, lest you find yourself the Michael Scott of the story. Does your tenant really want to be friends with you? Or perhaps they extended a curtesy invite expecting a friendly decline... and now they are caught in a very uncomfortable spot. They can't "unfriend" you because you are their landlord. 

Worked in a restaurant where the owner's son was the manager. He thought he was Mr. Popular and everyone wanted to be friends with him too... not so.

What @Account Closed said "Friendly but not friends." 

But no gifts. I give the gift of being the best landlord... No tenant could ever want more.

The firs set I bought from my local appliance store. Speed queen with coin boxes. The second set I bought online from Goedecker's because the local place was trying to push me onto another brand... I love my speed queens. 

Love it. 2 sets, nice clean laundry room with 9 units. Placed a coin changer in the beginning of the pandemic- game changer.

I self manage 9 units with a full time w-2. It is a blast and don't let anyone tell you any different. 

I repositioned the properties, so I went from dealing with "inherited headaches to "no issues, pleasant professionals." 

1. I paper any problems. Any late rent, any lease violation, complaints, etc.: They all get papered. Notice to cease then notice to quit. Demonstrates that you are a professional and provides you with the ammunition should you need to proceed to court. WAY TOO many people on here say "I should have" or "I spoke to them on the phone." No!- paper. I have not needed to utilize this since placing my tenants.

2. No phone calls. Chosen method of communication is text. If a tenant calls, let it go to voicemail. Do not get ambushed by a tenant. Know exactly what it is that they are requesting or reporting before speaking with them. Reply promptly and if you need to call, that is fine because you know what the issue is. It will also cause the tenant to reflect on any request they are making as they type out a text. The peace of mind it will give you is huge.

3. If ambushed, the answer is "No." If you are on the property and someone comes running up with a request, the answer is "no." If you like you can say, "This is the first I am hearing about it, I will have to give it some thought." I wouldn't even do that, no harm in changing your mind later. Had a mom send her cute little kid running over to ask me, with puppy dog eyes, if she could put a trampoline in the yard. "Absolutely not." Oooooh, sad face. One of many "no's" delivered to that inherited tenant.

4. Learn the communitive property of rentals, it kicks in after you take over for a year: crappy tenants = crappy landlord, good tenants = good landlord. Do not misdirect your failures onto a tenant.

5. Inspect each unit and building and make a to do list: "must, should and would be nice to."

6. Learn your market. Check Zillow on a regular basis (or craigslist- this is no longer a consideration of mine.) You are far, far better at gauging the comps then an algorithm. Keep track of location, amenities, allowances (pets) and utilities. Observe how long they are on the market and keep a record of it. Go out and look at your competition. See just how different they are from the screen... How can you compete and win?

7. Get in touch with other landlords in the area. You can always help each other out- from referrals to advice.

8. Get down to the municipality/city hall. Introduce yourself, make nice, introduce yourself to the administrator. I drop everything when they give me a call and they appreciate it. I need to go to them for all routine inspections. Not to mention plan approvals, etc. They love attentive landlords and will fight for you when you need them.

9. Spend time on the properties... clean, weed, etc. Give you some time to say hello to area neighbors. Pays dividends.

10. Screening is everything. Here in NJ, bad tenant/landlord relationships are protected and codified. You have to be a real reprobate for the courts to evict you. So before I "marry" that tenant I make sure, as best I can, they fit the bill. Take a loss on vacancy vs. potential bad tenant

11. Did I say screening is everything? It is- really. You are going to have to say no to people your kind heart will want to say yes to. 

12. Your no dope, if someone needs to tell you a story in order to explain why they broke a term of the lease, they are not right for you. End of story, paper them and begin transitioning them out. May take some time, but don' be anyone's fool.

13. You will be LOVED. Yes, yes, I know this is contrary to what touchy feely twits who pride themselves as being "woke property providers" will say. Good tenants like a tight ship. Bad tenants hate them. Good tenant wants to live in a clean, peaceful building with other good tenants. 

14. Do not entertain a vacancy because you have a false sense of what market rent is. I believe that if your apartment is "at" market rent, then by definition, it should rent. "Oh, but it is January, you don't understand!" Yes, I do understand, market rent in January is different then market rent in June. It is fluid. If you have a unit "at market" and it doesn't rent in January and February but rent's in March- then you had it at March's market rent 2 months early. One of my units going vacant for a month is roughly $2k, me dropping the price by $25-$50 is $300-$600 over the year. I like the math of dropping the price vs. holding out for an incorrect market rate to become a correct market rate.

15. You and your husband are in the best position to be the best managers of your property. Do not second guess that. Sure, you will make mistakes- but you will learn from them and become far better for them. Btw, make landlord friends, that is where you get good, unfiltered advice and dinner's are a blast! Oh the stories!

16. Have a blast. It is fun and has provide my family with the economic freedom that our 2, w-2's couldn't.

I wanted to add this because I saw some advice about telling tenants you are the PM. This comes up from time to time and some are proponents of it because "you don't look like the bad guy." I cannot begin to tell you how much I disagree with this theory. That is my asset. I want every tenant to know that it is my asset and I care for it very dearly. I tell them when screening that I am extremely particular about approving a tenant because of the value I place on it. The buck stops with me. You have a direct line with the owner. Never be afraid to assert your authority as the landlord. And guess what... when you have a building full of your tenants they are going to want to take care of it. Because they appreciate that you do your job. Don't ever be ashamed of being a good landlord. If you want to be a crappy one- then tell them you are the PM.

@Reece Register I was not directing anything at you or someone who needs/chooses to use a realtor/PM. Scale drives everything. I also recognize that the vast majority of PM/realtors that are on here (which is a tiny percentage of the overall) are the exception that proves the rule.

I was speaking as one (smaller) self-manger to another.

@Account Closed agreed if you are a self managing landlord. Personally, I don't understand what the "high tech" is.

In my market the realtors are turds. They get the 1st months rent. They set the rents too high so places are vacant. No skin in the game. And as someone who keeps a watchful eye on my market, I see the same units coming up again and again... you guessed it, the ones the realtors placed. Turds.

I have realtors call to tell me that they have great prospective clients, would I be interested in "working" with them (i.e. fork over a months rent.) When I said no, they promptly hang up... Wow, way to look out for your clients interests there! Of course, I know that they are full of turd.