Thoughts on being a landlord

[GeauxLSU]

So, got to jump in on this since you are all ragging on renters. I was active duty Air Force for 23 years. 11 of those years I was stationed in the United States. 3 years in Texas and 5 years in Maryland. During those times, knowing I was going to be there for a limited amount of time, I was a renter. The folks who owned the property had rental agents do everything. I paid their house payment plus extra for the rental agent plus some amount that went into a slush fund for repairs. The agents advertised on the bases since they preferred active duty tenants. If I screwed up, the just had to call my commander or first shirt would insure I did the right thing. Most of my military friends were renters and we never gave anyone any issues or reasons to complain. So if you have to be a landlord, rent to active duty folks and use an agent who will answer the phone at 2am when the heat goes out or the AC quits working. Not all tenants are butt holes, you just need to find the ones that can pass review.

Now on the other hand, I have a good friend who owns quite a number of houses in Paulding and Cobb County. He has had some great tenants but lately he has had a small group that must have gotten together and figured out how to screw him over. They take turns (3 families) not paying rent for a month or two months, then playing catch up. A couple moved extra folks in without asking. Then didn't pay for 4 or 5 months. Friend is a kind hearted individual but finally took them to court for eviction. The process is costly and then having to wait on the deputy to have time to come around and service the eviction notice, and then once served they had a certain amount of time to move out. Then they refused to move out and that was another issue. Once they were gone, 2 of the 3, they left all kinds of crap behind. We are talking extra large size roll off dumpsters to hold it all, emptied 3 times. Then repairs were huge. Those 3 properties are now up for sale and hoping they sell soon. The third tenant did the polite thing. He died in bed and wasn't found for 3 weeks when the neighbors reported a foul odor. Cleaning up after a dead person is what nightmares are made of but that is a story for another time and place.

I think you have made a good decision to sell the property, take your money and good memories and enjoy life before some major rainfall comes along.

Rented to one active duty. Worked out great.
The problem is, one deadbeat, can erase the benefit of ten previous good tenants.

 

[MJH661]

Doing it over 20 years with multiple properties n buildings.
It is NOT for the faint of heart.
You better put away a year of expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance, maintenance, repairs, etc) - which can be tens of thousands of dollars.

1. background checks are paramount, but no guarantee
2. get ready for calls in the middle of the night for nonsense.
3. be ready for excuses why they can't pay rent
4. get ready for repairs and to pay for them
5. more and more and more..........

I've had almost any situation happen in the past 20 something years. here are only SOME examples, definitely not all:

1. Tenants moving out in the middle of the night and trash the house, only knew this because I heard from neighbors.
2. Boyfriend kicking in the front door because she locked him out. Later in the day strangers walking inside and looting crap and trying to take my refrigerator.
3. while repairing a property between tenants, someone broke in and stole my commercial carpet cleaner and ALL THE LIGHTBULBS.
4. few months ago, tenant calls repeatedly at 2 am because she broke the bathroom faucet. and didn't know how to shut off the water. She had no plyers, wrench, anything. I drive over, shut off the water and she asks can I fix it by morning when she wakes up. yup. true story. SHE BROKE IT....let me get right on that. I have never broke a bathroom faucet handle, neither have my kids.
5. one tenant let their dogs stay in the house unattended for a week while he went to jail. His girlfriend cleaned it up the poop and pee with a garden hose on the hardwood floors. yeah. true story. Everything ruined. Including the subfloor. That was a nightmare.
6. Lightning struck one of my properties and caught fire. Dumb azz tenant didn't know what to do. I raced over and put out the fire. Heaven forbid they call the fire dept.
7. Tenant called when it was 95 degrees outside and said HVAC won't go down to 65 degrees inside. I told her that's correct, only designed to work 15-20 degrees cooler than outside for most units. Also said mine won't go below 76 degrees when it is this hot and humid. She wouldn't listen and kept asking me to come over. I check the system. it's blowing cold. I went upstairs to find the bedroom windows all open. I asked her why. Why would you leave all the windows open with the AC one. Ready for the answer. She said so the hot air would go out. I AM NOT KIDDING. TRUE STORY.
8. You will say NO DOGS in the lease only to be surprised at move out that most of your doors and trimming have been eaten away by the tenants new pitbull puppy.
9. HOA's sending you nasty gram letters threatening fines because the tenant did one of the following: Change the blinds. worked on their vehicle in the driveway. Has a dog. Tenants friends made too much noise. Tenant parked in the wrong spot. Tenant left a hose outside. Tenant has halloween decorations up because they have kids. ALL TRUE THAT I'VE DEALT WITH.
10. I gave another tenant every chance to pay and she kept making excuses. I filed eviction. She didn't show up to court. 20 days later I am at the house with 4 people and (2) sheriff deputies to evict. Nobody home. Gave deputy the key, they go inside guns drawn. Only dogs home. Dogs go to the pound. Her car gets towed. All her belongings are placed outside. People started looting it all. Fights broke out. Cops called. Buford City came by with a dump truck and loaded it all up and took to the dump. TRUE STORY.

AND YOU WANT TO BE A LANDLORD. SURE. GO FOR IT. JUST BE PREPARED FOR SOME THINGS NOT TO GO RIGHT. If you don't have 12 months of household expenses saved up for the rental (not your own house), i'm saying the rental. DO NOT DO IT.
If you're married, your marriage WILL SUFFER because you'll eventually get pissed off at the tenant and be a grumpy bastard. Wife will notice and won't be happy.

Many of the same stories, the details change, but the song remains the same.

 

[MJH661]

So, got to jump in on this since you are all ragging on renters. I was active duty Air Force for 23 years. 11 of those years I was stationed in the United States. 3 years in Texas and 5 years in Maryland. During those times, knowing I was going to be there for a limited amount of time, I was a renter. The folks who owned the property had rental agents do everything. I paid their house payment plus extra for the rental agent plus some amount that went into a slush fund for repairs. The agents advertised on the bases since they preferred active duty tenants. If I screwed up, the just had to call my commander or first shirt would insure I did the right thing. Most of my military friends were renters and we never gave anyone any issues or reasons to complain. So if you have to be a landlord, rent to active duty folks and use an agent who will answer the phone at 2am when the heat goes out or the AC quits working. Not all tenants are butt holes, you just need to find the ones that can pass review.

Now on the other hand, I have a good friend who owns quite a number of houses in Paulding and Cobb County. He has had some great tenants but lately he has had a small group that must have gotten together and figured out how to screw him over. They take turns (3 families) not paying rent for a month or two months, then playing catch up. A couple moved extra folks in without asking. Then didn't pay for 4 or 5 months. Friend is a kind hearted individual but finally took them to court for eviction. The process is costly and then having to wait on the deputy to have time to come around and service the eviction notice, and then once served they had a certain amount of time to move out. Then they refused to move out and that was another issue. Once they were gone, 2 of the 3, they left all kinds of crap behind. We are talking extra large size roll off dumpsters to hold it all, emptied 3 times. Then repairs were huge. Those 3 properties are now up for sale and hoping they sell soon. The third tenant did the polite thing. He died in bed and wasn't found for 3 weeks when the neighbors reported a foul odor. Cleaning up after a dead person is what nightmares are made of but that is a story for another time and place.

I think you have made a good decision to sell the property, take your money and good memories and enjoy life before some major rainfall comes along.

I agree, military is ok for the most part. However, I had a young airman destroy a house, he was kicked out of the Air Force for drugs. Not much recourse, he left in the middle of the night and went back to Wisconsin owing several months rent.

 

[95gAtl]

So if a person rented it out instead of just selling, he’d eventually lose a tax advantage?

100% correct.....!!!!
very valid point for the other poster that mentioned this.

 

[95gAtl]

So, got to jump in on this since you are all ragging on renters. I was active duty Air Force for 23 years. 11 of those years I was stationed in the United States. 3 years in Texas and 5 years in Maryland. During those times, knowing I was going to be there for a limited amount of time, I was a renter. The folks who owned the property had rental agents do everything. I paid their house payment plus extra for the rental agent plus some amount that went into a slush fund for repairs. The agents advertised on the bases since they preferred active duty tenants. If I screwed up, the just had to call my commander or first shirt would insure I did the right thing. Most of my military friends were renters and we never gave anyone any issues or reasons to complain. So if you have to be a landlord, rent to active duty folks and use an agent who will answer the phone at 2am when the heat goes out or the AC quits working. Not all tenants are butt holes, you just need to find the ones that can pass review.

Now on the other hand, I have a good friend who owns quite a number of houses in Paulding and Cobb County. He has had some great tenants but lately he has had a small group that must have gotten together and figured out how to screw him over. They take turns (3 families) not paying rent for a month or two months, then playing catch up. A couple moved extra folks in without asking. Then didn't pay for 4 or 5 months. Friend is a kind hearted individual but finally took them to court for eviction. The process is costly and then having to wait on the deputy to have time to come around and service the eviction notice, and then once served they had a certain amount of time to move out. Then they refused to move out and that was another issue. Once they were gone, 2 of the 3, they left all kinds of crap behind. We are talking extra large size roll off dumpsters to hold it all, emptied 3 times. Then repairs were huge. Those 3 properties are now up for sale and hoping they sell soon. The third tenant did the polite thing. He died in bed and wasn't found for 3 weeks when the neighbors reported a foul odor. Cleaning up after a dead person is what nightmares are made of but that is a story for another time and place.

I think you have made a good decision to sell the property, take your money and good memories and enjoy life before some major rainfall comes along.

Renting to military has some great advantages.
Hard for me personally since these properties are not close to military bases.

I "heard" that a landlord can contact the "CO" and explain how the tenant trashed the place, is not paying, etc., and most times the CO will "make" the folks comply.

Not sure if that holds merit or not. Never experienced it.

 

[Klif]

Renting to military has some great advantages.
Hard for me personally since these properties are not close to military bases.

I "heard" that a landlord can contact the "CO" and explain how the tenant trashed the place, is not paying, etc., and most times the CO will "make" the folks comply.

Not sure if that holds merit or not. Never experienced it.

It's a fact, at least at over seas sites. I was Mission Supervisor over one of the flights of about 120 collection operators. We had a housing office that assisted people in finding houses to rent. When there was an issue the landlord would go to the housing office, the housing office would contact the appropriate Mission Supervisor and we would do the appropriate counseling to make sure the issue was resolved. Worked every time with a good outcome for the landlord.

 

[Georgia Terrapin]

I think with military it's a military readiness issue. I know one guy who was drummed out because his wife had an "emergency" every time he deployed and he had to fly home, leaving an unfilled but necessary position overseas. He was told, basically, to get control of it or be ready for a quick transition into civilian life. He quickly became a civilian; I'm not sure it was a choice, although he spun it that way.

 

[aFarewellToKings]

Me and my wife were thinking about buying 2 Town houses to rent out, but this week my next door neighbor went to 2 homes he rents out in Virginia Beach, he had to evict the tenants and both homes were trashed. His wife said no more buying homes to rent. So now he's in the process of get rid of all his 4 rental homes, he has 2 in Buford.

So, you're saying there are 2 homes available for you to buy?

 

[roundhouse]

Friend of mine used to have a couple of rent houses and he only did a three month
Lease , and he gets first , last and a security deposit when they first move in

That way if they don’t pay , he’s already got three months rent up front ,

He just goes to the hoise , inspects it , and renews the lease every three months if they haven’t trashed the place .

He sold his houses

99% of renters are losers and deadbeats

There’s a reason they are renters and not owners

Only way I’d rent would be Airbnb

You get your money up front on a credit card and they are only there for a couple days or a week

They still may trash the place but they don’t have as long to do it

 

[GeauxLSU]

Renting to military has some great advantages.
Hard for me personally since these properties are not close to military bases.

Rented mine to a recruiter. They're everywhere. No base within 100 miles.