Rental Corner by Mary I. Hank Rent Me Florida

Angry People Make BAD Landlords

2009-12-17T10:32:00.000-08:00

Just recently I was asked to be a speaker at the Charlotte County Landlord Association. Although my market manager for that area has been a member of the association for many years I had never attended one of these meetings.

I was surprised to find such a wide array of people attending the meeting. There were people from all walks of life. Most people were very pleasant, but there were a few people that were simply angry at the world and were obviously not very clear in their thinking. These people appear to have experienced every conceivable problem that any landlord could ever have had with a tenant, plus a few more.

As I began to speak and address some issues that I thought could be helpful to the group I was continually interrupted by these select few of unhappy people who felt the need to tell everyone and anyone about their unpleasant tenant experiences. I was very patient with them but found myself continually having to politely cut them off so I could address the rest of the group and move on with my talk.

Once the meeting was over a lady came up to me and said that she had been a landlord for over 30 years and had never experienced the types of problems as those described by the unhappy, angry landlords who kept interrupting my speech. I said that I hadn’t either, and I have been a landlord for over 10 years myself.

The bottom line is that your experience as a landlord is a reflection of your expectations. If you are expecting trouble and become a landlord with an attitude that tends to look for it, then most likely that is exactly what you will find. On the other hand, if you look at your rental properties as a business, approach your role as a landlord in a professional business manner, and treat your tenants as your customers (which in fact is who they are) then most likely you will maintain a healthy business relationship with them, and all will be just fine.

I suggest that anyone who is a landlord or is planning on becoming one visit the Landlord Association website at www.landlordassociation.org and read some of the information on their site. You may also want to consider joining the association so you can expand your knowledge base and learn how to manage your rental properties as a business, rather than the setting for an emotional battle ground.

If you do not have the type of personality that can think of renting out your property as a business, and your tenants as your customers, then you may want to hire a professional company to manage the property for you. It will cost you more and reduce your bottom line, but in the long run you will save yourself a lot of angst, and spare your colleagues from hearing about more tenant horror stories.

By Mary I. Hank, CEO
RENT ME FLORIDA

Negligent Landlord - Kiss Tenant Goodbye

2009-12-17T10:26:00.000-08:00

This week I had one of our landlord customers call to tell me that she had just been told that her tenant was breaking their lease and vacating the rental home that he had recently leased from her. The reason the tenant gave for breaking the lease was that the landlord had been negligent by being unresponsive in resolving serious problems the tenant had been experiencing with the landlord’s house.

She proceeded to tell me that the latest problem was there was no water in the house. She took four days to respond to this problem but thought the delay was not her fault. After all, she and her husband were on a cruise and had no way of knowing that while they were enjoying their vacation their tenant had no water. Barely taking a breath she continued to rattle on about several other serious problems that had occurred at the property within the first several months of their lease agreement with her tenant. In her mind she had acted promptly on all of these complaints and felt as though the tenant was in the wrong for breaking the lease. She felt that she was well within her rights to go after the tenant for every single rental payment owed for the remainder of the lease term, and had just cause to keep the security deposit as well. The lease would have ended next year and she wanted every single rent payment from now until then.

Before she got too far along counting the rent money she was expecting to collect while her house sat vacant I made several attempts to explain the rules to her, but could not penetrate through her angry ranting. I quickly realized that once again I was dealing with a novice landlord and as I have learned over the years these landlords are not clear about tenant-landlord rules. As usual when dealing with these types of landlords I did with her as I usually do: I suggested that she contact a real estate attorney to explain her rights and responsibilities as a landlord.

At our company the landlord has a choice of services and this particular customer only contracted our company to market and lease her rental property and once we found the tenant she would handle the property management herself. She believed that she was perfectly capable of doing property management. In many cases this system works out just fine. But in this case it didn’t work out because the landlord was not on top of her game and didn’t take the responsibility seriously.

For those of you that do opt to do your own property management, you must educate yourself about the rules, your rights, and the rights of the tenant.

There are many different reasons why a tenant may have to break a lease. These include job transfers, change in martial or family status, health issues or sometimes it is because the landlord does not live up to their side of the lease agreement and does not address problems in a timely manner.

Mary I. Hank

CEO for Rent Me Florida,

"A Statewide Property Rental Service."

Advertise your rental home for FREE!

877-400-0354

Your New Job as Landlord

2009-10-30T08:38:00.000-07:00

You have a Tenant Now What...

Be sure you can communicate with your tenant and that you and they are dealing with each other in an adult manner
Develop a professional relationship with your tenant and be prepared to be flexible.
Don't put things off. Deal with any repair issues right away and resolve problems immediately.
Dont' ever be rude to your tenant or treat them as though they are less of a person than you are. They are people too.
If the rent payment is late call them right away-- within a day or two of when the rent was due -- gently remind them that their rent is due. Do NOT procrastinate it only makes the call harder to make!
Always express to the tenant that they can call you if there are problems or issues with the property. Remember, if you build a friendly yet professional relationship with your tenant than you will most likely have a pleasant outcome.

These rules have worked for me. I've never had a tenant destroy any of my rental properties and 95% of the time my tenants have all turned out to be great. In many cases they even bought the property they were renting.

There are many different issues that come up when you become a landlord and each one has it's own unique twist. Learning to deal with them in the right way is important to achieving success -- an learning to be good at your new job as Landlord Extraordinaire!

Whether you are a Landlord or Tenant you are invited to email me at advice@rentmeflorida.com with your rental questions or concerns.

Mary I. Hank, CEO for Rent Me Florida, "A Statewide Property Rental Service."

Advertise your rental home for FREE!

877-400-0354

Tips learned over time from being a landlord.

2009-10-01T11:14:00.000-07:00

To continue from my last post...

Here is a tip on being a landlord:

Never rent to someone that has ever been evicted.

Some tenants are professionals on how to live in a home for a very long time for FREE and they know all the ins and outs of the eviction laws.

So, protect yourself by doing a background check.

Be sure to have a credit and most importantly a criminal background check done on potential tenants.
Really drill down... make sure the person you are calling is actually their last landlord as well as the owner of the property. Go to the county tax records and be sure that the person you're speaking to is the owner and not a friend or family member to the potential tenant.

If you would like Rent Me Florida to assist with a background check, just go to http://www.rentmeflorida.com/rentalapplication.php and have the tenant fill out the information. The fee is $99 for the first applicant and $15 for each additional applicants.

Tune in next week for more tips on being a landlord.

Mary I. Hank, CEO for Rent Me Florida, "A Statewide Property Rental Service."

Advertise your rental home for FREE!

877-400-0354

Your New Job - Landlord Extraordinaire

2009-09-18T08:16:00.000-07:00

In 2002 when I dove head first into real estate investing I never for a moment planned nor wanted to ever be a landlord. All I had in mind was to buy them, fix them and then flip them. That was what I was doing, and loving every minute of it.

Then came some uninvited advice of my accountant: “You need to hold your investments for a year so you won’t have pay so much in capital gains tax”, he said.

After hearing his words over and over again in my head I finally decided to take his advice and hold my investment properties for a while and then I'll sell them. This would mean that I was going to have to rent the properties for a year or two.

Oh NO - I was going to have to be a landlord!

The mere thought of dealing with tenants and all the problems that come long with that stuff made me shudder. Those annoying complaint calls at all hours of the day and night. Then there is hunting the tenant down for the rent check every month. There is also the ever-present fear of tenants wrecking my property... punching holes in the walls and letting their pets dirty all over the place.

The fear consumed me and I couldn’t think of a worst way of spending my time. How on earth would I ever deal with such horrific problems? But as an entrepreneur and determined to be successful as a real estate investor I stood strong and knew that I had to do what I had to do and I was determined to learn how to do this “Landlord” thing the best that I could.

Well as it turns out being a Landlord is like any other job. The effort that you put into it creates the results that you receive in the outcome.

Check back next Friday for some important tips I've learned over time.

Mary I. Hank, CEO for Rent Me Florida, "A Statewide Property Rental Service."

Advertise your rental home for FREE!

877-400-0354