Why is my landlord the worst?
Who is your landlord? Is she the crazy cat lady in the apartment on the first floor? Is he a grumpy old man? Is it a jovial, young entrepreneur? Is it a management company? Or maybe you are thinking about becoming a landlord—after all real estate is a great investment. What kind of landlord do you want to be?
While the personality of a landlord, of course, affects their overall demeanor. Have you considered what it would be like to be a landlord? Think about it—if your phone rang constantly at every hour of the day; while you were at your day job, while you were on that first date, while you were on vacation… Trust us, you don’t simply sit back and wait for your tenants rent money to roll in; there is a lot of work and heartache involved. If you don’t trust us, just check out some of these previous landlord’s stories.
A property manager in Chicago submitted this story to Curbed in June. The landlord tried to evict a man when he had not paid his rent in 3 months; as it turned out the man lost his job. The tenant filed for several extensions, drawing out the process for months. Finally, after 8 months of no rent payments the landlord took back control of his apartment. Sadly, he couldn’t keep other tenants because of the smell. After lots of inspections, professional carpet cleaning, replacing the HVAC filter and using deodorizing bombs throughout the apartment, the smell still lingered. Eventually, the property manager noticed a slight discoloration on the walls. When he poked a few holes through the drywall, maggots crawled out. The disgruntled tenant placed raw meat behind the walls throughout the apartment.
Here’s another one from the National Association of Independent Landlords. When a gentleman came to view the apartment for rent, the landlord wanted to run a background check but the man said he needed a place to rent immediately, as his wife recently died. Since the man showed up dressed nicely, driving a nice care and was in such a bad position, the sympathetic lessor gave the guy a break and let him rent the unit with no background check. The landlord only received one month’s payment. It turned out that the tenant filed for bankruptcy prior to signing the lease and legally, did not have to pay rent while he was in bankruptcy court. He ended up getting to live there rent free for seven months. Later, this landlord researched the guy and found out he had pulled that same move before!
Another previous lessor, recounts his life shortly after getting into the rental business. “Somebody needed something 24 hours a day, seven days a week, or so it felt. Water heaters and air conditioners don’t care what time of day they conk out. People were constantly moving in. Or moving out. Or arguing with their neighbors. Or getting behind on their rent. Or skipping out in the middle of the night.” It doesn’t stop there, his insurance ended up getting cancelled after a bout of bad luck; “A roof blew off in a storm. A tenant’s power strip shorted out and the resulting fire did $150,000 in damage across multiple units. A renter’s visitor stumbled off a porch and sued me.” He goes onto say, “Even when I fled on vacation, I had to endlessly monitor my phone. I could never relax.”
If you are considering becoming a land lord, think long and hard about that decision before jumping in. And if you ever find yourself, as a renter, thinking, “Why is my landlord the worst?”, then maybe take a minute to think about everything he or she could be experiencing. You might be like sunshine and rainbows as a tenant but I could almost guarantee that this isn’t the case with everyone! Want to know the good news? You can be your own landlord!!! With rental prices on the rise, you are likely paying in rent what you would pay for your mortgage. Our loan officers can help you find out what kind of monthly payment you could expect without a commitment to buy!