LANDLORD
HORR R STORIES
W
hen a person becomes a landlord, there are often
a lot of motivations behind their decision to do so.
The biggest challenge in landlording is finding a
good tenant. Often, an easy decision is to simply
rent out the property to friends or family members
because they are “good people” who will pay rent on time and take care
of the place. That, unfortunately, is often one of the worst decisions a
new landlord (or any landlord) can make. Let’s illustrate why with what
happened to Tom.
Tom had been renting to his daughter. He rented it out to her because
she had a history of addiction issues, and he wanted to keep her close
to monitor her well-being and help her out. She subsequently moved
a significant other in, one who also had issues with addiction. Her
significant other subsequently brought a couple more people in. Before
Tom knew it, his rental property had become a flophouse. Trash
everywhere, hoarding behaviors, damage in seemingly every nook and
cranny of every room. He got tired of it, put her in rehab, and sold the
house because he simply couldn’t fix everything that was wrong with it.
Remember how the story started? A man was renting a house to his
daughter to be close to her. To try to do some good. The landlord
dream, more times than a person may expect, can become an absolute
nightmare. Knowing some tricks of the trade can keep you out of the
deep end when it comes to managing properties and tenants and keeping
your head above water. The moral of the story?
DON’T RENT TO FAMILY OR FRIENDS.
It goes bad 99% of the time, and then you are not only in business
trouble, but you also have to deal with those family and friends outside
of work as well.