A Landlords rant

[BlueSky]

Seems you have to do a back ground check and credit check. References from their last landlord would be a great thing to require. If the can't provide one, they don't qualify. I'd be thinking all kinds of ways to seek revenge if that had happened to me. Probably wouldn't follow through but.

[Dale124]

This is a very interesting thread. I had often thought about buying a place to rent out to start a nice nest egg for retirement, but have never had the guts to go through with it, always thinking I don't need the hassle of being a landlord. Several of my coworkers have rental properties. One of them, just 2 weeks ago had a renter abandon the property while still owing money and leaving quite a mess and damages. Just 3 weeks prior, my coworker had done a walk through with this tenant , and all was fine. He said that each and every tenant he has had eventually screwed him, so he is now selling his place. The funny thing is, another one of my coworkers just bought a rental property in July and is currently fixing it up so he can rent it out. He was rethinking his decision after hearing this story.

Also, my next door neighbor sold his house to someone that made it into 2 suites and rented it out. When I first met this new owner, while they were renovating it, I told him I was less than thrilled that I will be living next to renters. He assured me that they will get good, reliable renters in there. Well, it has been around 5 years now, and guess what? I was right. Every day, I walk by weeds on the other side of the fence that separates our houses that are over 6 feet tall! The grass rarely gets cut, and in the winter, it seems nobody is too interested in shoveling the snow.

Dale

[gggGary]

I found commercial "retail space" rental was much easier, no eviction, no rent? change the locks, sell whatever was inside, put the "for rent" sign back up

[BlueSky]

I worked with an enterprising young engineer back in the 80's in the Raleigh area who had several rental properties. When a renter owed him money he would go to court and get a judgement against them and put a lien on anything they had such as a CAR! He had gone through the process enough that he didn't use an attorney any more. He knew all the paperwork and how the legal system worked himself.

 

Another engineer I worked with in FL from 2010 to 2013 was from a town just south of Detroit. He had a dozen or so rental houses and he bought several more at auctions for cheap after the recession. I remember him saying he had to accept renters who had credit scores of 500 because so many people had suffered in the recession and hadn't been able to pay all their debts. His daughter was managing the properties for him while he continued to work as an engineering contractor.