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I don't own, but if I did I'd love a "landlord as a service" where I could just call or email someone about a problem and have them fix it.

by kylec 11y ago

brianwawok 11y ago
Plenty of handymen out there, I suspect you could find one who would be happy to take care of anything. Don't really need an app for it, just call a few and ask around..
Avshalom 11y ago
This I think is important because I sure as hell have never rented anywhere where a landlord was some one to call if you needed to fix a problem.
- jdmichal 11y ago
  Where I live, if the landlord doesn't fix the problem within a reasonable amount of time, you can fix it yourself and deduct the repairs from your rent payment. You should educate yourself on your local laws surrounding rentals if you haven't already; there are likely similar terms where you live.
  - Avshalom 11y ago
    and then what lose more money taking time off work to go to court when the landlord tries to evict you for not paying rent in full?
    - jdmichal 11y ago
      You would resolve it the same as any other contract dispute. If resolution fails, then you go to the courts. If they sue first, you counter-sue and tack on malicious prosecution as well.
    - Vraxx 11y ago
      They won't try to evict you assuming you're abiding by your local renting laws, because I'd bet they've read them as well considering it's part of their job. A lot of landlords will take advantage of the fact that tenants often are not aware of these rules to get away with not abiding by them, but if you demonstrate that you know the laws they aren't going to mess around when you can sue them in small claims court and win handily. Not to mention, oftentimes if you do suffer some opportunity cost as a result of their actions, that cost can be included in the damages.
jjp 11y ago
I've always thought this was a gap in how property management/maintenance services marketed themselves. In the past as an owner I'd have happily paid a retainer for somebody to be a trusted keyholder and just arrange for stuff to be fixed. Now I'm in a fortunate position of having 2-3 trusted trades people who can cover their specialities and for the other stuff they can't do I know they will tap into their network of people they trust to get me the right person.
nawitus 11y ago
I can do that in Finland. If I have a problem I just open the website of the house management company (not sure what the official term is) and create a ticket, and someone comes in an fixes the issue. In fact, interaction with the "landlord" is rare, and often the apartment is owned by a company, not an individual.
- dagw 11y ago
  If Finland's rental market is anything like Sweden then you are almost always renting for a larger company that owns hundreds of apartments all around town and have pretty good economies of scale when it comes things like maintenance. It seems that in the US it much more common with individual landlords and tiny rental companies that perhaps only own that one house you happen live in.

I don't own, but if I did I'd love a "landlord as a service" where I could just call or email someone about a problem and have them fix it.

by kylec 11y ago

I don't own, but if I did I'd love a "landlord as a service" where I could just call or email someone about a problem and have them fix it.

brianwawok 11y ago

Plenty of handymen out there, I suspect you could find one who would be happy to take care of anything. Don't really need an app for it, just call a few and ask around..

Avshalom 11y ago

This I think is important because I sure as hell have never rented anywhere where a landlord was some one to call if you needed to fix a problem.

jdmichal 11y ago
Where I live, if the landlord doesn't fix the problem within a reasonable amount of time, you can fix it yourself and deduct the repairs from your rent payment. You should educate yourself on your local laws surrounding rentals if you haven't already; there are likely similar terms where you live.
- Avshalom 11y ago
  and then what lose more money taking time off work to go to court when the landlord tries to evict you for not paying rent in full?
  - jdmichal 11y ago
    You would resolve it the same as any other contract dispute. If resolution fails, then you go to the courts. If they sue first, you counter-sue and tack on malicious prosecution as well.
  - Vraxx 11y ago
    They won't try to evict you assuming you're abiding by your local renting laws, because I'd bet they've read them as well considering it's part of their job. A lot of landlords will take advantage of the fact that tenants often are not aware of these rules to get away with not abiding by them, but if you demonstrate that you know the laws they aren't going to mess around when you can sue them in small claims court and win handily. Not to mention, oftentimes if you do suffer some opportunity cost as a result of their actions, that cost can be included in the damages.

jjp 11y ago

I've always thought this was a gap in how property management/maintenance services marketed themselves. In the past as an owner I'd have happily paid a retainer for somebody to be a trusted keyholder and just arrange for stuff to be fixed. Now I'm in a fortunate position of having 2-3 trusted trades people who can cover their specialities and for the other stuff they can't do I know they will tap into their network of people they trust to get me the right person.

nawitus 11y ago

I can do that in Finland. If I have a problem I just open the website of the house management company (not sure what the official term is) and create a ticket, and someone comes in an fixes the issue. In fact, interaction with the "landlord" is rare, and often the apartment is owned by a company, not an individual.

dagw 11y ago
If Finland's rental market is anything like Sweden then you are almost always renting for a larger company that owns hundreds of apartments all around town and have pretty good economies of scale when it comes things like maintenance. It seems that in the US it much more common with individual landlords and tiny rental companies that perhaps only own that one house you happen live in.