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I fully believe that being a landlord could be shitty. Myself, I'd never do it because the idea of being legally culpable for how I choose whom I entrust with a

by tbihl 10y ago

I fully believe that being a landlord could be shitty. Myself, I'd never do it because the idea of being legally culpable for how I choose whom I entrust with a significant portion of my savings. Having said that, parent sounds like the type of landlord I wouldn't want to talk to, either. Granted, if I see a 45-page contract, I'm getting out of there. But he sounds like the type to make a very unpleasant experience of reporting the problems that he wants to know about. As to the rest, that's why I wouldn't get into being a landlord.

dbg31415 10y ago
You're not wrong... I mean... the first few tenants I was still very emotionally invested in the property. It was my first house, I wanted to move back there... I had just spent a fortune to me at the time decking it out the way I wanted it... but I had to move to be closer to work. My plan was to move back after a few years, so having people trash it really stung. The first tenant just destroyed these beautiful new hardwood floors I had just put in the year before. Like their dog left run marks all over, and they refused to put any felt feet on their furniture and chairs (even though I provided them)... and they wore shoes and clearly never swept or cleaned so the floors that were all nice and shiny were just obliterated... it was heartbreaking to me. (I sued them and won; just saying that a judge sided with my assessment that they were needlessly hard on the property too.) But yeah... now I just spell out expectations in the contract and document things and I know we can let the court sort it out if we need to. I always repair things (typically out of my own pocket) when they are reported as broken... like the first time one of my tenants hung some sort of wrought iron bookshelf in the drywall and it ripped out half the wall when it fell... I fixed it. But the second time they did it, that was on them. (And then there wasn't a third time because they knew it was expensive to fix.) When they don't report it, and I catch it during move out... it's on them -- what's the point of trying to be nice at that point? They're moving on... no sense letting them walk with my money. But I've gotten a lot less emotionally attached to the house over the years... you need to be detached if you want to be a good landlord.
- tbihl 10y ago
  Thanks for the reply. I guess what it comes down to is that a good landlord doesn't want to be exposed to destruction of a property he or she takes pride in, and a good renter doesn't want to get hosed on move-out, jerked around with slow maintenance throughout their time, or have their lives made unpleasant by other, out-of-control tenants. Both renter and landlord probably expect similar distributions: almost all experiences fall between tolerable and good, with just a few outliers way out in "hellish nightmare." Unfortunately for renters, the signs of a conscientious landlord who's been burnt before can look very much like those for an aspiring slumlord in the way both shield themselves. And a conscientious renter who's been burnt before probably comes off similar to one who's really planning to abuse the landlord's patience. A couple silly questions, if you're still watching this and care to answer: 1. Regarding the black smudges on the wall from furniture, is discovering several of those grounds for charging against deposit, an annoyance that you just take in stride, or something you expect of everyone? 2. Have you had tenants request additions or modifications to your contract, and have you accepted them?

by tbihl 10y ago

dbg31415 10y ago

You're not wrong... I mean... the first few tenants I was still very emotionally invested in the property. It was my first house, I wanted to move back there... I had just spent a fortune to me at the time decking it out the way I wanted it... but I had to move to be closer to work. My plan was to move back after a few years, so having people trash it really stung. The first tenant just destroyed these beautiful new hardwood floors I had just put in the year before. Like their dog left run marks all over, and they refused to put any felt feet on their furniture and chairs (even though I provided them)... and they wore shoes and clearly never swept or cleaned so the floors that were all nice and shiny were just obliterated... it was heartbreaking to me. (I sued them and won; just saying that a judge sided with my assessment that they were needlessly hard on the property too.) But yeah... now I just spell out expectations in the contract and document things and I know we can let the court sort it out if we need to. I always repair things (typically out of my own pocket) when they are reported as broken... like the first time one of my tenants hung some sort of wrought iron bookshelf in the drywall and it ripped out half the wall when it fell... I fixed it. But the second time they did it, that was on them. (And then there wasn't a third time because they knew it was expensive to fix.) When they don't report it, and I catch it during move out... it's on them -- what's the point of trying to be nice at that point? They're moving on... no sense letting them walk with my money. But I've gotten a lot less emotionally attached to the house over the years... you need to be detached if you want to be a good landlord.

tbihl 10y ago
Thanks for the reply. I guess what it comes down to is that a good landlord doesn't want to be exposed to destruction of a property he or she takes pride in, and a good renter doesn't want to get hosed on move-out, jerked around with slow maintenance throughout their time, or have their lives made unpleasant by other, out-of-control tenants. Both renter and landlord probably expect similar distributions: almost all experiences fall between tolerable and good, with just a few outliers way out in "hellish nightmare." Unfortunately for renters, the signs of a conscientious landlord who's been burnt before can look very much like those for an aspiring slumlord in the way both shield themselves. And a conscientious renter who's been burnt before probably comes off similar to one who's really planning to abuse the landlord's patience. A couple silly questions, if you're still watching this and care to answer: 1. Regarding the black smudges on the wall from furniture, is discovering several of those grounds for charging against deposit, an annoyance that you just take in stride, or something you expect of everyone? 2. Have you had tenants request additions or modifications to your contract, and have you accepted them?