Finding tenants is so easy—all you do is run an ad on Craigslist, answer the e-mail, show the home and BAM—you got a tenant!
I wish it were that easy!
For the uninformed owner, finding tenants, getting all the right documentation together, and managing the property seem like a “no-brainer”. I’ll tell you a little secret: it’s not.
The landlord tenant relationship is adversarial at best, so knowing this from the start alleviates making some very dumb decisions.
Example #1
Henry owns a home. He works a day job and decides he’d like to “save some money” by finding his own tenant. He runs an ad, finds a tenant, signs a 6 month lease and thinks he has done his job. 3 months later, the place is trashed, and rent hasn’t been paid. Henry thought she was so nice, so didn’t get a security deposit, or even a credit report (where he would have found out she had a previous eviction). When on month 2 the rent was 2 weeks late, the “tenant told him she would pay.” 3 weeks went by, no rent. Henry called the tenant (NEVER beg for rent) and she gave him a “sob story”. He finally called his Attorney and $3000 later, got her out.
Example #2
Annette owned a lovely large, sprawling home. She wanted to take a year sabbatical and find tenants to rent her home. She ran an ad and found a nice couple, agreed upon a rental amount and drew up “her own lease”. The tenants said they “loved to garden” so Annette left the landscaping and watering up to them. BIG mistake! Upon Annette’s return, the landscaping was overgrown, or dead, poorly maintained and not watered for months (water was too expensive). Since this was a gray area in her “homemade” lease, she could not hold tenants responsible.
Paying property management to maintain your property is worth every cent. The above scenarios would never have happened if I managed the property. I LOVE single family homes. Call me for a FREE consultation.
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Thanks Erwin–I have been doing some type of PM for 25+ years and it never ceases to amaze me that otherwise intelligent property owners
don’t cover themselves with a credit report and/or background check.