Nobody Loves A Landlord

The typical landlord starts off life as a lighthearted real estate investor. The investor isbrimming with enthusiasm and is determined toacquire some single family homes that will beattractive to renters... and start down the roadto financial independence.

Then... Wham! Reality smacks them right inthe face! The investor-landlord is fair game foralmost everyone.

Why? Because nobody loves a landlord.

It's bad enough that many renters don't quite understandthat without their monthly rent payments the landlordcan't make the mortgage payments on the property.

A few renters are surprised to learn that the family room of arental home was just not designed as the place to rebuildmotorcycles.

Nobody loves a landlord.

And then... how many legal hoops must the landlord jumpthrough? In most states tenant/landlord law favorsthe tenant in many ways

For example:

A tenant signs a one year lease. Six months later thetenant breaks the lease and moves. Now the law demandsthat the landlord find a new tenant for that unit asquickly as possible.

Yes, the tenant only has to pay rent until the new tenant is found... but the burden falls on the landlord. Why shouldn't the tenant... the one who broke a contractual promise have to find the replacement tenant?

Why? Because nobody loves a landlord!

Here's the first paragraph of a story in my morning newspaper

"A huge marijuana garden of 212 plants nurtured by an intricate irrigation and lighting system worth ten of thousands of dollars was uncovered inside a West Valley rental house Saturday."

The house was vacant except for the cash crop and I can'thelp but wonder if the growers were getting governmentfarm subsidy payments?

The home has an out-of-state owner. Some poor investor whothought he would cash in on the fast-rising Arizona home values.

Here's the kicker. That investor could be held responsible, becausehe did not properly supervise the use of the property! Many areashave such laws.

Why? Because nobody loves a landlord!

This should be a reminder to all of us that a rental house orunit is not a set-it-and-forget-it investment. Every good leaseor rental agreement has an inspection clause that allows thelandlord or his representative to periodically enter and takea look at the condition of the premises.

Are you doing that? You should be, because...

Nobody loves a landlord!

About the Author: Mark Walters is a third generation real estate investor who shares his experience from his Web sites:http://www.lease-option-sub2.com
http://www.CashFlowInstitute.com