Don't be a landlord, it seriously sucks!

[Rhett&SarahsMom]

When I was living in NC the people renting the house next to ours moved out.
I was having drinks with friends in the front yard and we all did a double take when they carried the TOILET out of the house and put it in the back of the pick up they were loading into.
If I had known who ran the rental I would have been on the phone that instant letting them know.
As it was I had never spoken with the "neighbors" during the 6 months they lived there. So I had no clue where they were moving to either.
But I am guessing it was a place with a toilet "issue" of some sort.

 

[DarkUnicorn]

Now I've been on the flipside with the LANDLORD from Heck but hey... She was a bit looney. I got blamed for the spiderwebs in the basement that I didn't go into because it was always flooded!

My Mom used to rent out an extra house until it was sold. I remember getting to clean up every time a tenant left. I learned my lesson and won't ever be a landlord.... NOPE.

Just be sure to write them a letter detailing the exact reasons for keeping the security deposit and send it Registered Mail with Signature to the new address. With pictures for your files.

Also next time be sure to have the place fixed before renting and take pictures each time it is rented out and returned to your custody. Cover your A** every time. This way you can sue for damages over the amount of security and there is no he said she said.

 

[Cajunsamoan]

I am going to make my husband read this thread. He always says he wants to buy a small place to fix up and rent out. I know better!! Thanks for sharing all this, it's going to back me up!

 

[Four Acre Bliss]

Oh, the stories I could tell. We don't do the landlord thing anymore, and it's a relief, to be honest. Being the "bad guy" for a bunch of malcontents is not a fun job.

But mushrooms in the carpet and "adjusting the meter to meet our budget" just about beat all. Mushrooms! In the carpet! Ewwwww.

 

[DarkUnicorn]

If you get the right tenants that are honest and plan to be renting from you for a bit, being a landlord can be good. Its just all the rotten tenants who have no pride in their "home" that ruin a landlords day.

I always treat any where I have rented as my own "Home" Cleaned, raked mowed even planted new grass in the bare spots. I often left places much better than when I moved in. I wanted a place to be proud of.

Many tenants just look at the rentals as temporary or as someone else's problem (like the landlord). But yet are often the same type of person who will complain and biotch about other neighbors messes or habits. Go figure.

I wish I lived closer. I'd rent the place. But I'd have to have my chickens!

 

[Shared Acres]

Quote:
How did you find my tenants! LOL. They weren't quite that bad. But I did forget to add... Got a call about a month ago from a neighbor stating that the tenants had a guy living in the garden shed and selling pot out of it!

Sure enough we show up and there is a TV out there, tinfoil on the windows and we aren't allowed in there without someone there to watch us!

To say the least, I called a couple cop friends...

 

[Shared Acres]

The thing with the stove knobs, two brothers and their wives lived there. One brother got ticked at the other and moved out, taking the knobs with him--nobody bothered to replace them or tell me!

Oh the druggy tenant decided that the shed no longer needed a ramp so he tore that out--so now it's basically impossible to unlock the door, let alone, pull the lawn mower out!

They were actually having drunken parties there every Saturday.

Then yesterday they had the nads to tell me that if I didn't give them some of the money back they couldn't feed their kids! (I'm bestfriends with their sister, who is ashamed of them, they are moving in with a grandmother and the guy plays online computer games all the time.) I'm thinking, they have family who will feed those kids or they have stuff to sell. Of course, if the kids were really hungry, they shouldn't have left fish sticks in the fridge, cereal in cabinets, etc!

Darkunicorn--Being on BYC I wouldn't care if you brought your chickens! Actually when we lived there, many years ago before we had chickens, I actually found an injured chick in the yard.

 

[Whispering Winds]

Quote:
We have five rentals, and we are wonderful landlords, been ripped off once, my husband's first experience with renting, I have to be the bad guy, which is fine. I am real good at it . . . but the first thing you have to do is absolutely make it clear you won't put up with that kind of stuff, have it in the agreement, and get a GOOD deposit that will take care of most of the cleaning. I have a look on my face that sort of scares them, (me too, if I saw it) and I have had good luck the last two move outs and ins. . .but there is always that scam artist who makes you think they are the best and give you the shaft. . .

 

[Lunachick]

We owned a cute little cape cod style house that we lived in for 15 years, we really wanted to buy our current home - so we rented our little house. I'll never do that again. These people tore cupboard doors off in the kitchen, built a plexiglass box outside their kids bedroom window for an iguana to live in, filled the pool with fish so they could go fishing, put in a dishwasher and hooked it up with an extension cord, filled one corner of the yard with junk and garbage UP TO THE ROOFLINE. Let their dog gnaw on the wood corners of the doorways....etc etc.

It cost us over $10,000 to fix it plus they screwed us out of rent for almost a year, in New Jersey it's very hard to evict a tenant, took us forever, and to just watch the damage being done and not get them out is FRUSTRATING!!

Now my sister owns it and it's a lovely little house again.

My other sister always has tenants in her other house with no problems, always finds good people. I'm sure there are lots of good renters out there, but we didn't have a good experience, so....no more.

 

[thechickenchick]

We have been Landlords for about a year and a half. We have been lucky enough to have the same tennant this whole time. We had one incident where her toddler flushed a toy down the toilet and cost us $125 to have it fixed. Other than that she never calls. Her Uncle helps her out with minor repairs and such.

She did ask to have her rent reduced at the 1 year mark. We offered $25 off and she agreed. The past few months her rent has been 4 or 5 days late. However after reading this I realize how lucky we are! If that's all we have to deal with, I'll take it!