Are you handy? Do you have construction skills? If you do, that’s great. But just because you do, does that mean you should work on your rentals yourself? For me, the answer to that question is ‘yes’ … most of the time. Now that may come to you as a shock, especially since I just wrote you last month in a column titled “Should you do it yourself” where I left you with the conclusion that it’s...
tired landlord
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Writ of possession
Writ of possession I meet with a tired landlord recently at a property where they’d just finished the eviction process. And this person said multiple times during our meeting that they never wanted to be a landlord ever again. The reason for this was the tenants owed the landlord quit a bit of money. Months prior to the eviction, one of the tenants had moved out. Because of that...
Friends, family and business
Friends, family and business I was talking to a landlord recently who had been put through the wringer by her tenants. You see, she had bought a freshly remodeled, four bedroom, 2 1/2 bath, 2,000-square-foot home and paid retail price for it. Now, this landlord was not a hedge fund, and she was not a high roller looking to put lazy money to work. She was just a very kind...
A lose-lose situation
A lose-lose situation We try as real estate investors to create win-win situations when constructing our deals. This endeavor takes a lot of practice and a lot of training to accomplish. We spend countless hours reading books about negotiating and creative deal structuring, and we regularly attend seminars on the subject. We do this so we can be prepared to help as many people as possible...
Holidays, vacancies and late payees
Holidays, vacancies and late payees I got a call recently from someone needing advice about their landlord/ tenant relationship. This caller was the tenant, rather than the landlord. This tenant was upset that they had just received — and I quote — “a nasty letter” from their landlord. The letter said the tenant either needed to pay what was owed in full or move from the property....