china mom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 15, 2010
I know that there will be responses posted here that will likely hurt my feelings. I am sure that someone will accuse all landlords of being greedy and evil but I am willing to take the risk for the chance to cry on my friends' shoulders (that's you)
There are good and bad in every profession and I know there are some bad landlords but there are some of us who just want to share a good product and hopefully make some money. But like any business, you can't make money without taking some risks, and that is something landlords do.
Now, the crying part. I have a house that should bring in between $7,000 to $10,000 a year if there are no surprise repairs and no vacancies. I get this number by subtracting my fixed monthly expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance and management fees) I have to pay these even when the house is unoccupied. There are other miscellaneous expenses that I am not factoring in - to keep the math simple.
So, my latest tenant left me high and dry, owing me two months rent ($2,500 x 2) and, so far, about $10k in repairs. He paid rent for 18 months and the turnover is taking about two months so multiply his rent by 18 but my expenses by 20 months then subtract the damage and I have lost money. His $2500 security deposit is not making up that loss.
I am frustrated and borrowing money from our household expenses to make the repairs. I really, really want to put a good product back on the market but, frankly, I cannot do all of the upgrades that I would like to do.
And, then, yesterday, we discovered that the pool liner has been damaged and will likely need to be replaced. Add another $5K for that.
I posted the house on FB marketplace and got a bunch of comments about the rent being too high and that means I am greedy and we landlords should provide affordable housing. Well, I would provide more affordable housing if the ^&% tenants would stop tearing up the place and costing me money.
There are good and bad in every profession and I know there are some bad landlords but there are some of us who just want to share a good product and hopefully make some money. But like any business, you can't make money without taking some risks, and that is something landlords do.
Now, the crying part. I have a house that should bring in between $7,000 to $10,000 a year if there are no surprise repairs and no vacancies. I get this number by subtracting my fixed monthly expenses (mortgage, taxes, insurance and management fees) I have to pay these even when the house is unoccupied. There are other miscellaneous expenses that I am not factoring in - to keep the math simple.
So, my latest tenant left me high and dry, owing me two months rent ($2,500 x 2) and, so far, about $10k in repairs. He paid rent for 18 months and the turnover is taking about two months so multiply his rent by 18 but my expenses by 20 months then subtract the damage and I have lost money. His $2500 security deposit is not making up that loss.
I am frustrated and borrowing money from our household expenses to make the repairs. I really, really want to put a good product back on the market but, frankly, I cannot do all of the upgrades that I would like to do.
And, then, yesterday, we discovered that the pool liner has been damaged and will likely need to be replaced. Add another $5K for that.
I posted the house on FB marketplace and got a bunch of comments about the rent being too high and that means I am greedy and we landlords should provide affordable housing. Well, I would provide more affordable housing if the ^&% tenants would stop tearing up the place and costing me money.
Also, calling tenants names isn't helping me have any sympathy for you.
We are lucky to have had great tenants in both of our rentals, but we sold one and it has been such a gift to not have to worry about it. I'm waiting for the market to turn around before re-listing our second one, but maybe we will get lucky and our clean and kind tenant will renew giving us some more time. Being a landlord is not for the weak, and the mom and pop shops get bad raps because of larger companies that take advantage of everyday people to maximize profits. I started noticing this trend when I was in grad school in Madison, WI, when all of a sudden (i.e. a year) market rates went up hundreds of dollars as "new investors" came into the market, and this was 10+ years ago.
