Show of hands, please.......... - Landlord Forum thread

Show of hands, please.......... by Ultimate M-Bone on November 1, 2009 @10:36

This is a survey, it is apparent that we have some very new landlords here. I would like to know when and why you decided to become a landlord. Are you a forced landlord or was it by choice.

You have so much to learn and our best advice for newbies is to read through the forum as far back as you care to. There is a lot of good information on just about every topic a landlord faces.

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Re: Show of hands, please.......... by OH LL (the first) (OH) on November 1, 2009 @10:48

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Don't get on here as often as I used to, but Hi Monica!

Glad to answer. I became a LL by choice some 17 yrs ago or so. When my husband and I married, we each had a house. I chose to rent his house instead of selling it. It has worked out very well. Over the years we have acquired many more properties. I have learned many times over, both here and by experience, how to act as a proper LL. I urge new LLs to educate yourself here, on other forums, in good LLing and law books, and through interaction with other LLs in a local LL association or REIA. Best of luck to you all!

Re: Show of hands, please..........

Re: Show of hands, please.......... by Micah on November 1, 2009 @10:48

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I've been a LL for a little over 2 years. I spent a whole summer trying to find the right multi-unit property to start with. I did have a over a year of experience as a temp leasing consultant in AZ.

I worked on properties with anywhere from 50-900 units. My 4 unit is very tame in comparison. I also watched DIY shows religiously for a few years and always watch what my repair guys are doing on my house (If I'm paying them that much money I might at well learn something!).

Re: Show of hands, please.......... by Nick (OH) on November 1, 2009 @11:15	[ Reply ]
I am so new I've not even had the tenant move in yet. BTW: Thank you all very much for your advice to my earlier posting. I will try to take better control with the new tenants. Is there any other advice like a lease I should use or any special forms? Free would be best. I don't want to spend money on anything I don't have to.

Re: Show of hands, please..........

Re: Show of hands, please.......... by Anonymous on November 1, 2009 @18:59

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I have been a Commercial LL for about 15 to 20 years. And in residential before that, but I had a property manager then.
I have come to the conclusion that residential is not for me, but I love commercial. Got problems too, but few compared to residential.

Glad to find this site. I have been learning for many years, hope this will continues. I beleve rentals problems are going to grow with this scinking economy.

Re: Show of hands, please.......... by Anonymous (NH) on November 1, 2009 @21:06

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Forced into it. I had to move for personal/family reasons back in 2006. Tried to sell through 2007 but couldn't so I finally rented. Tried to sell again this fall but all the short sales in the area brought prices down so far I can't afford to sell. Now I'll be renting again.

Don't want to be a landlord - can't wait to be free. The forum is invaluable to me though. Lots of questions answered already but there is soooo much there it is often hard to find the right question in the archives.

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Re: Show of hands, please.......... by CA (HI) on November 2, 2009 @00:20

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We became LL's 2.5 years ago by choice for many reasons. The biggest one is it's to support our retirement plan. We are in the military and move a lot, but LOVE Hawaii, and want to visit every so often and eventually settle in Hawaii. So we found a good deal on a multi-unit to fix up and rent out while living in one of the units. We will have to be long distance landlords, which will be very tough to lose that hands on decision making.

We really enjoy landlording and rely on this forum and the forms heavily to make our decisions. In fact, we have to move yet again in a month and are looking for our next investment property! It's in Texas, which seems to have a very different market than Hawaii, so we are easing into this one. Thanks everyone for posting all your issues and ideas!

Re: Show of hands, please.......... by Susan on November 2, 2009 @10:20

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first -time home buyers of a duplex in '97 as starter home (ultimately to pay for itself, and eventually a single-family home for ourselves...fast forward 9 years, my husband decides he needs another 2-family if we are ever able to afford a single-family. WHAT?????? It is a breeze for him, I'm the one who deals with tenants. He is not even familiar with the rental agreement. Took all the equity out of our first place, plus 20K savings to buy & renovate the second house. It's a good retirement plan, but I would have been happy with one rental & a single-family home. No matter how you slice it, having tenants is like doing adult day-care.

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Re: Show of hands, please.......... by ARPRINCE (NJ) on November 2, 2009 @11:48	[ Reply ]
Just started January this year. We needed some other financial source to help offset mortgage payment and I lost my job (and still looking for one up to now). This site is a great LL resource. Thanks.

Re: Show of hands, please.......... by dave (CA) on November 2, 2009 @16:59	[ Reply ]
I was forced by ... my wife. I'm doing it for a few months now. So far I haven't seen any benefits except a lot of headaches! I'm kind of agreed with Susan. Its kind of adult-care business we are getting into! I hope there're some financial benefits at the end, but nothing yet. This forum is great though. I learned alot about LL etc... Thanks everyone. -Dave

Re: Show of hands, please.......... by Anonymous on November 2, 2009 @20:51

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My husband and I became reluctant landlords after jointly inheriting (with my sister) my parents home and two other houses on the same 3 acre tax lot. All debt free, no mortgages. We put the property on the market but no sale due to the down market and it being a unique property. My sister wanted out regardless and created a situation where we either had to buy her out or she would force a 'partion action' through the courts. Everybody loses when that happens but she was not willing to collect rent and wait out the market. We went ahead and bought her out to get disentangled from the increasingly difficult situation between us.

We had a property manager for awhile but were not impressed. So this last summer we started managing it ourselves. It has been a learning experience, to say the least! But we have alot of questions and not alot of experience so I'm glad to find this site.

Re: Show of hands, please.......... by P-Bone in WNY (NY) on November 3, 2009 @11:55

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I'm now 27 years old, I have been landlording for 4.5 years. I bought my 4 unit property (originally 3, re-zoned to 4) back in 2005 when I was 22. I got into the landlording business by choice. In the Western New York Area, taxes are extremely high for property and school. Currently, my mortgage itself is only about $450 a month, but my property and school taxes and insurance costs are over $700 a month. I got into the business in order to afford moving out of my parents' home without breaking myself financially. Over the last 4.5 years, I have had a few vacancies. When I started, I had a unit empty for over a year while I did some minor remodeling and painting. Since then, I have been vacant in one unit for 5 months and one unit for 1 month. My latest turn over was last week. Tenant left a week early, I did $2k in remodeling the bathroom and kitchen and had it turned over by the 31st.

I manage my property by a lot of the rules and advice from this site. I use all of the LPA forms (modified a little) and have the LPA lease modified with comments from a few lawyer friends. I am a full time Federal Government employee. I work as an auditor for the Department of Defense, have a Bachelors and Masters in Accounting and am a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).

I hope to use this property to help manage some of my significant debts, so that I can purchase either another investment property in the next 5-10 years, or a single family home for myself.

My investment in this property is one of the smartest investments I have made to date. In addition to the property, I maintain roughly $50k in other retirement/personal investments. My goals overall are to have a net worth near $1 million by the age of 40 and closer to $10 million by the age of 60. In a depressed area like Western New York, I do not know how likely that will be, but that won't stop me from trying.

Re: Show of hands, please.......... by Hari Seldon (Michigan) on November 5, 2009 @13:20

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> This is a survey, it is apparent that we have some very new landlords here.
> I would like to know when and why you decided to become a landlord. Are
> you a forced landlord or was it by choice.

While my tenant hasn't moved in yet, I am a new landlord.

My mom died back in July and I inherited her (paid off)
house and by moving there and renting my house out,
I reduce my cost of living.

Would have rather just sold my house but with the real
estate market being what it is, that's not possible, so I'd
say I'm a "forced" landlord.

Re: Show of hands, please..........