Please forgive me in advance if this comes across as unreasonably negative. Firstly, if you do not know what a Cap Rate is do not invest in R/E. Secondly, if you do not understand the Landlord/Tenant Act intimately do not invest in R/E. Thirdly, weigh all of the drama you will encounter renting to people who could never pull it together enough to own their own roof. It is all bad news. ... I have found buying and holding/selling land to be much more profitable than my earlier and regrettable foray into the housing rental segment.
Well thank you from a renter. Listen, its a two-way street. Some people DON'T want the hassle of owning a home. Yes, yes, I know, I'm throwing away my potential equity in a home by renting. I DON'T CARE! So far, the benefit/cost analysis for me is still a positive. Additionally, there are some SHITTY LL!! I'm fairly knowledgeable regarding the LL/tenant laws in my state, building/zoning codes and the like. You'd be surprised at how landlords try to pull something over on a tenant. For example, a few years back I looked at three apartments. I asked each LL for a copy of the lease for review to take home to read so I thoroughly understood the terms and conditions. Two of the three said yes. The third said I could read it right there and now. I quickly said thanks but no thanks.
Another time, in my recent rental, the previous LL (I had a hunch she was getting ready to flip it--she had all the apartments filled, but the last 3 tenants were totally sketchy). She wanted me to move out of my apartment to a smaller one across the hall, but wanted to charge me the same rent as my larger apartment. I told her what she previously had charged for the smaller apartments, as recent as the previous week. I also told her it was her decision to remodel, and that the apartment in its current state was up to code (it had recently been inspected and gotten the COO renewed). She stated she was going to have the apartment re-wired, and do a few other changes. She said I would only be in the other apartment for 4-6 weeks. Knowing her past refurbishing efforts, I knew this was untrue. I also knew that what she was doing was going to require that the apartment be "gutted out."
I told her I would be present when the contractors came by to give the estimates and would ask several questions. After the contractor gave his estimate, I said "sounds like the apartment will have to be gutted to do the work that's required--and it'll take longer than 4 weeks, assuming you are working other jobs beside this one." He paused for a bit, but said "yes." In the end, I had her draw up a separate agreement stipulating that : 1) I would get the lower rent as previously list the prior week for similar sized apartments; 2) that some of my belongs would stay in the storage area away from the work area; 3) that I would be moving back into the refurbished apartment at the same rental rate as already had (she basically wanted to move me into the smaller place and bump up the rent $300 in the remodeled apartment for a new tenant--but I knew that before she knew it); 4) and that there was a definitive date that I would move back into my apartment and if the date was not met, be compensated for the days the remodeling work went over.
As I already knew this LL to be a liar and a cheat (I knew she was violating several state/city building codes, not major perse, but did impact the quality of life for me as a resident and the building in general) I was sure she would not hold the agreement--and I was right. First, she tried to get me to stay where I was twice. I told her no, stated she had signed an agreement to that affect, and that I was willing to go to court over it. That issue was dropped. But then the 4-6 week remodel dragged on to 3-4 months and definitely after the agreed to date. Since I had a lease, her failure to adhere to the supplemental agreement could be construed as a constructive eviction, but I held firm. In the end, I got back into my newly remodeled place (I stated I would not surrender my keys to the apartment undergoing remodeling because of my belongings still inside the apartment so I had an idea how the job was going) but even then she tried to screw me. There were several red inspections stickers surrounding the electrical work (never reoccupy ANY apartment where red stickers are present for an inspection, means something definitely wrong). She tried to get me back in after it failed inspection--twice. I told her the apartment hadn't past the electrical inspection. Her reply was "oh that's okay, the building inspector said it was okay." I told her I wasn't stupid. Until a green sticker is placed on the outside door to the apartment, it wasn't habitable. She gave me a dirty look, but said nothing when I said I would be happy to call the inspector for verification (but I had already called, spoken to him, and gotten confirmation the apartment didn't past inspection...I also took time dated photos of the red inspection ticket).
In the end, I got into my newly remodeled apartment 2 weeks later. It was GREAT! I also am paying the same rent--even better. Eventually, 8 months later she sold the building. The new LL is great, no problems, and has "laid down the law" with a few tenants, forcing them to move out (it wasn't a bad place before, but there were 2-3 tenants that carried on all night. I called the cops on all of them and everyone got issued a $200 ticket for disturbing the peace--they moved out after the new LL came on board).
The moral of the story is LL-tenant relationships work both ways. Neither party want people that cause problems. The LL wants (and deserves) tenants that pay rent on time, and maintain the rental property. The tenant wants a LL that addresses maintenance issues and problems with other tenants that disturb the right of every renter to "quiet enjoyment" of their abode. If everybody is on the same page, then everybody wins.
