Recently, my 71 year old father, who is into broad sweeping generalizations and hasn't discovered I am over 40, mentioned that landlords never take care of their homes. Though Dad knows I am a landlord, I am aware I wasn't on the radar in that statement. After all, I am only 11 in his eyes.
I found that to be an interesting perspective from Dad and began wondering if if most tenants felt like that. Facebook Debbie has had issues with her lodging this week. Carolsue has a broken sink. I have another friend who is renting and has continual challenges with her air conditioner.
I can't speak for all landlords. I can tell you I like well maintained homes. That doesn't mean I jump at every little thing that needs to be fixed. The basics: roof/plumbing/electrical/heating/cooling are obvious. To me, anything that impacts the health and safety of someone's life needs to be addressed immediately.
Landlords who run their investments like a business tend to be cost-conscious. Therefore, in general, they are more likely to want to fix than replace. And, if they have to replace, it doesn't mean they want to buy new. Sometimes a nice stove can come from craigslist.
As we are stoking the fires of our investment, pricing is a factor. I have a home with air conditioning issues. Most likely it would be in my best interests to replace the unit. However, I would rather just get it repaired right now. It is significantly cheaper and resolves the same problem. The repair takes less time than a new unit replacement too. In the end, the tenant has air. That's what they want.
One of the legitimate claims tenants make is how it takes to get repairs made. The legitimacy is the length of time. However, most of the time, the length of time it takes to get the repair made has nothing to do with who makes the call. The secret I think tenants sometimes forget is simply, an electrician can't get to a home any faster for a tenant or a homeowner. A home that has a water leak will get fixed when the plumber gets there--which is sometime after the call is made. And there lies the rub. The landlord has to make the call.
Yes, I know there are landlords who really don't care. Or really don't have the money. Or really don't think these issues are a major hassle to their tenants. The landlords pay the price. The tenants leave. The property becomes destroyed over time. It is amazing what a water drip can turn into over the course of a year.
As much as I wish there was a magic landlord wand. There isn't. When there is a problem with a broken do-hickey, there is frustration on everyone's end, with the landlord getting the brunt of the blame. Sometimes it is legitimate. Sometimes it is not.
Tuesday, August 04, 2009
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1 comment:
I agree with you completely. You are an excellent landlord who jumps on the important stuff quickly. However there are landlords on the other end of the spectrum. Take my former landlord for example. He actually asked me to move because I "complained too much" about silly little things like electrical outlets that would send sparks into the room for no apparent reason, the fact that the floor immediately in front of the back door was so soft that you could see the basement when you stepped on it to get to the back door, the oven didn't work, there was a leak in the roof that forced me to use buckets whenever it rained and other equally important defects. All of these things were not evident when I rented the house and all these things he refused to fix after I moved in. I have been gone from that house for 8 months now and it is still for rent. He runs an ad every week trying to rent it. I have a feeling it will be for rent for a LONG time before he finds another flunky like me who bites into that apple. He's losing income, the house is not getting any better sitting there unoccupied and I'm surprised every time I drive by it that it hasn't caught on fire and burned to the ground. It's a shame too because that is the hot place here to live and if he spent just a little on it, he could double the rent immediately and keep it rented. Not a good decision on his part.
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