This is a list of people you have to do business with but you really do not want to. Try to avoid each one of these people, but in most cases it is simply not possible to NOT use them:
- Tenants who do not pay. Suprisingly existing tenants is the least of your worries, finding new tenants is another matter. But it still needs to be one of the worst business partners the list because many do not pay and you will have to deal with it daily. But if you are new to being a landlord collecting from tenants is a small concern compared to below.
- People who sell advertising. The problem with advertising is that you know you need it, but it is nearly impossible to know what to get and what works. I have referred this to death by Madison Ave. The good thing is craigslist will soon remove their problem. If you do not use craigslist you need to, it is very effective.
- Alcoholics. I see so much alcoholism it is truly frightening. This has such a problem and it is actually reaching epidemic proportions. I see it so much I can tell by meeting someone one time if they have an alcohol problem. Lisa and I really struggle with whether to serve it to guests because so many people have a problem. Watch for this very closely
- Contractors you do not know. Never use someone to do work that you do not know personally and have a connection with. I cannot tell you how many times I paid a down payment and nothing ever got done. The smart contractors that are crooked will come up with all kinds of schemes to take your money. This may be very hard at the beginning of being a landlord. In fact expect to really struggle with this point because most properties need alot of work and if you cannot do it yourself it will be hard to find people that are honest.
- Some attorneys. The reason that I say some is that only a small percentage of attorneys are really any good. So many do not call back. Ever. If you are one of those attys call your clients back within two hours of them leaving a message. On thing for sure is that law schools doe not do a very good job of creating great attorneys. This does onto mean that are not good people out. I can recommend several that are great.
- Anyone that abuses their power. Many people we deal with are not humble at all. I love the Phillians 3:2 for this. Do nothing out of vein conceit or selfish ambision but in humility consider everyone better than yourself. Can you image how better life would be for everyone if everyone followed this. I like most americans stuggle with this every day. There are so many people that take advantage of what they know and you do not know.
- Insurance companies. They and banks are so hard to deal with. They are great when nothing is going on and you just pay the bill. However once you have to file a claim watch out. It is very unlikely you will come out whole and it gets worse, you will most likely get dropped and or if they do not they will put a black mark on your record so it will be hard to get replacement coverage
- Thieves. What is the most disturbing about thieves is that is nearly imposibile to control or insure everything. Theft ranges from stealing equipment to stealing tools to stealing cooper to stealing money. One of the most discouraging things about thives is many times you have no idea you are being stolen from. I would say in the last three years I have had $200,000 stolen from me in one way or another. Some covered by insurance most not. For example do you know that if you have a vacant house that has been vacant for longer than 30 days and someone breaks in and steals the cooper you do not have insurance coverage.
- Banks, they are your best friend when things are good, but if you ever get sideways with a bank watch out. And I am not talking about getting behind I am talking about if your property comes up for renewal and its not performing it can be nearly imposible to get a new loan. So you could get forclosed on just becasue the property is not doing well, weather you are making your payment on time or at all will have nothing to do with it
- Real estate assessors. They think that rental houses are worth the same as owner occupied house. I doubt any have been a landlord. lets face it the assessor is public enemy number one. In very few cases does the asessor for what a place is really worth. What is even more problematic about real estate assessments is they go up and down all the time, but this is rarely reflected in your tax statement
