I just read an article from VICE this morning referring to a forum where landlords “Plot To Screw You Over”. Where “you” is the tenants.

The entire basis of the article was that for tenants renting is part of their life, for landlords its a job. Due to this us landlords are much quicker to protect the mighty buck and not look out for our tenants, but rather simply try to screw them over.

Well, all I can say is SCREW YOU VICE.

Sorry, that is inanely short sighted, incorrect and totally off base. It pisses me off! I’m not even bothering to link to the article as it’s so biased it’s laughable.

Rather, I’m going to explain the real dynamic and issues going on.

Rules Favor Big Corporations and Tenants

Now I’m just assuming this, but the majority of readers here are smaller scale landlords. One property, a handful, maybe even a dozen or two, just not large corporations that own scores of buildings and have hundreds and thousands of tenants.

The landlord tenant rules that are typically out there tend to favor these big holding companies simply because they do have bigger pockets and more cash flow.

They can hire lawyers or bully tenants much easier simply because of their size.

On the other end of the scale, tenants have multitudes of options for free legal defence, the opportunity to appeal and delay evictions and often the sympathy of the courts and heads of any tribunals or hearings.

That puts the squeeze on the new landlords, the small landlords and the landlords hoping to use their rental properties as an avenue to retire.

Many Small Landlords Are One Horrible Tenant Away from Bankruptcy

I hear this so often from landlords, especially newer landlords who simply weren’t educated enough and end up overextended.

While they may be able to handle a month or two, maybe even three months of vacancy. They simply can’t handle extended vacancies coupled with expensive legal fees for an eviction and then throw on extended repairs to fix their properties back up.

Fighting with a bad tenant who knows all the rules and drags out an eviction for three months costing a landlord five thousand, ten thousand or more is the death sentence for many small landlords.

But that previously mentioned article didn’t mention that. Which is what gets my hackles up so to speak.

Here’s the Reality of the Landlord Tenant Dynamic

Your tenants are the equivalent of your employees. If you keep your employees happy they stay longer and look after your property better.

But not all employees are equal.

When you find a great employee/tenant, you need to bend over backwards to help them out to keep them happy and to make this a great beneficial long term situation for both of you.

When you have a less devoted employee/tenant who gets the job done, rents paid nothing gets broken they may not be perfect but they get the job done, you still need to keep them happy and make this a beneficial situation for both of you.

However, if you have a bad employee/tenant, you need to cut bait. You need to come to a mutually agreeable solution or one that simply won’t cost you too much money to have them move on.

These biased articles out there can refer to it as screwing over a tenant, but the true reality is I am not obligated to be your social support structure at my expense.

Us landlords are here to make money, to grow our investment and to take care of our families, and often that family extends to our tenants. At least when they are good.

Zero Sympathy

To be clear, I have zero sympathy for bad tenants. The truly bad people who simply take advantage of the system and screw landlords over.

I also have zero sympathy for bad landlords who take advantage of tenants and who are the minority that cause articles like the previously mentioned ones to be written.

I actually go out of my way to help the tenants caught up by these bad landlords because they give us good landlords a bad rap.

Ultimately though there is a middle ground and that’s where we need to be not just landlords, but people.

So if we’ve had great tenants and they are suddenly struggling, maybe there has been a job loss, some health issues, who knows. We owe it to try and work it out. That’s where we need to have sympathy.

Talk to them, explain you will help where you can, but you still have obligations.

Bottom line do the right thing and be a good landlord.

Many new landlords wonder if they need to do property inspections, and if so how often should they do it.

The first answer is yes. You absolutely need to do an inspection within the first six months of a new tenant moving in and it’s even better if you fit one in within the first three months!

Here’s why.

You’ve just awarded your property to a brand new person to your life. Yes you’ve screened them, you’ve checked out their credit, called some references, they’ve checked off all the required boxes, but you never entirely know if it’s all real.

That first inspection can go a long ways towards confirming you are an absolute beast at finding the perfect tenant, or it can remind you nothing is perfect…

Much like social media, not everything you find online out about a person matches up. Often you only see the best version, especially on social platforms.

An in person check up on your property can help confirm what you find, or worst case put you on alert that there may be issues forthcoming.

Issues?

You might be thinking what kind of issues should I be looking for.

Well, this perfect on paper tenant may not be quite as neat and tidy once they’re settled in. Not a deal breaker, but something you may want to be aware of so you aren’t truly devastated when they exit and don’t clean to your standards.

Knowing they are less inclined to clean you can prepare in advance and create your own detailed move out inspection report along with expectations and associated costs to the tenant if the tasks aren’t completed.

Or you may find this non-smoking tenant sure seems to have an abundance of cigarette butts lying around the property. Obviously it’s just their friends as a new tenant would never lie about not smoking just to get a place to live, right?

Perhaps they just happen to have a friends dog or cat over for a visit since they don’t have one… Or maybe there are no actual visual animals, but why is there a litter box, animal hair on the couch, dog poop in the yard or even a leash hanging on the door?

It’s tiny visual clues you need to be aware of just to protect yourself.

Understand There Is A Line

I’m not suggesting you go through their drawers, I’m just suggesting you be observant as you inspect and replace the furnace filter, as you test and change out smoke detector batteries and as you check under kitchen and bathroom sinks and behind toilets for any leaks.

Your fears may be unfounded, but doing that inspection can help clarify how the duration of your tenancy may go.

Have you ever had a tenant turn out slightly different than advertised? Share your story below to help other landlords!

Educated Landlord Tip – If you include inspection dates right in your lease it helps warn the tenants you are serious about inspections and it puts it right on your schedule!

Rental incentives seem to be the cure all for landlords trying to fill a vacant property.

After all what tenant wouldn’t come bounding out of the woodwork for a free month’s rent, a staggered deposit or possibly free TV?

Or perhaps that’s the wrong question. The real question might be “What type of tenant will you get that only responds to a rental incentive?”.

Who Are You Attracting?

That’s the rub isn’t it. Are you actually attracting good tenants by giving away freebies, or are you attracting people taking advantage of free stuff?

In my origin days I spent decades in sales and one of the lessons I learned was that clients who buy on price simply aren’t loyal.

If they’re shopping just for the lowest price, or the best deal, they don’t remember you, just the deal. And often they disappear just as quickly as they appeared because they’re busy shopping for the next deal.

Same can be said with tenants lured by incentives.

What’s to stop them from jumping ship at the end of your six month or twelve month lease with their free month or new TV. After all you know there will be another desperate landlord out there that might be able to match that TV up with the latest Xbox or PS4 or another free month.

If you’re giving a free month away you’ve essentially set yourself up for another month of trying to fill a vacancy which equals two months of vacancies. You’re not solving your vacancy issue, you’re compounding it!

Focus On The Product Rather Than An Incentive

What if you looked at this differently.

What if instead of giving $1,000 worth of rent or $500 worth of game console away you put that money into the property and created a rental that people wanted. That people were excited to live in?

What kind of tenant do you think that might get you?

Maybe a proud tenant who loves their home?

Maybe a great tenant who takes better care of it than someone looking for the next best deal?

Maybe a tenant who stays for years instead of the minimum required duration?

Story Time

One of our first rentals was an up down duplex in an awesome blue collar neighborhood.

It was an awesome neighborhood because it was teeming with people who were accustomed to renting so the pool of potential tenants was very deep.

It also meant there was a ton of competition, so discounts, low rent and even incentives were everywhere. Except at our place.

You see, we’d spent some extra money and shined up the real hardwood floors upstairs that were forty years old. We had a nice bright white kitchen with modern handles and counter tops and we had a modern paint color to make it stand out.

Downstairs we had modern kitchen cabinets put in and new flooring.

Plus we’d fixed up the the entrance and the doors so it looked inviting.

We never seemed to have problems filling the unit, plus tenants tended to stay a minimum of two years, all with no incentives or discounts.

We thought we were lucky, after all we would fill the place within a month all the time and have tenants for years. Unlike a similar unit down the street that was vacant just about every six months with new “For Rent” signs constantly popping up.

Well, one day my wife was in the area, saw a sign announcing an open house for showings and decided to go introduce herself. And take a peek at the competition of course…

Once she walked through the door she realized they weren’t competition after all.

You see, although the property was renting for considerably less than ours per month, it too made an impression. A bad impression.

It had the original shag carpet that gave off an odour of years of renting, the kitchen was the original 1970’s dark brown cabinetry and it may have been the original sink due to it’s rough look.

It wasn’t inviting, it wasn’t a place a tenant would necessarily be proud of. It was a property that required discounts and incentives just to attract potential viewers!

That’s lesson reinforced the idea that if you present a better product, you attract a better tenant. And it’s also why I don’t offer incentives.

Bad tenants, apparently they are everywhere! Or at least that’s how it feels when you talk to other landlords or join Real Estate investing forums that involve landlording.

The problem is, it’s simply not as big of a problem as people make out to be.

Granted it’s more entertaining and it has become a wonderful past time to regale our friends acquaintances and other landlords with stories about our tenants from hell.

After all who wants to hear about the older couple who have been with you for three years and pay not only on-time, but typically two to four days early? Oh and they treat the yard better than I treat mine!

What about the fantastic tenant who’s been with you five years and the place is immaculate and they have been incredible. I could talk about the tenants who were with me for two years and only left because they bought a house, and they left the property cleaner than they when they moved in.

See, none of these tenants are bad, but the story isn’t as exciting so it rarely gets told.

The Bad Tenants Conversation Is Louder Than The Reality

If you’re just getting started you need to understand the reality is there are bad tenants, but no where near as many as there are average, good and great tenants.

The bad ones just stand out.

If you’re implementing a good strategy to screen tenants, to review their credit history and checking their references properly, you’ll be ok.

Here is probably the biggest tip I can tell new landlords. MAKE SURE YOU SCREEN POTENTIAL TENANTS THOROUGHLY. Sorry for yelling, but that is hugely important to know, understand and to do every single time you are putting in a new tenant.

It really helps make the bad tenants stories a thing of the past, at least for you!

How Do I Screen Tenants Then?

If you don’t have a screening process, you need to get one. There are a bunch of articles on this site and hundreds of other sites out thee that can help you along the way.

Or, if time is of the essence, I’ve compiled everything I’ve learned over the last fifteen plus years and over 1,500 tenants into a screening course for you.

It covers everything you need form what to ask, where to get credit checks, how to do showings and even how to write your ads to get better tenants.

If it’s a tool that you would like to add to your landlord toolkit check it out here. How To Screen Tenants Like An Educated Landlord.

Have a Good Tenant Story? Leave a comment below to share it!

If you’re new to investing and trying to buy a good rental property you’ve probably run into the scenario where you’ve found a property, run your analysis, discovered it’s perfect and then learn it’s already sold.

Before you even had a chance!

This happened to us all the time when we first started.

Granted we were slower, we were more conservative and we double and triple checked everything, but shouldn’t we be able to get just one good deal?

Finding Good Rental Properties Takes Time

You will not typically get the first property you look at much like you will not hit a home run the first time you get to bat.

Succeeding takes time, practice running the numbers and often looking at dozens and dozens of potential properties.

Maybe it’s not the first, maybe it’s not the tenth, maybe it’s not the 50th, but maybe it is the 51st. That’s why you need to focus on your long game.

As they say in sales, every no just brings you closer to your next yes. Same with Real Estate, in fact same with just about everything, the more you work at it the better you become.

To make it easier, get into a routine of practicing running the numbers on properties, try to focus on one area or neighborhood, start looking at one particular style of home (duplex, suited property, townhouses) so you can quickly and efficiently run valuations and potential rents through your head.

Become an expert in an area or property type so you can learn to make quicker decisions and be able to pick winners quickly.

Most importantly, don’t stop believing you can do it!

If this sounds familiar leave me a comment below and share your story!

The idea of owning rental properties for many investors is to create a retirement vehicle for themselves.

That brings up the question, how many does it take?

Well, when you think about it there is no single answer that fits everyone. After all everyone’s personal situation is different.

Joe the lawyer may need $30,000 a month of income to replace his lawyer’s salary while Jimmy the furnace cleaner may only need $3,000.

That’s just one of the issues. It also comes down to your properties and how much they generate per month, which drastically changes once the mortgage is paid off!

Someone hoping to replace their $5,000 per month income with properties that generate $100 per month per property will need 50 properties.

If that same person had properties generating $1,000 per month cash flow suddenly they only need five rental properties.

Perhaps time is on your side as well. If your five properties all generate $1,000 per month but you’re not planning on retiring for 10 years you could commit that $5,000 monthly cash flow to paying off two, three or more of those mortgages off within ten years.

With only two mortgages completely paid off that would still be a huge bump in overall cash flow by the time you made it to ten years.

Ultimately the question isn’t “how many rental properties do you need to retire?” It’s “what’s your plan to make it work?”

Focus Areas For Rental Properties

Focusing On Cash Flow

Focusing in cash flow should be a priority if you want to replace a job, or if your timeline for retirement is shorter.

Larger cash flowing properties can fill that need and supplement other retirement income or completely replace it.

Ideas for this are multi family properties or multi unit like duplexes, suited properties, four plexes or small apartments.

In my mind cash flow solves all problems. The higher your cash flow the easier it is to navigate the inevitable hurdles.

Focusing On Equity

Maybe your long game is to get rid of your debt, then you may want to consider focusing on increasing the equity in your properties and paying off all the mortgages.

As I mentioned earlier once your mortgages are paid off your cash flow increases significantly. Timing that with your retirement becomes the perfect solution.

Imagine having three, four or even more properties completely paid for and seeing substantial cash flow coming in every month.

Focusing On Volume

Maybe you simply want tons of properties!

After all once you figure out how everything works and get all the right systems in place for yourself it does get much easier.

Maybe you simply add another property or two to your portfolio every year for 25 years. If you have 25 year mortgages on every property your cash flow will grow and grow every year as they start getting paid off.

Find Your Number

Ultimately you need to find the number of properties (and type of properties) that work for you.

That’s why having a long term plan or vision can help you get there. Haphazardly buying may get you there by accident, but understanding where you want to be and with what type of cash flow five, ten and even 25 years down the road will make your life and your retirement so much easier.

So, how many properties do you need? Leave a comment below!

I cannot stress how important understanding your local landlord & tenant laws can be.

I am a member of multiple landlord groups on the internet and I help landlords around the planet through this website and time after time I see questions about evictions, raising rent, fees and other items that I can’t answer.

The main reason I can’t answer them is because the askers don’t bother to specify where they are located. This is a huge problem because local landlord & tenant laws are different not just from country to country but from state to state and city to city and even county to county.

From 3 day pay or quit notices to 14 day eviction notices to 5 day demand letters there is simply no standard.

Some landlords are so lost they use completely inappropriate forms they randomly downloaded from the internet and set themselves back days, weeks or even months.

I had one landlord use a Rhode Island eviction form that replied to specific rules and sections of the landlord and tenant bylaws that didn’t even exist in the location of his property. He wasted his time!

The tenant knew far more than the landlord and waited until the last day of the incorrect notice to point this out and it only set the landlord back 14 days , but it cost him another month of unpaid rent.

How To Find Out Local Landlord & Tenant Laws

Learning local tenancy laws isn’t that hard. Yes you may have to do some research and yes you may have to do some reading, but you need to know the laws to protect your investment!

The majority of states, provinces, cities and/or counties have their own basic landlord tenant laws. You can typically reach out to municipal, state, provincial or county government to be directed to where you can find them.

With the more and more frequent 311 services available everywhere it could be as simple as calling 311 and asking where to find the information or who to talk to.

Or, take advantage of the internet and do a simple search for landlord tenant laws and append your state, city and or county to the search to see if the results differ, or help you narrow down the answers.

Most regions have some form of unilateral landlord tenant act that covers the main points of residential tenancy laws. This is typically a state wide or province wide set of rules.

From there many cities and/or counties have additional rules laid out on top of the main rules. The most common revolving around land use (think how many occupants per dwelling as an example or whether the location is residential or commercial designated or a mixture.)

Other local city rules that can differ within a state or province often include rent controls or licensing. These variances make it important to understand both regional and local laws affecting your property.

While your state law may list the number of days needed on an eviction notice or outline the process for an eviction hearing, your local law may cover how much you can raise the rent or whether your smoke detectors can be battery operated or need to be hardwired.

Knowing the differences can be extremely important and directly affect not just how you deal with problem tenants, but the safety of your properties and reducing any liabilities you could incur.

Additional Resources For Local Landlords

Another fantastic resource (other than me of course 8′)) for landlords are local landlord groups.

Most cities and larger areas have local landlord or apartment owner groups where you can get information, advice and often forms and applications to help you be a better landlord.

Some of them have yearly or monthly fees and some are free. Personally I’ve found the paid ones tend to be better as they have an incentive to keep members and as such they provide better and more valuable information.

On the other end of the scale I’ve also seen some paid groups that simply nickel and dime members so you may have additional diligence you have to complete.

Most importantly, you need to learn you might not be able to do this on your own. The larger your network, the more people you surround yourself with, the better the odds of picking up helpful and useful tips and advice to improve your landlord business.

You simply need to keep learning as the process continually changes and evolves.

Want to Help Other Landlords and Me?

Currently I’m on a personal challenge to write 30 articles like this over the next 30 days. This is article number three with 27 more to go.

I’m doing this for multiple reasons. Some to help me, but mostly to help others.

Since I started out as a landlord I’ve rolled an immense amount of knowledge of what works, what doesn’t work and how to adapt as the rules and situation changes into my big noggin.

If I disappear, it’s gone which would be a shame.

If I share it and only one person reads it and it dies there, it’s a step further and is better but it could be far better.

If however, I share it and you too share it with other landlords and landlord groups or forums your involved with maybe we can gain some momentum and help even more landlords grow and prosper.

With over 27 more articles coming, and possibly many more after that if this takes off, I’m not expecting you to share everything. But if you do thank so much!

If however you read any information that helps you or turned on a light bulb in your head about an aspect of landlording, please take a minute to forward it on whether it’s to someone on LinkedIn, to your Facebook profile, your Instagram account or your local Landlord group.

Let’s see how many people we can help together! Thanks for reading this far and as always leave any comments or feedback below, I respond to all comments!