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Is Your Rental Ad The Reason You Aren’t Getting Calls?

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Your Rental Ad Sells Your Rental For You

A good rental ad makes all the differenceI don’t think all landlords are lazy, but I’m constantly amazed by some of the rental ads I see online for rental properties. It’s like the writer took thirty seconds to put down a couple features of the property and thought they were done.

News flash, you’re not.

This is front and center for me right now as I have a vacancy at a property that is a two hour commute from me. I need to write an ad that attracts the type of tenants I want to rent to and that sells the property as I don’t want to make twenty or thirty trips up to meet people!

The good news is here is what my competition has in their ad (sorry if this belongs to you)

built in 2012, modern, includes washer, dryer, fridge, stove, dishwasher, microwave central vac. lots of parking, close to downtown, parks, hospital, highway 2a. lots of storage, basement area for extra room

It has five pictures and the main picture is an external shot of the townhouse complex with no indication of which unit it is and it actually looks very similar to the place I’m renting, but they didn’t put too much effort into selling it in my opinion.

It took me almost two hours to write my ad and although it’s not perfect, I’m pretty happy with it and I’m already getting a great response to it. Here’s how it reads.

Looking for a modern three bedrooms place to call home? This three bedroom two and a half bath property is going to make someone a beautiful home, so why not you!

The three good sized bedrooms upstairs are bright, have large closets and are perfect for a new family or someone who needs a little more space. With a full bath on the upper level and two linen closets, storage won’t be an issue, but even better is the ensuite off the master!

Yes, the master bedroom has it’s own full ensuite with tub and shower giving you the privacy and quiet place you need. Plus with the huge East facing windows in the room, you can wake up to the sun shining in every morning making it the favourite room of your house! What an incredible way to start your day.

The main floor is ideally set up with a welcoming living room as you come in the front door with plenty of room for entertaining or just a relaxing night at home after a busy day. Then as you walk through the main floor, first you’ll see the half bath on the main floor tucked away to the side, then further in is the wide open kitchen and dining area and the two french doors leading to the back deck that let summer in and provide you a quiet oasis to unwind on.

The secluded back space is shaded by several beautiful pine trees and helps make you feel like you are out in the country and away from the city. Plus, it provides a great place to BBQ and relax after a day’s work.

Finally, the lower basement level is ideal for storage. As an unfinished space it’s a large blank canvas for you to set up and organize as you wish and giving you roughly 700 square feet of storage. Of course you’ll want to leave a little room to take advantage of the washer and dryer that are included which means no more trips to the laundry mat and more home time for you.

Built in 2007, this modern townhouse is approximately 1,400 square feet and has everything you need. From the included washer and dryer to fridge, stove, built in microwave and even a dishwasher, all the conveniences to make this a home you love are here.

Being located along 55th street and beside 56th Ave, the location is ideal for a family. The High School is located just a few blocks West and the elementary and Catholic schools are located just a few blocks East of the property making walking to and from school quick an easy. Add in the several nearby park and fields and your kids will love the area.

The particulars. This is a non-smoking property and unfortunately we don’t allow pets. We are very particular and we do full credit and reference checks on tenants before a lease is ever signed. We are initially looking at a six month lease and at the end of the six month term will look at a yearly renewal.

Now for the numbers. Rent on this fantastic three bedroom two and a half bath home is $1,395 per month and we require a matching security deposit plus the first month’s rent before moving in. Utilities are extra and will need to be put in your name.

We are currently repainting the interior and expect this property to be available as early as the November 15th, but can also work with a December 1st occupancy.

We will be onsite again on Thursday November 13th from noon until 3, so if you are available to view it, you should email us right away, or you can call or text Bill at xxx-xxx-xxxx. Note this is a long distance call from Xxxxxxx, but if you text me I can return your call as soon as possible.

This highly desirable property in a great area will not last very long so if you are interested and would like to come for a viewing contact us ASAP.

So which property would you want to see? I have ten pictures (the max allowed) and my main image is the kitchen picture at the beginning of the article. Why the kitchen? Because the kitchen typically sells the property. The picture below is another image I used that gives an idea of the space.

Ads and images for your rental property help you rent faster

Painting A Picture

Part of my goal with my ad was to create a picture of a home that someone wanted to live in. I didn’t want to just tell them I had appliances and I was close to a few things. I wanted them to know what I was close to, how the property was laid out and to present an experience.

I believe I mostly achieved that, but when compared to the competition, it wasn’t hard. So the question for you is, which one would you want to go look at?

It was almost a year ago I received an email from a very nice lady down in Texas that was having problems filling their vacant rental property. She’d sent a copy of the ad and I made several suggestions to help her re-write the ad to make it more appealing.

In less than a week she sent the new ad and I wanted to go rent the place it was so well done! Their phone didn’t ring off the hook, but it definitely picked up (the area was pretty tough at the time for rentals), which goes to show the difference a good ad makes.

Now please don’t take this as an offer to send your ad in for help writing your ad!! My time is too limited and I’ve apparently set a bad precedent by being so available to everyone for questions and answers.

The important lesson from this article for you will be too hopefully learn a lesson about what you can do to help market your property to get more showings, get better tenants and get your vacancies filled faster.

Yes it requires going that extra mile, but the return is well worth it! And don’t forget to let me know which one you’d rather rent?

The Basics of Being A Landlord – The Skills You Need

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So You Want To Be a Landlord?

I seem to get a few emails/calls about being a landlord, so here are some quick thoughts from me on the basics of being a landlord.

This will likely be a multi part series, so this post will focus on what skills do you need to be a landlord?

screwdriversmallHandyman Skills

Well some landlords I know are incredibly handy people, they are great with renovations, they love working on their properties and they are you typical Mr. Fixit’s.

However, I know many landlords who’s only tool they have ever used on their property is pen and paper. Rather than investing their time in a property, they have simply hired someone to get the job done. So while being handy helps, I guess it’s not a needed skill.

People Skills

How about people skills, a good landlord should have people skills! Again I know many landlords that are great people people and having the ability to relate to the tenants and get along with them has helped them tremendously.

But as I think about it, these same people have some challenges because they tend to get buddy buddy with their tenants, which rarely seems to work out well.

I also know many landlords who I would definitely put people skills at the lower end of their abilities, yet they are also tremendously successful. So maybe people skills aren’t quite as essential as it seems to be a successful landlord.

Fierce Negotiator

agreementsmallThis one has to be important because first you need to be able to negotiate the best possible price on the property you’re purchasing as a rental property, then you need to negotiate with contractors to get the best prices, tenants to get the highest rates and everyone in general to get the best deals.

Except this can be a horrible plan for long term success.

The people you buy your property from resent you for being such an aggressive negotiator, the contractors won’t work for you again because they hate getting nickelled and dimed and tenants can’t wait to get out as they never feel comfortable and often feel ripped off.

In my experience it often works out far better when it’s a win/win negotiation. Where both parties get a fair deal whether it is the purchase/sale of the property, the renovation work and even the rental amounts. So maybe you don’t need to be such a fierce negotiator to make your job as a landlord easier.

Now, I’m not saying have some of the above mentioned skills won’t help you, it just appears they may not be as important as people often believe. Many people find success anyways, even if they are lacking in or more of the above areas.

So what skills are valuable to a landlord?

Organization, Patience and Humility

hourglasssmallNow these three skills I do believe are important. Again, they may not be essential, but definitely important.

If you’re organized you can find records, receipts, invoices and more that are required for everything from your taxes to warranties to simply getting your books done correctly. Having systems in place to guide you along the way is one of the best methods to help with this.

If you’re patient and understand your Real Estate is a long term investment it makes being a landlord much easier. With the constantly changing market trying to time your purchases of a rental property and your selling of them can be incredibly stressful.

Rather than following the get rich quick path that so many people promote with Real Estate a longer term approach with an extended time frame (and lots of patience) will guide you through the ups and downs of the inevitable transitions through both buyers and sellers markets.

Finally humility. Have you ever run into a pompous landlord who knows everything about Real Estate? I’m willing to bet many of you have and apparently one ex-subscriber felt that way about me.

You need humility so you can go to others when you have questions or are unsure of the answers. It’s why you need a Real Estate agent who understands investment property when you’re buying. It’s why you need an accountant familiar with Real Estate if you are a landlord so you are aware of the correct deductions you can apply for and the correct processes for setting up your accounts.

It’s why you need to call plumbers, drywallers, painters and other contractors when something is beyond your scope or when it makes sense to bring a pro in to get the job right. Doing all of this takes a bit of humility at times as we often believe we can do it all.

And perhaps we can, but if we do, then we lose focus on what the property is. An investment that should be run as a business.

What do you think?

Saying No To Rover, Is It Good Landlording?

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talking iwth tenantsI stopped for gas yesterday at my go-to out of the way gas station right that’s near several of my rental properties and as I’m filling up a mini-van full of  a mom, a dad and at least two kids I can see pulls up to fill up as well. Behind the minivan is about a 16 foot trailer and as he gets out to start pumping his gas, a small cute little dog hops out of the van to check out the surroundings.

Now we’ve had a few cooler days recently and it was turning into quite a nice late summer day so as guys tend to do as he’s standing there filling up and as I’m standing there filling up, we start talking about the weather. Which turns into how the next several days are supposed to be great and the upcoming weekend looks like it should be fantastic.

It’s about that point that I bring up the trailer and ask, Are you just getting back, or are you getting ready to head out for the weekend? That’s when things got awkward.

It Wasn’t a Trailer, It Was Home

Tenants calling a trailer homeThat’s when he explained to me that they were staying in the trailer because their landlord sold their rental property six months ago and because they had a dog, they couldn’t find another place. He, his wife, his two (or more) kids and the dog had been calling this 16 foot trailer home for half a year. He said “Landlords are being too picky.”

His next comment was how with winter coming up quickly, that they were going to have to start thinking out of the box.

Being a landlord, and starting to feel a little defensive after hearing that, the conversation slowed down at that point, but as we both stood their filling our vehicles, it really made me ponder about pets, rental properties and what the right thing to do was as a landlord.

Now I wasn’t talking about offering up one of my properties, more along the lines of whether it’s right for landlords to not allow pets, or what the repercussions of allowing more pets in our personal rental properties would be.  It became quite an inner monologue with myself for the next half hour as I was driving to meet a landlord, whom I mentor, for coffee.

Seeing a situation where a family is stuck camping because they can’t find housing is a heart breaking situation. You wonder what’s life like for those kids and how tough things must be. School has just started, are they even going, are they allowed to go without any type of permanent address, what if they can’t find a place, what happens to them, and of course should landlords like myself be more lenient about pets?

Life Decisions Can Be Hard

Is there a right course of action when you see this going on? During coffee with Tim I quickly brought up the gas station conversation just to see what Tim’s thoughts were as well. I already knew my answers and had perhaps even rationalized them during my drive, but it never hurts to get other opinions or ideas.

Perhaps as an experiment, maybe you need to stop reading after the next sentence and go write your thoughts about this down in the comment section at the bottom of this article. I realize many of you are just passive readers, but it would be interesting to see your thoughts now and then perhaps any revised ones after the rest of this article.

So if you can, humor me and go leave a comment so far about your thoughts on landlords and pets, then come right back here.

I’ll wait, don’t worry…

Still waiting…

Done yet?

My Thoughts On Pets and Rentals

thinking about letting tenants have petsMy discussion with Tim didn’t actually change my thoughts, rather it just cemented them. It’s my property and it’s my decision and if it comes down to two equally qualified tenants, one with a pet, one without a pet, 100 out of 100 times, the tenants without the pets get the property.

It’s so 100 out of 100 that almost always my advertisements say no pets and when prospective tenants call, yes small dogs, kittens and chinchillas are all pets, but thank you for calling.

It’s not that I’m against pets. I personally have two cats and a gerbil in my household and even had a cat back 25 plus years ago when I was a tenant. And I do have one older tenant in a house with two small dogs, so I’m not entirely ice-hearted.

The problem ends up being, the risk of tenants having pets isn’t worth the reward and that is the one phrase you have to remind yourself about.

And while it might be unfair, in someone’s mind, to the responsible pet owners out there it’s not them taking the risk and the chance that that Missy may pee on the carpet, unaware to them or you. Or more often, well aware to the tenant, that Spot has destroyed the back yard and he’s left hundreds of little surprises under the blanket of snow for you to deal with in the spring now that they have moved on.

Experience has taught me that having to replace that carpet, even though it wasn’t a large carpeted area, cost me money. Not just the cost of replacing the carpet, but the extra two weeks I was vacant as I waited to get the carpet replaced. It adds up, and it didn’t have to.

Experience has taught us that cleaning up after someone else’s dog is complete crap. (Although a quick tip we learned the hard way is it’s best to do it first thing in the morning in the spring as it’s way less fun to pick up once it warms up).

I feel bad for tenants who can’t find rental places because they have pets, but I never forced them to get a pet. They made the decision and reduced ability to find good rental properties is part of the price. I understand the pet being part of the family and I understand how having pets can help kids be more well rounded (sometimes debatable).

What I can’t understand is the decision to have multiple large dogs, to know you will be a renter for an extended period if not forever and then to announce that it’s unfair that landlords don’t accept pets. Or the crazy cat lady/family who can’t find new housing. Those folks I don’t really feel bad for.

You’ve made poor or outright bad decisions that you have to live with and now it is indeed time for you to make harder decisions. Perhaps it’s time to give up that pet until you are in a position to own your own home and make your own rules.

Anyways, that’s my thoughts and I’d love to hear yours! So leave me a comment below.

Learning To Landlord By Trial And Error

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Learning to landlord by trial and errorSounds scary doesn’t it? Making a mistake as a landlord can cost thousands of dollars in lost rent, due to damages and in some cases even lead to foreclosure. But I run into landlords every week who got into the business with minimal to zero knowledge of even the basics of being a landlord.

Learning to landlord on the job can turn into a very expensive education and that’s where I come in. Hopefully.

With dozens and dozens of articles and videos on the site providing the basics already, I’m planning on adding even more so I can help others avoid the trial and error path.

Now, if you’ve already registered to receive emails on my site you know one of the first things I ask you is what challenges you face as a landlord. I’ve had some great responses from people and hopefully I’ve provided some answers to help you with those challenges in my replies to you.

The question I have for you in this article though is what was your most expensive mistake?

My Expensive Landlord Mistake

costly landlord lessonsPersonally, my biggest mistake when I started was not following my screening process and skipping steps along the way. During this learning curve I let in some of the wrong people because I went with my gut, rather than following my process.

This brilliant decision making cost me most of my Christmas vacation as I had to spend it fixing walls, repainting a property I had just painted less than six months earlier, cleaning and doing general fixes so I could have it ready to go for January 1st and not lose anymore incoming rent money due to vacancies or deadbeats.

It’s part of the reason why one of the first courses I put together on the site was my tenant screening course, which I give away for free because it’s so important to a landlord’s success! Since I started following the procedures I laid out I’ve only had to evict one tenant out of my regular fixed term rental properties in the last seven years.

Of course, if I had followed my rules that one eviction would have never come to an eviction which was another lesson. That particular situation involved a young couple who split up and rather than  allowing/forcing them to break the lease and both move on, I allowed the boyfriend to stay and to have his brother move in to help cover the rent. Ooops.

So maybe that didn’t fit specifically into the screening category, but it did fit into my screening system which I strayed from as I didn’t due my proper due diligence with brother number two.

Your Turn

Your Landlord LessonMy list of other expensive lessons could go on. From not doing enough due diligence one early properties  we bought to initially trying to do all the work ourselves rather than farming work out to contractors. But what about YOU?

What have some of your expensive lessons been? If you can take a few moments to leave a comment to help other landlords that would be great. By sharing some of our experiences we can make it easier for others to learn from our lessons and to help avoid some expensive pain.

Plus it may point me in the direction of my next course which hopefully helps everyone.

So leave me a comment below and let’s see who we can help with it!

Why Thinking Like A Tenant Pays Off

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Landlord thinkingAs a landlord you often have to think carefully about your property. There are monthly costs to consider, maintenance issues to budget for and mortgages to cover just to start with.

Throw on dealing with tenants, potentially property managers, keeping neighbors happy and the list gets longer and longer. You simply think differently when you’re a landlord and the property is a huge investment you need to manage, maintain and care for.

Yet one aspect we often overlook is thinking like a tenant at times, rather than constantly wearing our owner’s hat.

What Would Your Tenant Think?

As an owner your costs seem to continue to grow. Taxes increase, utility costs increase, legal fees increase, everything seems to be increasing, all at your expense.

One way to combat this is to pass these costs onto your tenants by raising rents. Now, I covered how to go about this in a previous article (Raising Your Rents Without raising The Roof), but the important part about it that I didn’t talk enough about is to think like your tenant!

If you just show up minutes before the cut off of when you can legally raise the rent and throw a rent increase notice in your tenants face you could be setting yourself up for trouble. Just imagine how you feel when you suddenly see a huge increase in fees from your bank or a large jump in your taxes.

It’s the same for the tenants. All they see is a money grubbing landlord looking out for themselves and jacking up there rent for no fair reason. They don’t see the three years prior where you couldn’t or didn’t raise the rents, they don’t see the vacant months that you covered right out of your pocket, they simply see a big fat increase that affects them.

In the previous article, I talked about positioning and explaining why you’re increasing the rents to help soften the blow. But part of the explanation I didn’t cover was planning further ahead.

Don’t React, Lead The Market

Landlord leadershipYou’re running your landlording like a business. You know that costs increase over time and you know that your tenants rent will be going up, even if it’s just $25 or $50, in six months, so why not let them know there will be an increase way in advance?

You don’t have to specify how much, just that you’ve been reviewing some of the costs and local rents and expect there will be a small increase in the future. Again, you value them as tenants, so you’re going to do something that is fair to both of you, so make sure they are aware.

Now, rather than reacting last minute you are leading them and you can make a decision that works for potentially both of you. If you see that your costs haven’t really increased and the tenants are fabulous, you may come back to them in another couple of months and let them know upon re-examination you’re going to hold off on any increase this year.

Or you may simply go in with a small $25 increase to cover minor increases that you’re having to cover for anything from taxes, to bank fees to insurance. Or, if the market has skyrocketed you may need to consider increasing rents by much more so as to not miss out.

However it plays out, you’ve forewarned the tenants in advance so they aren’t completely blindsided.  Now, rather than being upset, they typically appreciate the advance warning and can make plans to either move on, allowing you to put people in at the higher rate, or to prepare to absorb the additional costs.

Expanding on this you can also start including tenants on longer range plans.

Preparing For The Future.

Sometimes you know you have work coming up in the future on your property, so why not include the tenants in the updates?

Whether it’s a new roof, a new driveway or even a new fence, let the tenants know the proposed plan. If you’ve started to plan to get the roof done in the spring or the rotting deck upgraded before summer, give the tenants advance warning and let them know so they can prepare.

Once you talk with them who know what else you can discover. Maybe they are going to be away on vacation for a week and you can coordinate your project to take place while they are gone?

Now it’s very little inconvenience for them and they are rewarded with a new roof ,deck or some property improvement that makes their enjoyment of the property better upon their return.

If you start working with your tenants and thinking about what makes them happy and perhaps a little more prepared for you, it starts getting easier to keep them longer all while keeping them happy.

It’s a win win for everyone! Are you already thinking like a tenant? Or do you simply leave your landlord cap on and push forward upsetting tenants and replacing them every year? Tell me how you prepare for the future!

 

Like Minded Landlords

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Landlord businessWhat’s the first reaction you get when you tell new friends that you’re a landlord? Something along the lines of “Oh I could never do that because I don’t want to fix a toilet at three in the morning”?

Sure, some times people will be interested, but really they just want to hear your horror stories. People love living through others miseries. I know I write a lot of miserable stories 8′]

And they get read much more than the helpful happy stories!!!

But what happens when you run into another landlord?

Suddenly you have a new friend, a new resource (much like this site) someone you are usually a bit more comfortable with.

Napoleon Hill

Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill was one of the first books I read when I first started switching from an employee mindset to more of a what can I do to succeed mind set. It is quite old now as it was originally released in the late 1930’s, but it still contains some nuggets.

Also since it’s quite old, it is available for free in many places (although I have two paperback copies that I regularly re-read). I have found it for free in iTunes and I’ve provided a link below for a PDF version I found on line if you’d like to read it that way.

Think and Grow Rich PDF

Other people have borrowed quite a few of the tidbits in it to create their own books and thoughts that can be traced almost directly back to this book. The biggest example most likely being “The Secret”.

Now personally I think the concept of The Secret was rather weak as just focusing on something does not cause those results, but it was perfectly in line at the time with the mindset of people who felt entitled and there are far to many people like that out there.

Sorry if it feels like I’ve gone off on a bit of a tangent here, but I was trying to point something out that Napoleon Hill pointed out to me years ago.

Part of it was surrounding yourself with like minded people.

Crabs In a Barrel

Or a big platePerhaps you’ve heard this before. You become most like the five people you spend the most time with. If you look around your main circle of friends, you find that they are all very similar in wealth, income and social status with you.

Sure there are peaks and valleys, but for the most part you all fall in line with similar goals, dreams or a lack of both. This can be both a good thing and bad thing depending on your goals (and your friends…).

One story I have heard illustrating this the best is the story of crabs in a barrel. If you put a bunch of crabs in a barrel and watch them for a while invariably one of them starts climbing out of the barrel. It manages to get on top of the other crabs, maybe hook it’s pincher onto something and suddenly it can sense freedom.

Now I don’t know if it’s something internal or maybe the other crabs think they can simply ride along, but they invariably grab that crab that is so close to freedom and drag it right back into the barrel. Now they are all back on the same level and it’s status quo. This imitates our lives.

When I first started out investing in Real Estate, that’s how I often felt when I explained to people what I was doing. The people around me didn’t want me to escape, they wanted me to hang around with them and stay where they were.

I’d mention tenants and properties and I’d hear the story about their uncle’s friend’s brother’s tenant who was a nightmare or how their sister’s friends co-worker lost all his money on a rental property.

I’d talk about renovations and hear stories about their former co-worker’s buddies neighbor who was ripped off by contractors.

I’d talk about long term security by owning property and they’d bring up the housing crash from 15 years ago (now they can just bring up the one from 2007, but I don’t hang with those people anymore).

After a while it seems like it’s just easier to go with the crowd and give up on our ideas about getting ahead. But if you’re still reading this or have been reading my other articles I have a feeling you aren’t paying that much attention to that crowd.

You already understand you can walk to the beat of your own drummer or are already surrounding yourself with people who can help elevate you. So for that I applaud you, and I thank you because you’re still reading.

Mastermind Groups

surround yourself with like minded peopleSurrounding yourself with like minded people can go two ways. One you can stay in that barrel with the other crabs, or two you can find a better group of crabs to hang with. Ones that want you to escape.

This is where mastermind groups or local real estate networking groups can really pay dividends for you.

I was a member of a local Real Estate group for years and created some great friendships there. The group met once a month, but several of us always ended up talking multiple times a month or getting together to discuss Real Estate or Real Estate strategies.  We were our own little mastermind group.

It kept us on our toes and it kept us hungry and excited. Many of us had dreams of owning dozens of properties and many of us met those dreams, because that’s what like minded people can help you achieve.

Now a word of caution, not all Real Estate groups are equal. Some just want you to join so they can make money off your membership, so they can sell you products and services and so they can grow whether you do or not.

The same goes for many of the individuals who join these groups. They’re looking for the  short cuts, the quick way to make money in Real Estate. They are usually not the people you want to end up with as short cuts can come back to bite you.

You want to be around like minded individuals who have similar goals.

If you’re not currently networking with other landlords, you really need to, especially other local landlords. By talking with other people in your area you can be more aware of changes to local laws that directly affect you.

You can share resources like contractors and repair people.

You can compare rents easier and form a better idea of what the market is doing.

All of these bonuses and more can be created just by hanging out with people who are like you!

And all it takes is just a few people. It might just be two of you bouncing stories and experiences back and forth, but ideally if there is five or six of you there is more experiences, more help and more ideas that can float around.

Bottom line you really need to find some like minded people if you really want to thrive in the landlord business!

I have some more thoughts on this I’ll share with you in some upcoming posts, but in the meantime, are any of you currently in a mastermind group or a Real Estate group you’re finding beneficial? If so, I’d love to hear about it, so leave me a comment or send me an email and tell me more.

Five Lessons From My First Tenant Eviction

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Lessons I learned From Evicting A Tenant - tenant evictionEventually, it happens. You run into your first bad tenant which leads to a tenant eviction. Unfortunately, this usually happens more often in your beginning years as a landlord. Right when you have the least extra cash flow and the most faith in humanity.

Now not to say it happens to everyone, and not to say all hopes for humanity are dashed, but the first time you run into a tenant that has no qualms about not paying you, leaving a mess behind and simply carrying on with their life is the time you start doubting why you are in even in this business.

Fortunately though, I have some tips to help you either avoid that first let down, cut down on the drama associated with it and save you some headaches. Would you like to find out about them?

Tenant Eviction Lesson One

A breach of your lease is serious business. Whether it’s non-payment, damage to the property or something even more serious. Because it’s serious, you need to take serious action and make sure a) the tenants know this isn’t how it works, and b) you need to start taking the appropriate action to evict the tenants.

One of the biggest issues I see with new landlords is they end up being compassionate, often too compassionate, and the one month’s outstanding rent ends up becoming two or three month’s outstanding rent and then the landlord discovers it can take an additional one to three months to get a tenant out.

What might have been a $1,000 decision now could be $6,000 with little hope of ever collecting.

You’re far better off being serious, starting the eviction and then cancelling it if you do manage to get paid, rather than hoping the tenant comes through. The other important point from this is it sets the precedent.

If the tenant sees you won’t let them get away with non-payment or any other breach they will see you treating this like a business and hopefully not let it become a pattern. Now, when it comes to non-payments in my locale, if the tenants pay before the date they are to be out, the eviction becomes null and void.

I tell them this and I also explain I am doing it to cover my ASSets. If they make the payment, no harm, no foul. If they don’t I am already well into the process of having them removed.

Now I mentioned these are lessons I learned from my first eviction, this is an example of something i learned afterwards. I expected other people were like me. Honest, respectful and that they would honor their commitments. I was wrong and ended up evicting these people a couple days before Christmas back in 2004.

I then spent the majority of my Christmas break, which I intended to spend with family, repainting a property, fixing holes in walls, repairing damages caused my neglect and cleaning floor, counters and bathrooms. All on a property I had just finished doing all of this on less than six months prior.

Don’t learn the hard way like I did!

Eviction Lesson Two

Tenants lie. Now don’t take this as a blanket statement, but when it comes to someone facing an eviction and the possibility of  living on the street, making up a small fib about paying the landlord doesn’t seem so bad.

You want to believe them, but you’re running a business and you need to remember that. Accept what they are saying at face value and move forward with the hopes that they come through, and many often do, but at the same time, don’t delay moving forward with an eviction or with the appropriate steps to take control of your property back as quickly as possible if it goes sideways.

This lesson I was first introduced to when I was continually promised a payment and wanted to believe them, but I was ultimately let down. Over the years this has been reinforced many times by people I have tried to help, only to discover no one was helping me, they were just looking after themselves.

Eviction Lesson Three

controlling your propertyRegaining control of your property should be your priority. When you get caught up evicting a tenant it often becomes about the outstanding money. This is understandable especially if it’s several months rent that never made it to your bank account.

Don’t get caught up in the money because the reality is you will likely never see it. If things are so tight for them they cannot pay rent, where will any extra money to pay you back come from? That’s why it’s so important to take immediate action as the longer you wait, the more you can be out.

Your priority should instead be to get back control of your property so you can once again turn it back into a positive cash flowing situation. Focus on getting the tenant out as quickly as possible using the rules and laws in place in your area.

Some places this can be tougher, some areas are definitely pro-tenant and the process can be long, slow and unfavourable to you as a landlord, but bottom line your goal should be to get the tenant out and the property back in your control.

In my case, I was able to get my property back just before Christmas and that gave me the gap between Christmas and New Years to get it repaired, repainted and re-rented and in our case I had it back and rented out within the first week of January. I went from losing money every month the tenants didn’t pay to having it rented out again with cash once again flowing the right direction.

It’s important to remember, once you have control, you have so many more options. You can get any renovations or repairs done if they are needed, which usually doesn’t make sense to do when the bad tenants are still in place. You can decide if this landlord business is right for you or not and either get ready to find better more suitable tenants for the next go around, or you can start preparing to sell.

But many of these decisions are delayed for you unless you have control of the property and get those tenants out.

Eviction Lesson Four

Knowledge is power. Understanding the steps involved in evicting a tenant is actually very powerful and many landlords I’ve walked through the process locally tell me it’s actually empowering.

It’s human nature to be fearful of something new and the first time we have to go through the process of evicting a tenant it’s not only a new experience, but also very stressful.

Your mind is filled with concerns your property will get destroyed, you’ll never be able to get the tenant out and that it could potentially cost you a fortune. All with the pressure of not knowing when or how long this could go on!

Granted, in some areas the process is much easier than others, but learning the process early is much simpler than having to do it under the pressure of a time sensitive eviction.

So where do you get this knowledge?

You can start with some of your local government service offices. They often have a consumer landlord tenancy agency or hotline that can provide you some information. It is usually the extended bureaucratic version, but it provides a starting point.

From there you might want to research local apartment or rental associations for landlords. They can be a great resource for first time landlords. They also should have tons of information regarding evictions, leases and everything in between that you can use to improve other areas of your landlord business.

The majority of these associations require memberships for complete access, but they often have lots of free information to help you move forward.

Finally, other landlords in your area. Networking with other landlords can be very advantageous for everyone involved. Locally it can provide you with changes in local laws or upcoming new rules, on the bigger scale it can be a resource for you to learn and make the job of being a landlord easier. (Never mind the opportunity to share this website to your new associates!).

This is part of how I learned to do my first eviction. I was a member of a local Real Estate group and sought out several of the members to get some guidance. By networking independently of the group my wife and I formed some life long relationships with some great people who we are glad to have as friends and fellow landlords.

Knowing how to evict a tenant isn’t knowledge you really want to have, but if the situation comes up, you’ll be happy that you do have it.

Eviction Lesson Five

Watch your property during an evictionKeep an eye on your property, especially the days leading up to the eviction date!

Depending on how the eviction went, you could end up with some vindictive tenants, after all it’s never their fault they couldn’t live up to the agreement they signed with you, it’s only your fault for evicting them.

One of the ways they can be vindictive is to leave all the doors and windows open when they move out in the dead of winter. Much like my first evicted tenants did. Patio door wide open too along with every light on.

Now back then I didn’t know to check out the property earlier (and sometimes the damage is already done by the time you get there) and we were lucky enough the downstairs tenant arrived home to tell us about it. Before he called he went through and closed all the windows, turned out the lights and closed the door(s).

I now warn landlords to even just do a quick drive by of their property leading up to the day the tenants are supposed to be out, or in the case of a suited property, I keep the other tenants in the loop as to what is going on so they can be my eyes and ears on site.

If you’ve also established good relationships with the nearby neighbors you can let them know what is happening as well. Some landlords become concerned that the other neighbors will think less of them for having a bad tenant, but more often than not they respect that you are taking action and keeping them informed.

Your property is a huge investment and spending a little time driving by, chatting with the neighbors and keeping other tenants in the loop just helps you protect your investment.

Anything Else?

Well, there’s probably another half dozen warnings I could throw your way, but consider the lessons above as your priorities. Of course, much of this can be avoided by making sure you screen your tenants diligently before you ever hand out keys.

From there you also want to make sure you have a written lease that’s valid for your area. It’s another pitfall that new landlords fall into. Without a written lease, you leave far to many loopholes that a bad tenant can take advantage of, so make sure you have a lease and again, one of the networking groups is a great place to look for these.

They may not be perfect, but they are a starting point.

So, my question for you. Have you had to evict a tenant already? If so, have you run into any of the problems I described? Or are there more you could add? If so, I would love to hear them, leave me a comment and share them with the others and we can form our own little landlord community.