Hey, you free later today? NO!
We were wondering if we could repaint the living room purple? NO!
I know you said no pets, but my daughter would love a dog and we would be sure to clean up after it. NO!
Can I have an hour of your time? NO!
This tidbit relates to more than just landlording, it relates to life. We don’t say no enough. I know I don’t.
I just want to help people, but you can’t help others until you help yourself.
If someone wants your time, what do you have to sacrifice? Family time? Time to build your business? Time to unwind from your work?
What’s the payback (I know you can’t always expect payback every time so you do have to pick your battles)? If you give up your time, does it help you, or is it a one sided affair?
It’s fine to help others, just don’t do it to the detriment of yourself.
Sorry if it seems callous, but that yes to repainting could cost you four hours of your time repainting later. Maybe ten hours if you have to scrape paint off floors and ceilings because they are amateur painters.
That yes to a dog could cost you your lawn and perhaps lead to needing to replace flooring, renting the property for less later due to the condition and who knows what. You have a pet policy in place before they moved in, why should it change?
That yes to an hour of your time may be super helpful to someone drilling you for information, but it could have prevented you from buying your next property, finishing up some accounting, or some other fun task. Find your balance, it may not require saying NO all the time, but maybe just a few more times a week.
I understand where your coming from. A friend of mine gave into allowing A tenant to have a dog. The owner was so Lazy that when the dog needed to relieve it’s self, he would take it to the attic instead of the out doors. You can imagine the expense That caused.
And as he put it “you would have never imagined that this person would do such a thing”