Real Estate is HELL
Question: I’ve been landlording for over 10 years now, and can’t believe so many folks would be interested in getting in on this kind of investment. It is more hellish than ever.
Here’s what I’m dealing with:
Duplexes that will not sell. Tenants who have no respect for the upgrades and out of pocket expenses we’ve put into the properties. Tenants who don’t even keep a clean house. Tenants who leave ya with a mess that takes a week just to clean up (over 80% of tenants). Capital gains taxes that require a loan to be taken out to pay if the properties DO sell (thereby also negating all the deductions taken over the past 10 years). Needing a loan just to counter the taxes on the deductions even tho I’d be selling *at a loss*. Having roaches destroy the quality of the home AND tenants that COMPLAIN about it even tho THEY ARE THE CAUSE OF IT. Tenants that threaten violence when they don’t agree with the rules of the lease. Tenants who treat you like shit because you’re kind and caring, and therefore easy to take advantage of. Tenants who treat you like shit because you command respect and are in charge. (You can’t win, either you’re too easy or too hard). Property values that plummett because of tenant’s trashing it. Tenants that sue for many tens of thousands of $ due to non-existing and therefore unprovable “negligence”. Overall lower quality of life worrying about a place that isn’t filled, and mortgage payments that can’t be made. Possible bankruptcy. Possible loss of everything else I’ve worked so hard for. All while most of these people get thier money for free.
Yeah, real estate is definitely hell. The only saving grace is when one is lucky enough to find a gem of a tenant (one in approximately 100).
Answer: Using “connections”, as you euphemisticly put it, is about the quickest way to jail, bankruptcy or both, that I can think of. Tenants know that and would welcome and encourage you to use force. Ever see “Pacific Heights”? Well, yes. Of course, your tenant might have “connections” as well. I guess it’s a question of whose brother is bigger. As a landlord, I invariably have more to lose (assets, income) than a tenant. If it goes to court, I could lose everything, but the tenant probably has nothing to lose. Not great odds. But I’m not above behaving “worse” than the tenant. I don’t “hang out” here. This is my second post.
Doing things I enjoy becomes very difficult when one is tied up in the stress of not being able to make a mortgage payment and on the verge of a bankruptcy.
I came here to try to help those interested in persuing this form of investment understand what I’m up against. I’ve had emails from newbies asking more specific questions and advice on what to avoid, and I’ve been able to help them a great deal in explaining what NOT to do, and what is and isn’t bogus in the area of real estate information sales nowadays.
I came here to help folks understand how hellish a business this is…and in the process I’m hopefully able to help others avoid what’s happened to me…which is more than enough of a worthwhile reason to make the posts. When it’s all a person can think about due to the severity of the situation, it is a small but meaningful outlet for me and others to vent….ok?
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