The Hassle of Being a Landlord!

A few months back, you were so excited about buying a rental property and becoming a landlord! The feel, the power to control and devise policies simply fires up your soul but now when dealing with tenants, it seems like a real drag. Being a landlord can give you shivers because your duties have just expanded. It’s about managing two homes which is like two families; proposition might’ve sounded simple earlier but not today!

Highlighted below are a few downsides of self-managing a property however, purpose isn’t to dissuade you from moving forward. What’s painful to one might be an antidote for another depending on skills, resources, time and long-term strategic planning. It’s just, don’t let greed of earning money cloud your vision. Keep reading as we lift the curtain!

Initiating Capital

Though it’s not something ignorable, eager landlords fail to anticipate the cost of purchasing investment property thus ending in a debt pile. In-short, never expect start-up cost to end at close time. On the other hand, what if you initially bought a deteriorated home just for the sake of low-cost!

Repairs and maintenance is going to cost you equal or more to make property "rentable". Experiencing any damage to the foundation, wiring, plumbing or any other is going to chew thousands of dollars. Remodelling also costs extra such as adding a more effective security system with reinforced steel front and backdoors, deadbolts, peepholes and hard rails.

Rent Collection & Defaulter

There’re many different kinds of tenants when it comes to rental payment; the good, the moderate and the worst! It’s like those who always pay rent on time, others who either pay on time or delay but do inform owner in advance and then there’re those who lay dormant. Apparently you’ve to pay bills, manage upkeep and other expenses associated.

Facing tenants is another mission you’ve to complete and it gets tougher when meeting a six months defaulter! You’ll have your blood boil just thinking about it but violence isn’t the answer. If such thing happens, prepare "Notice of Eviction" and draft it, wait for response which will definitely come if your tenant is still alive.

Do you’ve time to visit the tenants personally and collect rent or will you look through property management companies list? Whatever the case, it’s preferred to at-least dig into details as what if your tenant is in trouble or come across some fatal accident! Abrupt action may further pose trouble for both you and occupant hence think twice before leaping.

The Problematic Tenants

Two out of ten proprietors end up with troublesome tenants who’re not only defaulters but violent as well. Dealing with these requires vigilance as who knows they’ll let chase their dog after you or simply pretend not to be home! These issues may sound a bit dramatic but it happens. Default and hostility isn’t the only problem; what if they jutted a large fireman’s pole right in front of main entrance or you went inside and saw the walls chalked with graffiti or chipped flooring? The only way to deal with such tenants is to warn them or simply send "eviction notice"

Let’s say you’ve listed a villa for sale in Dubai after looking at the devastating interior, cost of maintenance is usually deducted from security deposit. That’s what rental law of UAE says however it may vary from a country to another.

Summary

Purpose of this article is to highlight problems faced by landlords, not to discourage anyone!

This article is written with the co-operation of a leading real estate agency in Dubai "Exclusive Links".

This article was written by David Adam, An experienced online marketer.