As father's day approaches and my dad's 81st birthday looming, I thought it would be nice to post a tribute to my dad: a veteran, businessman, and landlord extraordinaire. Please forgive the long-winded post as succinctness is not my forte.
With 46 years of landlording, I have countless stories of what makes him an extraordinary landlord and am struggling to choose which ones to share. To this day, I facepalm at how he's relentlessly caring and compassionate to his tenants. I stopped uttering "why are you being so nice..?" when I realized it's just his SOP.
I believe having repairs/emergencies repaired same day/within 24 hours, being on-call/hands on, and being prompt with paperwork makes him a good landlord. It's what he does and how he treats his tenants that makes him an extraordinaire one.
To put things in context:
Back in the 70s-early 80s, my parents accumulated rental properties while they owner/operated several business. They've sold some of the SFH over the years and now have 18 SFH, a home converted to child day care center, and a 4-plex. All are updated and in excellent condition except for one. They're located in low-budget neighborhoods populated by retirees and fellow rentals. Most tenants live pay check to pay check and a few are in the military. Twelve tenants have lived 5-12 yrs in the homes with a few of them relocating to another home (smaller, better location, less rent)
About 10yrs ago, while my mom reluctantly retired, my dad earned his real estate broker licence just to learn and fulfill a goal. Not long after, he hired Rob, a handy man/carpenter, and started working 10-4pm four/five days a week with him. Nowadays the schedule is more flexible but Rob still works 25-30 hrs a week. My dad picks him up (no driver's license) and finds projects for him to do. Landscaping seems to be the default choice.
With that, let me expand to share that my dad's devotion to helping the self-employed/small business has allowed him to be a unique landlord. Rob, for example, was a down and out master carpenter, virtually unemployable for a variety of reasons. It took time, but my dad helped Rob become a reliable person with strong work ethics. They have a close knit working friendship with my dad helping him and his family whenever possible. Otherwise, my dad's arsenal of repair professionals consists of self-employed people that he's been with for many years to several decades.
One reason he's an extraordinary landlord has to do with his tendency to root for the underdogs and helps them whenever he can. Unfortunately, he loses some cash flow but that doesn't seem to bother him.
Despite the ability to do so, my dad hasn't raised the rent for six of his long-standing tenants in 5 - 8 years. I questioned the loss of income the other week and our conversation went something like this:
Me: Sally's rent is a lot less than the other two apartments,..,
Dad: She can barely pay her rent now with losing some waitressing hours
Me: why don't you rent it to someone else then?
Dad (eye roll):Sally takes care of the place and is a really nice person
Me: what about the School St. rental? It should be rented for more and the tenant has a better job nowadays
Dad: if I raise the rent she might move out
Me: what about raising it just $50-75 instead?
Dad: no, Amanda is doing well, really nice and taking care of the house and yard
Me: why not raise it $25? She could afford it and...
Dad (double eye roll) want some ice cream? There's some Edy's double chocolate...
I don't understand enough about rental property investments to understand my dad's mindset. I do, however, know he shows compassion to those seriously struggling to pay rent due to events out of their control. He's 'hands on' enough to know when it's a good risk for a tenant to pay very late or pay in installments. He also lenient when it comes to move in/move out dates; giving tenants extra days to make the transition easier. And he allows some tenants to pay the security deposit in installments.
I've never had a landlord do the following so I think it makes him extraordinary: He lets tenants borrow fans, heaters (safe ones), furniture and rugs knowing he's not getting them back. He leaves toilet paper, paper towels, plunger, toilet cleaner brush, pack of shower curtains and hooks, tub mat, cleaning towels, bathroom cleaner, windex, stove top cleaner and pads, a/c filters, floor runners and mats for the new tenants. And he restocks the a/c filters as needed. He also sends out Christmas cards and contacts most tenants on their birthdays.
This post is too long now so I'll end it with some misc examples
1. Tenants were seen taking the air conditioners and fridge as they were moving out. My dad didn't press charges after the police were called.
2. The 12 year tenant has been two months behind in rent for over a year 1/2. Tenant occasionally pays extra but doubtly will ever catch up.
3. He postponed evicting a family during Christmas holiday and had Rob help them move out.
4. He pays neighbors to watch over vacant rentals and give them dibs on anything valuable left after a move out
5. After screening and meeting prospective tenants, he's very adept at selecting a decent tenant despite the majority of them being high-risk
I have other examples but suffice to share I know he's helped a lot of people who would have had difficulty finding a decent place to live. For decades now, employees and tenants have let me know how wonderful my dad has been to them. And I thought it would be nice to share this topic with fellow readers.
