is it realistic to be a successful land lord if you work hard and have the money or are my chances slim?

Answer 1

screen, screen, screen your tenants. Get a complete standardized application from each person who will occupy a unit including their last 3 places of residence with landlord contact numbers, employers, soc. sec. date of birth, etc. VERIFY everything. Call at least the last 2-3 landlords, verify their employment. I can't stress that enough. If you carefully screen you will weed out 80% of your problems before they ever become your problems. Don't fall for sob stories. The only real legitimate sob story is that many people coming out of divorce have a negative credit blip on their record, but usually everything else looks fine and they had good credit previous to the divorce.

Answer 2

Real estate is a key component in building long term wealth, but many think being a landlord is a way to get rich quick. Those people quickly become disillusioned or burnt out especially if the tenants are less than desirable. What people need to know is in the first three years you’ll have what’s called “negative cash flow.” The cost of acquiring and fixing up the property will cost more than the money coming in. So you need to be prepared for that. Running a background check is also important in the screening process. Just add the cost of that check into the application fee you charge people. Being a landlord also requires a certain personality and temperament. If you have tenants calling all the time about fixing things or questions about the place you have to be able to let that roll off your back. You also have to consider whether you want to own an individual home, duplex, apartment(s), or condominium(s). Most professional real estate investors prefer single family homes - there are some maintenance plusses to owning a condo. Money Magazine has a new article out entitled “Reality Check,” which is about how difficult it is to be a landlord. If you’re planning to be a landlord be honest with yourself and be prepared for a challenge. Screening tenants is your first priority and you should charge the potential tenant for that check. If you don’t think you’ll be a good landlord but you’d like to own property, have someone manage the property for you. # If you rent property, manage it as if it were a business. Set a rent that's fair for your market, not one that's based on your mortgage payment. # Require prospective tenants to fill out an application, and ask them to supply a copy of their credit report. # Make the security deposit a little higher or lower, but not the same as, a month's rent. # For landlords with just one or two properties, include a repair clause that makes the tenant responsible for the first $50 cost of any repair. To do this, you may have to charge a little less in rent. # Provide a $25 or $50 discount for early rent payment. # Do a move-in inspection and move-out inspection of the property to protect yourself in case you have to keep part or all of the security deposit to cover damage. # If your tenants do not pay the rent, be prepared to evict them. # If you're relocating far away from your property, ask a friend or relative to handle the rental, in return for some compensation, or consider professional management.

Answer 3

The biggest problem is knowing the market. There are a lot of con artists out there who will just flat out lie to you about what kind of rent they are getting or about occupancy rates to get you to pay way to much for their property.

1. If you have the ability do the remodeling work yourself.
2. If you can buy homes that need work and avoid buying one that someone else has put a renter in you are more likely to get ahead.
3. Know your market, Search Craigsligst, backpage.com, rentclicks.com and your local newspapers. Get to know what stuff rents for and try to factor that into your equations.

If the guy your buying from is telling you he's at 99% occupancy and getting $700 a month in rent. Make sure other properties in the neighborhood are priced the same. You can even ask neighbors how much they pay for rent.

One common trend is to tell you the place is fully leased, when all they have done is fill it with warm bodies that do not pay rent.

Make sure you do not buy a house or residential property based on income alone! Do not pay more than the houses in the neighborhood are selling for even if the rent is high!

Check out my articles on investment property at: http://www.turnkeyproperties.org/resources_details.php?id_art=66556&img_id=0

and http://www.turnkeyproperties.org/custom2.php

Answer 4

I am 20 years old I just bought a duplex w/ 0 down. I don't even know how I did it, but I did it? I have tenants currently occupying both of the residents. So far there has not been any big problems, but if someone moves out I have to find another tenant and from what I hear it's ALL ABOUT SCREENING or your screwed hard to kick out tenants now days, it can take up to 2-3 months. But it's possible make sure you treat them good! And be Fair! Best of luck!

Answer 5

First, Treat it like the business it is. There is no room for emotions.

Second, It's not for the weak or faint of heart. Tenants can and will be problems sometimes, learn how to deal with the problems before the situation arises. Read books, take courses, ask your local ABA for any help to answers.

Third, Be diligent.

Fourth, Make out a plan to purchase units where they will be best suited to your expectations.

Have fun, I have been doing it for years. Someone once told me that real estate is the only business that you can screw up in and still make a profit. All I have to do is look back to confirm their comment.

Good luck

Answer 6

It's a great feeling to be a property owner,but don't get greedy. Treat your tenants like people,not some mindless robots who pay you rent at the beginning of the month.
I agree you should do background checks on your tenants to see who you're renting to. But also do something unexpected for your tenants like pay for an exterminator out of YOUR pocket once a month.
My family and I have been in enough places where the only time we saw the landlord was when it was time to collect.

Answer 7

Unfortunately I know that its realistic. I can say so because I have seen in the news countless times of landlords that own properties and are making a lot of money renting them. I think Donald Trump is a landlord 'cause he owns all of those buildings that bear his name and those buildings rent space.

It also depends on how you do it.

One of the biggest problems with being a landlord is having tenants that pay their rent. Going through an official eviction process is time-consuming and it has to be done right.

Answer 8

Yes, you can be successful! Be careful who you rent to. Make sure you have them fill out an application. And get their SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBERS. You will need them later if you ever have to file suit on them for nonpayment of rent so you can garnish their wages. Be sure to ask for a good sized cleaning deposit on the place before they move in. And ask for references and be sure to check those references!
If you are careful who you rent to, you will be very successful.
Good luck to you!

Answer 9

You have to do exactly as you stated in your post. Also be very fair and honest and keep your properties up.

Answer 10

Sure! Go for it!

Best wishes.