The Successful Landlord Blog

I recently finished reading a great book called Enough: True Measures of Money, Business, and Life by John C. Bogle, famously known for founding the mutual-fund investment company named Vanguard.

Bogle mostly laments the fact that many of the old values in American, and presumably world, business are all but defunct. It seems that simple ideas like long-term service to clients, fair employee compensation and the level of expected business returns have all but gone out the window in favor of a single goal. Profit. And more of it.

He also points out, in great detail, the systemic problems now becoming plainly visible in the financial systems of the world’s developed countries today. That part in itself was a very interesting and educational read.

Bogle comes from the “old school” in that, he way he was raised (“to save rather than to spend”) which is all but looked down upon these days especially in America, in my opinion. Read the rest of this entry »

So I recently became aware of a new product by Dutch Boy Paints called Refresh. Although I have not used this product myself yet, I certainly would like to try it the next time it becomes necessary to perform a “trash out” in a previous tenant’s unit.

It never ceases to amaze me that tenants will check the box “No” on the rental application that asks (in plain English) “Do you smoke?” And then proceed to smoke indoors, presumably with the doors and windows closed judging from the lovely brown nicotine patina adorning the walls after a year. Not to mention the accompanying odor. Read the rest of this entry »

Thinking back on the last few maintenance issues I’ve had with rental properties, I’ve come to the conclusion that most tenants are clueless about electrical panels and utilities in general.

Here’s a synopsis of the last three maintenance calls I’ve fielded:

First, I got a call a couple of months ago from a tenant who reported that their heating system had failed and they were freezing in the 60°F weather. I asked them if they had checked the breaker panel for tripped breakers and they had not. After resetting the breaker for the heating element in their A/C unit, all was well. Read the rest of this entry »

Today I had a conversation with a good friend who just rented a residential property she owns. She asked me a question about how I handle my tenant security deposits. Florida state law says that tenant security deposits must be kept in a separate  non-interest bearing bank account in Florida. As in, you cannot “commingle” (mix) deposit money and business operating money in one account.

Apparently she had asked a long-time seasoned landlord the same question and he said that no one ever checks and he keeps his deposits in his operating account.

Early on in my (not so?) illustrious landlord career, I asked another long-time landlord the same question and she said that, yes the state law says that but she keeps her tenant deposits in an interest bearing account. Granted, the number of units she owns number in the hundreds so the interest earned on her deposits would be substantial. Mine? Not so much.

Regardless, I like to follow the law to the letter so that if I’m ever in front of a judge for any reason to do with landlord-tenant issues, the judge will have absolutely no choice BUT to find in my favor. Believe me, in my experience it’s worked like that before. To quote the judge, “Ma’am, if you want to stay there you MUST pay the rent. It’s the law.” And this was after asking me all these questions about the eviction procedure to see if I screwed up on my procedure.