The Successful Landlord Blog

So I had a thought the other day about items which make my life as a landlord easier. Not all of them are super high-tech but they can come in really handy and save a lot of time when you need them.

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Kwikset SmartKey Lockset

This is one of the “higher tech” items. I have changed so many entry door locksets between tenants more times than I care to remember. These ingenious devices make that job a complete breeze. These locks can be “re-programmed” to accept a new key in about 30 seconds. So, if a tenant decides that they’re moving out and taking the keys with them. It’s not a problem, except trying to collect the appropriate fees that is.

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A Good Bolt Cutter

This can be an indispensable tool for when tenants decide to chain or lock things that they’re not supposed to. I’ve had tenants chain a tire to a tree branch to make a swing for their kids and then… leave without removing it.

I’ve also had tenants lock a storage shed containing all their junk belongings…and you guessed it..break the lease without taking it with them. Read the rest of this entry »

Happy New Year readers! Things have been here slow here at Landlord-Success.com recently, hence the lack of posts. But, with a new year comes new ambitions. So here’s a new post for your reading enjoyment.

Recently I heard the following story about a hapless landlord who found himself in a pickle because for some reason he did not collect a security deposit from a tenant.

As a preface to this story, I should mention that here in Melbourne, FL there seems to be an unwritten rule about the landlord-tenant relationship. It is virtually impossible to collect first month’s rent, last month’s rent AND a security deposit. I have no idea why that is but normally, only two of the above are collected.

So, back to Mr Hapless who owns a single-family home which is occupied by a tenant. He decides that he has had enough of this landlording nonsense and decides to sell his investment. Everything goes normally with the sale up to the point of having the property inspected by the potential buyer. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I had the opportunity to review a piece of rental property management software called Landlord Enterprise 2009 offered by Provericon Software Development based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

This tightly integrated and intuitively designed software allows property managers or landlords, large and small, to perform critical tasks such as tenant management, property management, property maintenance scheduling, document management, lease management and some light accounting. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the moment every landlord dreads!  No, not finding out that the a/c is busted.  Sure that one’s pretty huge, but if you know the right repairman, even that one can be far less painful than it has to be.  The OTHER dreadful thing – your tenant is broke/relocating/divorcing/marrying and has to move.  Sure, you’ve done everything that you can possibly do to make your house and the maintenance of it a dream come true.   They are so happy there that they never want to leave.  Another year passes and you glance at the calendar to see the renewal date has come and you promptly send out the renewal agreement.  Thinking nothing of it, you continue about your business without a worry.  They don’t ever want to leave –  right?

Days pass until one evening you see the caller id flicker with their name.  Your heart sinks to your knees.  When you answer, you find that your fear is confirmed.  Life has thrown a curve ball and they are unable to stay put.  Worse yet, the tenant is squeezing out with barely the required notice, leaving you no time to find that much needed new tenant and to handle those necessary inspections, repairs, yardwork and a top to bottom cleaning. Read the rest of this entry »