I am the landlord of 13 rental units.
- I do our best to keep the apartments in great shape.
Whenever a tenant moves out, I take the chance to renovate and replace. I’ve gradually substituted most of the windows and light fixtures in the building. I’ve painted walls, run current electrical lines and plumbing and invested in higher quality appliances. I’ve bought current stoves, refrigerators, washers, dryers and water heaters. I’ve installed smart thermostats, automated door locks and surveillance cameras, every week, I devote hours to maintaining lawns, cutting shrubs, raking and the necessary yard work. Most of our tenants appreciate our efforts. They spend money on their rent on time and only call myself and others when there’s a problem they can’t resolve. I don’t mind getting called for busted pipes or a malfunctioning air conditioner. I get aggravated by those tenants who are never ecstatic and always have an issue. I sometimes get called because a light bulb needs to be taken out or a filter needs to be cleaned. I entirely had a tenant complain to me that her place was dusty. I’ve gotten complaints for grass on the walkway after I mowed the lawn. There’s been issues because some tenants don’t wash up after their pets. When I mow the lawn, I don’t want to run over pet poop. The other tenants don’t want to step in it or smell it. I finally had to threaten to raise everybody’s rent if I found any more dog poop in the lawn. There are times when I consider turning over the responsibility to a property management corporation. It would cost myself and others several percent of the rent but might be worth it.