A Landlord's Guide

 

I.  Attracting Tenants
II. Transplanting
IIb. Transplanting
III. Nurturing
IV. Uprooting

A LANDLORD'S GUIDE FOR
CULTIVATING PROFITABLE TENANTS
  (or, WHAT EVERY TENANT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT LANDLORD'S RIGHTS.)

By Walter Smoter Frank & Sylvia Friedman.

Copyright © 1988 by Walter S. Frank & Sylvia Friedman. TXU 237-877. ISBN 0-96l9554-O-6. This "book" or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the permission of the authors. Published by: FRONTIER, Seattle, WA 98101.. Revised by the authors for the WEB, 2000. Contact: fsmoter-msn.com (due to auto-generated spam, you supply the @ in place of the -).

PREFACE :

For the writing of this book we have relied on fifty-four combined years of managing our own residential properties as well as the real estate of others. In the interim we have served respectively as editor and secretary for a Rental Association and have listened to hundreds of landlords across the United States and Canada. Landlord Tenant relations, we have learned, can be very demoralizing to the uninformed.

We found the landlord's biggest concern is not managing and maintaining their rental properties, but handling the people who live in them. Most landlords will admit privately that one-third of their tenants leave much to be desired. When we purchased our first rental properties and started dealing with tenants, our experiences were the same. We spent many years chasing the rent and trying to keep tenants in line, then spent weeks cleaning up the mess and the bills many left behind.

Today, less than one in ten of our tenants create any difficulties, and serious rent payment problems are almost non-existent. The overwhelming majority of our tenants also leave their rentals clean and undamaged when they move.

The reason for our lack of problems is our method of dealing with tenants. We handle them the same as one would handle a planting for his house or garden. If one spends a little time selecting and cultivating, few problems and great bounty follow. As anyone with a green thumb knows, however, there are always a few plantings that go astray. They must be brought under control quickly or pulled up by the roots and discarded. Some tenants must be dealt with in a similar manner.

Whether you have a single home or a multiplex for rent, the contents of this book will provide many easily adaptable methods for attracting, choosing and dealing with tenants. Furthermore, you will gain a understanding of how today's landlord/tenant relations have come about and an understanding of the landlord's ignored and overlooked rights. With this knowledge you will not only reduce present or future problems, but add to your profitability. That is why you are in the business.

The first part of this guide is devoted to attracting profitable tenants, the second part to transplanting them, the third part to nurturing them and a small fourth part to uprooting any possible bad seeds.

CONTENTS

PART ONE. ATTRACTING TENANTS

ONE. HOW TENANTS FIND HOUSING
     Driving-by
     Recommendations
     Newspaper Advertisements
     Other
     Summary

TWO. WHAT TENANTS WANT IN HOUSING
     Location
     Curb Appeal
     Number of Bedrooms
     Price
     Neighbors
     Interior of Rental
     Other
     Summary

THREE. WHY TENANTS CHOOSE HOUSING
     They Can't Have Everything
     Telephone Impressions
     Sensible Appointments
     Rental's Features
     Summary

PART TWO. TRANSPLANTING TENANTS

FOUR. INSPECTING POTENTIAL TENANTS
     "Types" of Tenants
     Perception
     Listening
     Looking
     Applications
     Application Example
     Summary

FIVE. REFUSING POTENTIAL TENANTS
     Your Rights
     Twenty-five Reasons For Refusing Tenants
     Unlawful Detainer Registers
     Retaliatory "Law Suits"
     Summary

PART TWO B
SIX. ACCEPTING TENANTS
     Choosing
     Security Deposits
     Ten Parts of a Lease
     Quick Leases
     Amended HUD Lease (& link to HUD)
     Condition Report Example
     One Condition Report
     Summary

SEVEN. WHAT TENANTS DON'T LIKE
     "Bad" Neighbors
     Large Rent increases
     Unfulfilled Promises
     Uninvited Visitors
     Summary

PART THREE. NURTURING TENANTS

EIGHT. DEALING WITH TENANTS
     New Myths and the Landlord
     Rent Payments
     Asking Tenant to Conform
     Tenant Versus Neighbors
     Tenant's Children & Company
     Unauthorized Roommates
     Tenant's Spouse
     Tenant Wants Something
     Tenant Crime
     Summary

NINE. WHY TENANTS MOVE
     Upward Mobility
     Outgrow Space
     Partnership Related
     Job Related
     Superficial change
     Cheaper Rent
     Neighbors
     Other
     Summary

TEN. THE VACATING TENANT
     How Long They Stay
     Notices
     Deadlines
     Normal Wear and Tear
     Cleanliness
     Damages
     Withholding Security Deposits
     Summary

PART FOUR. UPROOTING TENANTS

ELEVEN. EVICTING THE TENANT
     Preliminaries
     Bluff? Bribe? or Intimidate?
     Unlawful Detainer Actions
     The Hearing
     Summary

Top of Page

This "book" is a guide designed to provide accurate and authoritative information. It is sold with the understanding that neither the publishers nor the authors are engaged in rendering legal advice. Because of various state and local laws, detailed legal research, or expert assistance may be required in determining the exact laws of your locality. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

(Copyright © 1988 by Walter Frank & Sylvia Friedman. TXU 237-877. ISBN 0-96l9554-O-6. This "book" or any part thereof may not be reproduced without the permission of the Authors. Published by: FRONTIER, Seattle, WA 98101. Revised by the authors for the WEB, 2000.)

Contact: fsmoter-msn.com (due to auto-generated spam, you supply the @ in place of the -).