Leaving the Accidental Landlord Life

Whether you’ve inherited a piece of land you didn’t want, unable to sell a home you’ve invested in, or keeping up with a mortgage you can’t afford, becoming an accidental landlord can either be a happy accident or a living nightmare.

 

Some people have an effortless venture with this landlord business. They rent out their properties with minimal problems and generate extra income on the side while they live their merry life elsewhere. It’s something you could observe from people in the military who’d buy properties where they’d be assigned, and find tenants to rent them when they move out to another location. Others have similar opportunities when they get new jobs in a different state, move in with their partner, expect to raise children, or just plan to start a new life elsewhere.

 

That does sound really appealing to some, but for some of you reading this, you might have other thoughts, such as…

 

“I didn’t sign up for this.”

 

Not all are going to be delighted to change carpets, repaint walls, replace busted appliances, or deal with horrible tenants. Even if you don’t have the latter, the hassles of maintaining a property can be a pain in the neck. Some of us aren’t built for collecting rent every month or being called to switch a light bulb at 2 AM. And, one of the worst frustrations to most of us is, quite frankly, getting slapped around by lenders and other financial institutions with little to no options for defending ourselves.

 

If these sentiments are so relatable that you let out an audible “Yes!” then keep on reading because there just might be a way out for you.

 

Think Things Through Before Quitting Your Landlord Life

 

Before you think of stopping your landlord career or side hustle, there might be easy solutions that you’ve never thought of for things you loathe about the business.

 

Find the right tenants. Screening potential tenants to live in your rental home isn’t the most pleasing thing to do when you’re playing a wild guessing game. The reason why some people quit is because of a dreadful experience with a bad tenant. So, to avoid that, make sure to conduct and background check and see how often they move. Invest the time to ask previous landlords to see how they were with them. Low-maintenance tenants can significantly freshen up your landlord experience. If you want to deal with nightmare tenants, you can check the article we’ve written for that.

 

Build effective systems. Perhaps the issue just lies with the inconveniences of having to remember when to do certain things. However, if you have a system to remind you of what’s about to happen, it could significantly decrease the mental burden. Simply set reminders on your phone or calendar for when you need to collect rent or renew your lease.

 

Make your rentals worth your while. You might be tempted to leave because it doesn’t pay as much as you expected. Maybe your rent can still be raised. Do your research to see your competition and raise them accordingly. Installing additional amenities to your units can add a premium to your pricing as well. Also, in line with rent collection, you can opt to automate them so you don’t have to send unnecessary notices to your tenant. Optimizing rent collection makes you and your tenant’s life hassle-free.

 

Hire a reputable handyman. Instead of going for companies to do your maintenance work, a reliable jack-of-all-trades may prove to be more practical, not to mention expecting a consistent quality of work.

 

Delegate the tasks you don’t like to do. Be open to delegating the work you hate to people who’d love to do them. Consider the following: (1) Get a leasing agent to help you find qualified tenants and (2) hire a property manager who’s going to take the load of collecting rent and dealing with any issues that may come up (i.e. maintenance, repairs, replacements, etc.) Creating this “self-managing” structure may cost you, but it relieves you from the obligation sitting on your mind night and day. You’re pretty much just going to wait for the cash to come in every month without breaking a sweat!

 

Cashing Out and Quitting this Landlord Lunacy

 

If the whole “giving it a chance” thing above won’t cut it for you, then this putting a definitive period to this epic saga of your landlord chapter is your best option.

 

Chances are, you still have a tenant staying cozy in your property. Don’t worry. Selling your tenant-filled house is possible. There might be a price drop because of the assumed “used” condition, but then again, the call to freedom is likely to be much stronger at this point. Do take note that you’re going to have to talk to your tenants about the major decision. For month-to-month agreements, giving a 30-day timeline to your tenants to move out is standard, but for fixed-term leases, it’s a different story.

 

If there’s an active, signed contract for a fixed-term lease, selling the property can get a little complicated. You could choose to wait until the contract expires or follow the procedures to terminate the contract if there are valid reasons to do so.

 

“Cash for keys” is a possible course of action to consider. If you haven’t heard of it, it means offering cash to your tenants for the keys to the property. There are a plethora of ways you can do this such as providing the means for moving out, covering the security deposit for their new home, or just straight-up handing out some cash. Should you go for this unconventional tactic, don’t forget to seal the agreement in writing.

 

But if you’re going to be selling the property anyway, why not let the tenant get it from you directly? If you have a long-term, no-issues tenant, wouldn’t selling their current residence to them be the optimum solution? You don’t need to shell out extra cash for real estate agents or make the house aesthetically pleasing for visiting buyers, which clears up the hassles of finding a buyer in the first place!

 

However, doing this isn’t that easy. While you are saving money, you’re going to have to do everything yourself, except for finding potential buyers, of course. There is a sheer amount of commitment attached to the choice of becoming your own real estate agent, which we’ve talked about extensively in a previous article.

 

So why can’t you just sell to someone else like a normal person would? Well, doing it is not impossible, but it’s just that most laws protect tenants for the reason that selling a property (with them as a tenant) would include the transfer of the whole lease and security deposits. Essentially, whoever buys the home would fill in your shoes of being the landlord. This limits the number of people who’d consider buying your ticket to freedom.

 

Your luck hasn’t run out just yet, though. Shorefront Investments can take the burden off of your shoulders. We’re an investment company that deals with these kinds of transactions regularly. We’ve kept our lines open for you to contact us. Send us a message or call us, and we’ll provide you with a fair quote as quickly as possible. With Shorefront Investments, breaking free from the landlord curse is easier than you think!