warning, do not be a landlord in florida (Orlando: wood floors, rental)

vman650 · 05-13-2009, 05:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by floridasandy

you are absolutely mistaken and you obviously don't have any idea how much damage a bad renter can cause, especially if they steal everything as well as vandalize. pool damage can run into lots of dollars, as well as actual property damage. i have had rentals in florida previously and never had a bad tenant. i am just warning people that times are a-changing!

I guess it is just the cost of doing business. People are buying homes all over Florida with the intention of renting until they can sell at a profit. Good luck to them. I love all of these people who say get this and that before you rent. Works great when there are lines of renters just dying to rent your property. In times like this, owners may have to make due with anyone they can get. Many also charge an exorbitant rent and refuse to return down payments at the end of the lease. You see, it cuts both ways. Give the renter a break, do not be greedy, be honest and fix things promptly and hopefully you will rent to good people and turn a fair profit.

MovedfromFL · 05-13-2009, 07:27 AM

I agree that you have to be careful with property management companies. My parents used one to rent out my grandfather's house and it turned into a total nightmare. Deal animal bones in the yard, motorcycles IN the home, etc. We found about about how bad things were when the neighbors called my parents. The management company was a well known national real estate company. I begged my parents to sue them, but they never got around to it. Based on that experience, if I were to have a rental property, I would handle it all myself.

vman650 · 05-13-2009, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnVosilla

Landlording will be a great biz again for those who buy cheap during this period. The best inflation hedge out there coming out of this downturn especially when you can borrow fixed at record low rates. The past 5-6 years has been a roller coaster ride destroying most in the game. I agree the tenant pool isn't what it once was but hopefully time heals wounds and a better real economy will reverse that trend down the road. I will start holding long term rentals again within another 18-24 months.

If I were a lawyer, I would be moving to SW Florida. Can you imagine what will happen when some of those Chinese Drywall homes are rented out with one year leases. Good money can be made if you are a proactive owner who lives in the area and keeps an eye on the properties. Lots of those foreign investors will be renting from far away and this is a recipe for disaster. Renters will be very unhappy if they have to deal with a management company which does not do repairs. Worse still for the owners, if they charge for repairs that are not done. Another fly in the soup is social security. If they change the retirement age to 69, it will be quite a few more years before you see those snowbirds. All of the old rules no longer apply. You need to be on your toes and flexible in the coming years. Nothing is as easy as it seems. Good luck.

thebeersoapcompany · 05-24-2009, 02:25 PM

I am sorry for the landlords out there dealing with shady tenants. I never understood why some people think it is ok to destroy another's property or not pay for the roof over their heads. And it is a shame that you can't just kick them out.

Collecting a bunch of money up front does not guarantee that the tenant will be a great tenant either. I hope that those landlords who overprice their homes to weed out the riffraff are also open to negotiating their asking prices when they meet a worthy tenant.

I think that when renting you really have to check the renter's history, references, and beyond that, use your guy instinct and get a feel for what type of person they are. As a renter in Florida I have never paid more than first and last, or first and security, and I never will. I can understand from a landlord's perspective why they would charge so much up front, but realize that in this economy not too many people have $4g or more laying around to hand someone just to move into their house.

As a renter I also shy away from any ad that says "section 8 ok", because that immediately makes me feel as if the neighborhood is in a less than desirable area, with houses with worn down or no grass left in the yard. I know there are probably some great section 8 folks out there, don't get me wrong. But I just stay away.

I am now in the process of moving back to Florida now for school (currently in Ohio.) Hoping to find something roomy in Homestead.

tallrick · 05-25-2009, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vman650

If I were a lawyer, I would be moving to SW Florida. Can you imagine what will happen when some of those Chinese Drywall homes are rented out with one year leases. Good money can be made if you are a proactive owner who lives in the area and keeps an eye on the properties. Lots of those foreign investors will be renting from far away and this is a recipe for disaster. Renters will be very unhappy if they have to deal with a management company which does not do repairs. Worse still for the owners, if they charge for repairs that are not done. Another fly in the soup is social security. If they change the retirement age to 69, it will be quite a few more years before you see those snowbirds. All of the old rules no longer apply. You need to be on your toes and flexible in the coming years. Nothing is as easy as it seems. Good luck.

It would be a good thing to be able to sue foreign investors. The more money they lose the more likely they will be to stay away from Florida in the future. So while I generally dislike lawyers this is one thing they could do in service to Florida.

Hornblaster · 06-18-2009, 10:00 PM

I have owned rental properties in Florida (Virginia and Maryland) since 1972, always with professional property management. Only in the past ten or so years has the quality of the experience in Florida noticably gone down--and it's getting worse with no help from the lawyers in Tallahassee. That seems to correspond with the lower educational level of people who have been encouraged to move into Central Florida. Today's managers don't manage. Today's tenants don't know how to protect other people's property. Without my personal interventions (firing management, reporting code violations, and seeing to it that repairs are made), I could have become a slum landlord. In either case, it seems that managers and tenants in Florida are equally arrogant. Further, state laws have become skewed in favor of the tenants. Curiously, the same thing has not been my experience with Maryland and Virginia properties. P.S. What does an owner do with a tenant who uses the kitchen range as a charcoal bar-b-cue pit, or alternatively conducts voodoo ceremonies with chickens on the back porch? After all, that's what the tenant did back home on the island!

annerk · 06-19-2009, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tallrick

Makes you wonder why those investors are buying up so many foreclosed properties and renting them. I hope the renters are so bad that they cost them a fortune. Who cares if landlords suffer, I tried that game and gave up years ago. Let home prices fall so everyone can buy and eliminate renting altogether.

Some people are good tenants and DON'T WANT to buy.

How about the people who are temporarily relocated for work and will only be in the area for a year? I know a couple renting in the Boston area right now because he was transferred there with work on a one year project. It would be foolish to buy a home there when they will only be there for a short time.

My mom sold the home she lived in for 35 years and moved into a rental. She didn't want to deal with maintenance and upkeep. She's clean and quiet--really the ideal tenant.

There are bad tenants and bad landlords, but there are also great tenants and great landlords.

floridasandy · 06-20-2009, 06:30 AM

movedfromflorida, was that coldwell banker?

hornblaster, that was my point exactly. i have had rentals in florida previously and had good tenants. i don't know if the economy changing is affecting the market or if people are developing a sense of entitlement and are more irresponsible than they used to be. i do believe that the laws need to be changed so theft is seen and identified as theft. i have been very disappointed with the indian river county sheriff's department in their handling of the situation. i don't give up easily, though!

Retiredcoach · 06-20-2009, 07:27 AM

The problem with being a landlord in today's economy is not unique to Florida. The pool of quality tenants everywhere is shrinking , due to many factors driven by this recession. Contrary to the advice given by some to rent high (therefore "pricing out" the riff raff), I have found the opposite to be true. I have found that if I charge below market rents, I enhance the number of potential quality tenants, and my units rent faster. I have also found that the tenants tend to stay longer, as they perceive the rental as affordable.

stars99 · 06-20-2009, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Retiredcoach

The problem with being a landlord in today's economy is not unique to Florida. The pool of quality tenants everywhere is shrinking , due to many factors driven by this recession. Contrary to the advice given by some to rent high (therefore "pricing out" the riff raff), I have found the opposite to be true. I have found that if I charge below market rents, I enhance the number of potential quality tenants, and my units rent faster. I have also found that the tenants tend to stay longer, as they perceive the rental as affordable.

I agree with Coach. Why would you overprice a unit? Either you won't get a tenant, or you'll get someone who resents you right from the beginning.