Many people don’t want to be a landlord because they’ve heard all the horror stories from landlords who had the “tenant from hell”. These are tenants who call all the time and at all hours of the day and night and/or tenants who cause extensive damage to your property and tenants who don’t pay on time so you are constantly chasing rent checks.
I had a tenant from hell.
Before I learned how to pick the right properties which would attract the right tenants, I got stuck with a tenant from hell. This lady called because her bedroom door knob was lose and wanted someone to get over to the house right away to fix it. She called an hour later wanting to know why someone had not shown up yet. She called because the toilet was stopped up, because she flushed a diaper down the toilet. She called because she could not get the mini blind up or down. She called just about every day to make my life miserable. This was just the first month. The 2nd month, her rent was late which was really a blessing because it gave me the opportunity to evict her.
Eviction in Texas takes about a week for a court date after you pay the $150 to file for eviction. She showed up in eviction court with her whole family who explained how it would cause a hardship for her to have to move out because she was sick.
Yea right! Sick in the head! (my blood boils just thinking about this lady)
Luckily, the Judge is a landlord too and has run up against these kind or people before. So he told her to get out. She left the place a filthy mess but I was glad to get rid of the tenant from hell.
A tenant like this makes you either want to get rid of your rental properties or get serious about learning how to manage properties/tenants. I could not endure another tenant from hell.
So, I purchased Jack Miller’s MANAGEMENT MASTERS COLLECTION course.
This 8 book management course was a real eye opener.
It helped me realize all the things I’d been doing wrong and provided a whole new way to select rental properties and manage tenants. (never accept a tenant who has only lived in an apartment all their life… like my tenant from hell)
It gave me all the information I needed to pick the right kind of houses/neighborhoods which would attract the right kind of tenants who pay on time, take care of the house, do not call, and stay for many many years or decades.
The rental contract, which comes with the Management Masters Collection was tough. That’s good because it self-eliminates a lot of tenants who could have turned out to be tenants from hell.
The Management Masters Collection also taught me to set up systems so management would be hassle free. Luckily, all the checklists and paperwork are provided so it made it easier to implement the systems right away.
Without the systems taught in the Management Masters Collection it would be impossible for me to own rental properties in the US even though I live in Central America.
Later, I attended David Tilney’s Hassle Free Management class. David uses many of the same systems taught in the Management Masters Collection plus even more systems so you can be a hands-off manager.
For example, David uses ACH to collect rents. He can collect all his rents in about 5 minutes….automatically.
It is a condition of renting from David Tilney.
But, all the potential tenants I interviewed were against allowing me access to their bank accounts to collect rents. I did not want to lose great tenants, just because they did not want to use ACH.
So, I give all tenants a book of deposit slips which are coded for their property. They can go in to any Bank of America to pay their rent (make a deposit) in to a special DEPOSIT ONLY account for rent collection. The funds in the account are swept in to a different account which the tenants do not have access to. My tenants do not need to mail rent checks, I don’t need to fill out deposit slips then go to the bank to make a deposit. My tenants make the deposit for me. It’s such a time saver. And tenants love it.
I can look online to verify that rents have been paid on time.
In the Management Masters Collection, Jack suggests having a credit card of file with authorization to charge it if rents are not paid by a certain date.
With a good house, in a good neighborhood, and a good management system in place, being a landlord is a joy.
My tenants are, or already have, paid off the houses which produce monthly cash flow.
You might think that dealing with bad tenants is just part of being a landlord. Well, it does not need to be!
Don’t avoid being a landlord because you’re afraid of getting stuck with the tenant from hell. Instead, learn hands-off, hassle-free property management systems.
There are two ways to learn:
Jack Miller’s 8-Book set MANAGEMENT MASTERS COLLECTION
David Tilney’s HASSLE-FREE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SEMINAR. He only teaches this class once a year. The next class is September 28- 30 in Costa Mesa California.
Or you can get lessons from the tenant from hell. (not advised)
If you ever plan to own rental property, or if you plan to master lease houses, or lease option houses, you absolutely need to learn how to manage properties.
Best of Success,
Jackie
P.S. The Management Masters Collection is on sale until the end of September.
