How do you cope with tenants or lodgers?

bobwilson

Yalpsmol wrote: »

How did you unintentionally find and charge people to live with you?
Get rid of them on purpose.

I truly wish my life were as simple as that at this present moment. Cool post tho bro :cool:

bobwilson

grumiofoundation wrote: »

Apparently it is not possible to be a landlord and make a monthly profit.

That reminds me I need to contact my landlord to check they are making enough money and see if they need me to pay them more.

If they've told you they're not making a profit, I'm sure a simple lack of "my landlord is the richest filthiest person in the world" attitude would suffice. This would include not expecting a random rent discount because "I'm poor & you're a rich landlord", not expecting the landlord to pay for a cleaner because "I shouldn't have to clean, you're a landlord and therefore rich enough to pay a cleaner to clean up after me", and if the landlord ever does anything nice for you such as cooking or treating you, a simple "thanks" would suffice, instead of an evil glare and self-entitled comment "Leave it in my cupboard & I'll eat it if & when I have time later.".. or a simple lack of attitude "well, you're a rich landlord taking advantage of me just to line your pockets with extra wealth, so you should pay my bills for me", would probably suffice.

Smodlet

bobwilson, you are absolutely right when you say all LLs are tarred with the same brush and labelled as greedy, unreasonable, soulless profiteers who enjoy making their tenants' or lodgers's lives miserable. I cannot imagine how any of us got that impression, can you?

ThemeOne

I think a lot of it boils down to being able to make good decisions about prospective tenants and lodgers when they come to view the room, and sticking with your feeling.

I outlined my experiences on your other thread, including the rather grim story of lodger number 3. In retrospect, I can see the danger signals were there when I intereviewed him, yet I chose to ignore them, and paid the price. The problem I had was I'd been advertising the room for quite some time with little interest, so felt if I didn't take this guy then I could be waiting months longer. I now really wish I'd waited.

We're constantly being told about the terrible housing shortage, yet whenever I've advertised my room there's never exactly been a queue round the block for it. And no, it's not too expensive or particularly horrible, or in an inconvenient location.

I agree with the age thing. Both lodgers who've been bad were over 35. The good guy was 19 when he came, but quite a mature 19.

Yalpsmol

Stop being so passive aggressive. You said you didnt mean to become a landlord. No one knows why you are one or how it happened "to" you (as it were). You arent making any money. So suggesting you stop is a reasonable suggestion. If it happened "unintentionally" and isnt turning a profit I am assuming it isnt for financial reasons so continuing makes no sense.

FTBAngst

Or share your original post with all future prospective lodgers. That way you’ll either get exactly what you expect from the lodger or find yourself out of the landlord business the same way you went in (unintentionally)

BrassicWoman

take a large deposit

use it to deep clean if the tenants leave the house in a bad state on exit

write professional cleaning into the contract

ignore things that happen between entry and exit

Slithery

bob,

You didn't just wake up one morning and find that you'd magically signed tenancy agreements in your sleep, this was a conscious decision of yours. There is no such thing as an accidental LL, you're just pi**ed because you didn't research a proper business plan and because of that you're not making the money that you assumed you would.

Whose fault is that?

Slithery (41 year-old renter in an HMO that cleans up and pays his bills on time)

Smodlet

I have now read your other thread, bobwilson, and it does seem as if you have had more than your fair share of nightmare lodgers. I have had far more than my fair share of nightmare neighbours through absolutely no fault of my own. I cannot control who moves in next door to me so I do empathise to an extent; at least you can rid yourself of your problem lodgers with far less delay than a LL of tenants can. An unfortunate neighbour has no control at all.

You write so eloquently I could almost smell some of your lodgers, feel the floor shake as they stampeded around and the outrage at waking up to find the front door wide open.

Could trial periods be a thing? Offer a lodger a month with the proviso they can be asked to leave at any time if they break house rules? Is that even necessary with lodger? I thought you could just tell them to sling their hook whenever you liked. I think I would choose to move somewhere cheaper so I did not have to put up with them, myself.

Still don't see how you can become a LL without making a conscious choice to do so.

AdrianC

Smodlet wrote: »

I have now read your other thread, bobwilson

<looks>
Good grief!

Which one?

There's a whole STACK of them... "Day in the life" in the Praises/Vents/Warnings forum...