Why we hate being landlords

[luvmarypoppins]

Well this situation is going from bad to worse with no end in sight. Worse it was something we inherited and really want no part of but legally we cant do anything yet. The never ending saga of the 2 out of state houses and the 2 cousins who refuse to cooperate with dh and sell the jointly owned property etc. House #1 father in laws who we rented. Poor dh cousin calls and complains to us as usual about the tenants we have, he wants us to drive 100 miles to check on them, hello he lives 2 houses away and if he wanted to not be in the mess, he should cooperate and sell the property. He says the tenant was parking his truck on the front lawn drinking and singing, now he says the tenants son or the tenant is making a huge bonfire in the backyard every night, huh? Well they just paid us the rent on time and the wife wrote dh a nice little note and said thanks for renting us this house, we love it, happy thanksgiving etc. Gee, my dh is so nonconfrontational but we have a good lawyer and a good lease so I told him to please call and talk to him. House #2 is being rented and the guy said he would come to start remodel the kitchen (new tenant) but he hasnt shown up yet according to dh cousin. Also former tenant wants money back for oil she put in tank. Hello she left etc. We are consulting our lawyer about that one. Oh I hate being a landlord. Invest in tax free municipal bonds. The income is much easier and no headaches !! I will have a big post and party when we are finally rid of this mess, hmm in a few years.

 

[missypie]

My FIL should see your post. He didn't get along with his brother...had nothing to do with him as an adult. So FIL has decided that the best way to keep his 4 kids close is to give them all money to buy rental property together! That's about the dumbest thing anyone has ever done. I went a couple of years without talking to any of them over it, because I've been a real estate lawyer for 19 years and the investment the 4 siblings made was dumber than anything any of my clients have ever come up with.

And as the inlaws do their "estate planning", it's obvious that even more rental property will come the way of the 4 siblings. My husband's evil twin (literally) is a CPA and engineers every deal to where he gets fees and commissions and tax deductions and the rest of the siblings write checks to him. It's truly (and literally) criminal but the rest of the siblings are afraid of the brother and don't want to upset their parents by getting into conflicts with each other. It's a living hell!

 

[LoraJ]

I sold my rental property last year. I couldn't take it anymore. I won't do it again unless I have a management company handle everything.

They flooded my basement 3 times, their kid drew all over the walls, they would call and complain about squirrels in the attic and after a $350 exterminator would come by I was told that there wern't any squirrels, they were just tree branches.

They also broke the shower which flooded the kitchen.

And the cats scratched up and ruined my $500 banister railings.

I would have evicted them, but it was rough because they were the family of a friend.

If I do it again, I will probably just rent out a condo in a building that has a super.

 

[chrissyk]

After seeing what my parents went through as landlords, I don't think I could do it. DH and I have considered owning vacation rental units, but that's another story because a management company handles the day-to-day stuff. I could NEVER deal with the garbage that my parents dealt with. Being a landlord is not for me. OP, I hope that you can sell the property and get out of the situation asap.

 

[Sleepy]

I am sorry you are having problems. We are tenants with reverse problems. We are stuck in a lease with an Italian landlord who refuses to do the things listed in the contract that we are paying extra every month for. On top of that, we have not had hot water in the kitchen or downstairs bathroom for 2 months. if I hear DOMANI (means tomorrow) one more time I think I will scream! Worst part is I can't legally get out of the contract until Feb and the thing that gives us the hot water also gives us heat in the entire house. Gonna be a cold winter

Hope you get your problems fixed soon.

 

[kadaten]

Sorry you're having such a rotten time. That's precisely why we sell every time we move, rather than keep the houses and rent.

As for the cousin not cooperating to sell the property: Have you asked your lawyer to bring up a partition lawsuit? That basically forces sale of the property, by court order, with division of the proceeds. It's generally the only way to force someone to sell, and is most often used in cases just like yours. Good luck!