I have twelve years experience in the industry.  Sometimes people ask me what is the craziest thing I have ever seen a tenant do… I have seen a lot of insane things and someday I will include them all in a memoir.  But some of the most mind-boggling of them all are things landlords do!  Here are some free tips on how to run a tighter ship and save yourself time and money.

1. Locks and Keys.  First, if you have more than one unit then your building should be on a master key system.  Then you only have to carry around one key for the rest of eternity and even when you change the locks, your key remains the same.  Also, if you have a common door that leads into 2 or more units, the tenant also only has to carry around one key the will open their apartment & the front door, but no other doors. Second, if you have more than one exterior door on a single faming home or a condo, then you should key all the locks alike.  For your sake and the tenants.  I recently rented a single family home that had a front door, basement door, door leadings out to the garage, and door to the deck.  Each door has a knob and deadbolt.  So in case you weren’t counting, they needed EIGHT keys to get into their house!  We had a locksmith come out and put all the knobs and deadbolts onto one key.  Lesson: Don’t carry around more keys than a janitor to get into your one property.
2. Removing Coin-Op Laundry.  Someone once told you that you could make money off this scheme, so you did it.  Did you ever run the numbers to see if you actually made money?  I have never met any landlord that made money on coin-op laundry.  After you factor in the increase to your water/sewer bill, along with electric or gas, along with the high cost to maintain these machines, there is just no way.  And also if you have them, you should be passionate about rolling quarters.  (eye roll). A better solution is to provide a high efficiency washer and dryer and charge each tenant who wants to use them extra rent, if you pay the utilities.  
3. Delegating.  This is a general life strategy some people really don’t see the value in, so if you’re a control freak skip over this item.  Delegating applies to all those things you think you can do yourself because they are “easy”.  Unless it is your profession your you are highly skilled in this area, don’t try this at home!   Would you hire an attorney to paint your apartment?  No.  Would you hire a painter to represent you in court?  I hope not.  You see my point.  When everyone stays in their lane then we can all work faster and more effectively.
4. Policing “Problems”.   You are not the police.  And not everything is a crime.  Let’s leave the real police work up to the ladies and gentlemen in uniform.  For example, a tenant who has placed some spare Christmas decorations in the basement neatly in a corner is not a common criminal, they just don’t have space in their apartment.  Let it go.  You have better things to spend your time worrying about!  If they become a collector (hint, hint, HOARDER) then you tell them to throw all their crap away or you’ll do it for them.  Because I hope you were smart enough to have a provision in your lease prohibiting common area storage.
5. Not Enforcing Rules. There is a not-so-fine-line between creating problems (see above) and being too lax on certain issues.  For example, if a tenant has decided to turn their fire escape into a storage area, you immediately move their items, send them a letter with a waning, and if they do it again then you take further action.  Personally I view being a landlord as a song best sung somewhere between enforcing serious safety violations and being a reasonable person.  I suggest you don’t let any small safety violation escalate, but let the small things go.

As always, please feel free to reach me directly if you have any questions or need to hire a professional!  I am always happy to provide my clients with referrals to people who I have personally vetted and use regularly at the properties I manage.

Sincerely,