The 5 Landlords You Should Avoid

The 5 Landlords You Should Avoid

Many of us, especially those who are not familiar with being a tenant, have missed some points regarding rental and property and may have even overlooked the problems they are facing with their landlords. Just like everyone else, a landlord is human and prone to having certain unpleasant criteria although some of their actions are worth to be watched out for as they could save you and your expenses too!

1. Money Machine

Yes, owning your own property is profitable in the long run and it is quite common to find landlords who are trying their best to make money out of it the soonest they can. However, being greedy and selfish is another different story. Though not many, some landlords are willing to negotiate on the rental price to an amount that you can afford or until both of you reach the agreement that benefits each side. The money-hoarder landlords, however, will place the price higher than its market value and other than not listening to your excuses, they provide their own excuses instead and one of them is the old-fashioned way of saying someone else is already interested for the amount placed. Don’t fall for this; they know you need to get a place to stay and they are using your desperation to squeeze more money out of you. These landlords may even develop reasons not to return your security deposit.

2. Invasive Imp

You come home from a trip over the weekend to notice some of your things are being moved around, even though you know you are the only person with the key. An imp that magically appears in your house and touches your belongings? There is such a landlord that says it is not illegal for them to enter their own property without the tenant’s consent to spot check whether everything inside that house is in order. How about some privacy? After all, everything to do and what not to do is already signed in your agreement with the landlord, therefore legally, you would not dare to do anything that is against it and a landlord has no right to unlock your main door when you’re away without your permission.

3. Mysterious Man

Sounds interesting for the ladies? A mysterious landlord does not sound like good news, though. Do not get engaged to a landlord that did not even show up to close the deal and has been leaving everything fully in control of the real estate agent. You cannot contact them when a pipe just broke and you need the landlord’s permission before performing any actions to repair it. You simply cannot find out your landlord’s whereabouts. You have absolutely no idea of the kind of job your landlord is doing. They might one day suddenly show up and tell you to pack and leave, or worse, the house is being confiscated due to their mysteriously unpaid debts.

4. Creepy Crawlies

We do have crawling insects in the house, but we don’t want bugs planted on the walls too! It has been reported some landlords do place hidden cameras in their property just to monitor the activity of their tenants. This happens more commonly towards single working ladies or a group of female college students who are splitting the rental costs among them. Check the property thoroughly before securing the deal, because you don’t want to end up having a creepy landlord filming your life story inside that house.

5. Legally Lazy

As soon as you enter the house for viewing, you can already see whether the landlord has been neglecting their property or taking care of it as if they are living there. Check the windows and doors, texture of the walls, ceilings and fixtures. The interior of the house you want to rent can tell you what kind of landlord you will be having, as well as how much trouble you can avoid later on, physically and financially, with maintaining it. Be careful with lazy landlords that take their properties for granted and wait for tenants to do all the hard work by themselves.

More importantly, follow your instincts as they are usually reliable when it comes to entrusting someone. Good people do not necessarily make good landlords, even if one of them is a person you have already known.