Imagine saving up to buy a rental property and that feeling of success when you receive applications, screen tenants, and get handed your first security deposit. You have dreams of positive cash flow, using that extra income to pay for college tuition or save for retirement. Even a nice vacation. You worked hard to buy that property and deserve a good tenant.
While many tenants are good, honest people who pay their rent each month and take good care of the home, some tenants can not only cause problems but wreak havoc on your life and finances.
Allow me to take a moment to describe a real problem tenant right here in Boulder County, on a nice street in Longmont. We got a call one day from Roy, a retiree who owned a few rental properties and could no longer deal with his tenant, who we’ll call Eric. Roy was upfront with us that Eric wasn’t reliable with paying rent. He was on a month-to-month lease and just gave up on paying rent for the past few months without a good reason. Eric had no desire to move, because here he was living in Roy’s place for free. Not only that, he was subletting one of the bedrooms and bathrooms for $900 a month to a single mom and her child. So here Eric was earning $900/month while Roy continued to pay the mortgage off of his retirement savings!
Roy wanted to be done with this headache and move on. He knew he couldn’t list the house for sale because Eric lived like a slob and would have been hostile to realtors. When Roy did get a hold of Eric, Roy got threatened with harassment just for trying to collect the rent that was due to him. Roy didn’t feel safe pursuing his rental income further, and on top of this stress, Boulder County had an eviction moratorium in place then due to Covid so Roy’s hands were tied while someone freeloaded off of his savings.
By the time Roy reached out to Boulder Home Buyers, he was exasperated and we wanted to help him. He named a price that we agreed upon and we closed within weeks. Roy was thrilled to have this burden relieved from him and a substantial check to enjoy his retirement.
Eric was a pain for Boulder Home Buyers to deal with too. When a person refuses to leave your property there is only so much that can be done legally to have them pay back rent or move out. Eventually he moved but left behind busted doors, holes in drywall, and quite a mess to clean up.
While being a landlord can sound great on paper, in reality it is less than glamorous and can be expensive (cash flow negative) and time consuming. If you own a property and have a tenant giving you a hard time, move on and let it become someone else’s problem! Call Boulder Home Buyers at 303-442-0505 to get your fair offer fast!