Ladies and Gentlemen,
Fellow Landlords and Property Managers,
Step Right Up for the
Landlord Circus!

About a year ago, my husband, Bob, and I became newbie landlords. We did not realize at the time the multiple talents required to successfully manage our new 4 plex and the tenants who occupy the rental units. We did not realize that we were joining the "Landlord Circus." Here are just a few of the talents we've acquired:

Tightrope Walker - As a landlord tightrope walker we must "walk the wire", maintaining balance between positive cashflow and implementing capital improvements on the rental property. We sometimes teeter, but we never waiver. We keep our eyes fixed firmly on the destination - not only to maintain the rental units, but to better them, providing excellent management for the current tenants and increasing the value for the future.

Fortune Teller - As the landlord fortune teller we must predict and budget for current and future property needs by using mysterious mathematical equations, regularly assessing the state of the property, and maintaining accurate historical records. The fortune teller is also responsible for identifying, screening, and selecting tenants who will be safe, responsible and who will be consistently pay their rent on time.

Juggler - As the landlord juggler we must juggle our time between caring for our own residence and the rental property. We now have to manage the maintenance, lawncare, and finances of two properties. We must keep track of all of the balls that are in the air, being agile and dropping none.

Lion Tamer - As the landlord lion tamer, we must manage the relationships - tenants, neighbors, officials, and more. We've had to develop our ability to stand firm and to take control of heated situations - never showing a flicker of fear in our eyes.

Ring Master - As the landlord ring master, we must ensure legal compliance with the contracts involved in managing a rental property (leases, notices, applications, etc) and collect the rent. The ringmaster is the "master of ceremonies" and must coordinate all of the "acts" listed above, knowing when to shift attention from one "ring" to another, taking ownership of coordinating decisions and prioritizing our responsibilities.

We are fortunate to have onsite managers who assume some of the roles above and we only have to be involved in property management for one rental property. I have a great deal of admiration for the professional property managers who have the talent and professional team to manage rental investment properties for others and for those independent landlords who manage multiple units on their own (usually while still working their day job).

Let's Talk. How do you balance all of the talents and roles needed to manage your rental property? What roles did I miss? Share some of your "landlord circus" success tips.

Occasionally, I use the Twitter search tool to look for threads that mention Landlord.  It has been very interesting to see that most of the comments are from tenants and that they are often negative and disrespectful.  Here are some recent examples:

"Apparently anyone can be a landlord thus having stupid landlords is no surprise."

"let's lynch the landlord"

"My landlord is so dumb. Let's unplug the internet because of thunder."

"Just so everyone is aware, my landlord loves to make my life difficult. Kinda want to throw a temper tantrum a la a 2 year old right now."

I also watch Twitter threads mentioning Property Manager.  It is a lot more difficult to find tenants or owners who "tweet" about their property manager or property management company.  Most of the property manager tweets are about job postings.  However, I found a few.  They seem to be less personal and are more neutral in tone. 

"Property manager at my apartment complex told me not to be so gruff when I come to his office. Well, at least it got his attention."

"So I met my property manager "mike" and he's the coolest dude ever.....yep"

"on my way to meet with the property manager to get my new apt signed!"

"so glad i hired a property manager to handle repairs for my rental property. I definitely don't have the time or patience."

"locked myself out of my apartment. had to call property manager on my neighbor's phone."

 I am a curious and fairly analytical person and so I asked myself why the tone of the "tweets" are more personally disparaging when a tenant is talking about a Landlord vs. a Property Manager. My conclusion (which is completely unscientific) is as follows.

- A Landlord is a person who owns and manages their own rental property.  A tenant may have less respect for a landlord because of this.  The tenant sees a landlord's actions as more personal.  Landlords may also be less systematic in their approaches to managing a rental property and less process oriented.

- A Property Manager is part of a company that manages rental properties.  Tenants appear to understand that there are policies and procedures when dealing with a company.  Although they may not like the processes  tenants seem to see them as "company" dictated, not personal.

I am a landlord, and we consider our rental property a business.  I am wondering how individual landlords can better maintain a "company" image with tenants.

Let's Talk.  Do you agree with these observations?  How do you maintain a more business vs. personal relationship with your tenants?