Just A Landlord

“Going Green” is usually a positive phrase. Business that go “Green” are looked at as innovators and use this for a market advantage. It is hard to say anything bad about this type of greeness

However the way the city of Milwaukee is going grheck scares the heck out of me. .

As I drove the Southside neighborhoods finishing up our annual fall exterior surveys of our properties, I was shocked at the number of green boarded and abandoned homes and duplexes in that area. Even more than there were in spring

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The who’s who of Milwaukee rental housing were in attendance at Joe Peter’s funeral.  So many that one person commented that if a bomb hit the church nobody in Milwaukee would have to pay rent again.  A lot of folks I had not seen in years.  It’s sad that the only time we see these people anymore are funerals for friends.

One such person was Mike, a former board member of the Apartment Association.  He asked if I remembered having lunch with him a number of years ago.  I admitted I didn’t and kiddingly asked if I had skipped out on my portion of the bill. He assured me I hadn’t and that he just wanted to thank me for the sage advice I had given him that helped him succeed when others failed.  I had him remind me of what I shared with him that he felt was so valuable.  Once he told me, I felt it still rings so true that I would share it again.

At that lunch back in probably 2005 or 2006, the height of the silliness we were seeing in real estate pricing, Mike wanted to know how to acquire more units.  I cautioned him that his focus was wrong.

It’s not about how many units you own.  It’s about being sustainably profitable.

Unit fever is a disease that has wiped many owners in both good and bad economies. So don’t aim to have 50,100, 200, a thousand units.  Rather do the math and aim to only own profitable units and create scalable infrastructure before getting big.

A different way of municipalities interacting with property owners

In Washington  D.C. they have  The Housing Provider Ombudsman a information resource for small housing providers.

Blacklisting bad tenants

THE NAMES of 400,000 Australian renters have swelled national blacklists for crimes ranging from pouring concrete down toilets to stealing entire kitchens from properties. [Source]

The untimely passing of Joe Peters taught me another lesson –  no matter how well things seem it can all end tomorrow.

Today is probably as good as day as good as day as any to write down some instructions for those things that only you know, but your employees, friends and family  will have to know to put the pieces together when you are gone.

I’ve spent most of the past 22 years as a director of the Apartment Association of Southeastern WI, yet I feel this is a question that must be asked often so that the Association continues to add value.

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