Your Gripes About Landlords

To round things out for the year, lets talk about landlords, complaints about landlords that is.

So being a landlord, it's good to know what people don't like about us. That way we can either fix it, downplay it a bit, or ignore it and hope it goes away.

What do you think are common gripes tenants have about landlords?

Repairs and Maintenance:

More to the point, a lack of interest in the property once tenants are in. Calls to have things repaired fall on deaf ears and regular maintenance is a pipe-dream. As I've said time and time again, nail this one and you will not only have happier tenants, but you are protecting the asset and also maximizing the possibility of increase revenues out of it.

Rent Increases

Yup, that's why you have a property in the first place to make some money out of it, but your tenants don't' like it one little bit - no one like costs going up. If you handle it with thought you can minimize the grumbles and leverage as much profit out of the property as possible.

Intrusion

You may own the property, but the tenant lives there. When they feel intruded on by excessive inspections, 'unannounced' visits and other borderline illegal activity, your tenants feel harassed and won't want to stay around.

The Exit Inspection

The term 'normal wear and tear' creates a lot of dread in tenants. Their version and your version are different. Keep in mind that a family of 5 will have a different perception of 'wear and tear' than a single professional person. How you handle it is by being very clear about what you expect.

No Pet Policy

It is a rare landlord that will allow pets, it's a very tricky situation. Landlords can open themselves up to a lot of issues, but then again, this is a great opportunity to use this niche to attract tenants.

So what do you think, and I missing something on the list that would make a tenant cringe?