A Landlord's Worst Nightmare: The Phone Call You Never Want to Receive

Sometimes, it’s great being a landlord. 

If everything is going well, your tenants are happy, they’re paying on time, they don’t call you with superfluous requests, and you’re just sitting back like a happy camper and collecting rent checks. 

If it’s not going well, water heaters are failing, roofs need replacing, tenants are paying just enough to not get evicted, and somehow, everyone wants to move out at the same time.

And if it’s really not going well? Well, here’s something my husband and I recently experienced that I hope you never will:  

In January, one of our tenants was murdered. He was shot. 

In the face. 

Four times. 

I mean, how do you even react to that as a landlord? 

My husband answered a call from one of our employees and responded with, “Wait. Say that again. You’re serious? I mean… What? Why? Who would do something like that?” 

According to police the door wasn’t forced open so our tenant probably knew whoever did this to him (as of this writing they still don’t have a suspect in custody). Even though it was probably a personal issue, we still felt a massive amount of responsibility as the building owners. We immediately looked into security systems for our entire fleet of complexes so we could prevent something like this from potentially happening at any of our buildings, and we purchased better lighting right away. 

We also called the local nonemergency number to offer our assistance for anything the police might need. This was honestly the oddest part, though.

Why? Because... 

The dispatchers were confused about why we were contacting them.

It was like, “Yeah, I heard you. Your tenant got shot. Why are you calling?” 

It boggled our minds. Why would we not be concerned about our tenants? Why would we not want to offer our assistance to the police investigating this terrible crime? Do other landlords NOT get notified if something like this happens?

We were literally talking about the loss of a man’s life, and the apathy was overwhelming. 

The whole situation was certainly filed under “Tenant Nightmares,” with a capital N.

From an investment standpoint, we had more worries AND more expenses. To name a few:  

• The unexpected, increased cost of lighting and security.
• The concern about a mass exodus of tenants from the building.
• Not knowing who committed this horrible crime.
• Hoping it wasn’t one of our tenants who did this. 
• I’ve watched a lot of CSI, but... crime scene cleanup costs??? 

As the situation unfolded, I remember thinking, thank God we’ve been doing this for so long. Someone newer to the game would probably be running for the hills! 

Granted, I also live across the country from this property, and if I was brand new to real estate investing, I might consider selling, just to wash my hands of the situation. 

But I digress.

Thankfully, though, most situations and tenants that get filed under “Tenant Nightmares” are more nuisances than anything else. They call about ridiculous things. They complain about the public parking in front of the property (true story, street parking). They turn the hot water off then claim they need a new washing machine because it’s broken. They tell new tenants that they’re the onsite property manager (yep, a complete lie). They don’t pick up their dog poop. Trust me, the list goes on.

And fun fact, all those things I just mentioned (other than the murder), occurred at a 10 unit property I closed in April. 

This property received 6 offers at or above asking within 48 hours of listing. Trust me, it’s nothing special. It’s a standard, run of the mill C Class building with C Class tenants. 

And it also sold at a 6% cap.

If you own multifamily properties, have you considered what your list price would be if you sell your property at a 6% cap? What you could walk away from the closing table with? 

Despite the recent events going on in the economy due to the shutdown, we’re still DEFINITELY in a seller’s market. We don’t know if this is going to be another 2008 or if the economy will bounce back and be fine for a few more years, but I do know that we're climbing to the top of the market, and if you’re thinking about selling sometime this year, that time needs to be now. 

I understand if you’re still wary of what’s going on in the market. But if you have properties to potentially sell, what are you waiting for? Give me a call - we can chat about your property(ies), and set up a free consultation after which I will complete an (also free) analysis to determine the sale value of your property. 

The time is now.

Best,

Jessica