What makes an effective landlord? Here are my top five traits.
- Effective Landlords are Sagacious. Yeah I know, sagacious is a rarely
used word but I think it really works here. It means that effective landlords have a keen mental discernment and good judgment. In other words, we have good BS detectors. This trait is important because being a landlord means that you have to shift through a lot of BS to get things done or get to the truth. Being sagacious means we can see which real estate deals are truly deals, we know which gurus are full of it and can tell when our tenants or potential tenants are not being wholly truthful. - Effective Landlords are Reliable. To be effective in the landlording business you have to be reliable and be perceived as being reliable. You have to be a person of your word and do what you say you will do.
- Effective Landlords are Persistent. Someone is always going to be throwing up some sort of obstacle to attempt to derail you or trying to get further into your pocket. It could be family naysayers. It could be the local utility company or city, it maybe your tenants or your insurance company. Whoever it is, you have to be focused on your goals of being an effective landlord and keep fighting to achieve your goals.
- Effective Landlords are Confident. To be effective you have to be confident in yourself and your ability to do the job. That confidence comes from training and on the job experience. Get yourself educated on landlording basics by joining a local reia group, reading this blog or finding a mentor. Make that first step and acquire your first property. Yes you will make a mistake or two, but nothing breeds confidence like a little success.
- Effective landlords are Creative. To be effective you are going to have to find ways to get things done. You will need to find properties to buy and hold. You may need to renovate those properties. You will need to find tenants before your competition. You will want to retain the good tenants. You will want to set up effective business practices. You will want to do all of this while the forces in number 3 above are working against you.
These are in my opinion the essential qualities that differentiate effective and non-effective landlords. I am sure there are others and I am sure others will have different opinions. But if you are sagacious, persistent, reliable, confident and creative, I believe you will be successful. The good part is, all of these qualities can be acquired. Education and experience will make you a better BS detector, and give you confidence. Reliability and persistence can easily be acquired. Just start now! Creativity will come as you learn and experience more and more about landlording.
