Fast forward 15 years to the present. I now have 23 rentals. Not a lot by landlord standards but I consider myself a small lot farmer as opposed to a commercial farmer with massive tracts of land. Many investors buy residential rentals and have them managed by managers. Their profit margins are much smaller per unit. My attorney has several hundred units that are managed by management companies. He likely makes 1/10 what I make per unit. For him it is just an investment but for me it is a full time job. It is a very full time job.

So here it is Sunday morning. Most of my tenants are home from work and can get to some items on their to do lists like calling me to alert me to a slow drain or a roof leak. It usually starts Friday late afternoon and carries through the weekend. Never mind that it is the most difficult time to find a plumber or handyman. Tenants are busy people and they get to it when they get to it. I have to get the stuff taken care of as best I can and I do.

Occasionally however I get the wildly inappropriate tenant and her name was Janice. Janice was a Jehovah’s Witness and therefore celebrated no holiday. She also coincidentally celebrated no boundaries. New Years morning at 6:30 must have seemed like the perfect time for her to call me. “Good morning, how are you” she said in the most exciting friendly voice. “sleeping” I replied, “what is going on” trying not to sound as cranky as I felt. I was expecting a catastrophic event… a pipe burst at least. “well there are a few things I wanted to mention” she said. “First the light bulb is burned out in the fridge”. Hummm I grumbled “did you try changing it?” I asked. “Yes, but it was too dark in there”. I quickly got her off the phone thankfully before I lost my temper. Soon after I assigned her hours that she was allowed to call me. She could call me after 10 to 5 on the weekends and 9 to 7 during the week. She ended up moving several years later and made many, many more unreasonable requests and then took me to Small Claims court and lost. That was Janice.

I suppose that anyone you pay a lions share of your income to every month could easily become the blood sucking Landord in your mind. I feel the same way when I have to write the big mortgage checks. You want perks and services. I get that. So my strategy is to maintain the best level of customer service possible and yet maintain the clearest boundaries about what is fair and reasonable. It always surprises me when I talk to other Landords who don’t get this. They expect people to move in and pay and never be heard from again. Like they drop into a hole and just money comes out. It’s a people business people!!! A little service with a smile goes a long way to relationship building. Anyway that is my motto. But today I am hoping for a little quiet bliss and so far so good.