The Money Kings are keepin’ it real, baby!!!

For your consideration: Real Estate Profits And Losses. Scenario 4: Tenant Handyman Scam.

You’ve got your properties. You’re working hard. You’re screening people. You’re checking backgrounds and credit scores. You’re making phone calls. You’re driving around. You’re shuckin’. You’re jivin’. You’re bobin’. You’re weavin’.

You’re also working your tail off! You might even be taking away time from your family or your hobbies.

Then it hits like Godzilla in Tokyo: REPAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now you’ve gotta find time to buy drywall and screws, pvc pipe and teflon tape. You might have to get a rental van, or clean out the bed of your truck. You’re going to have to go the hardware store again, and again, and again to get tools and equipment that you forgot on your job site. Maybe you’ll have to call in a few favors from some of your buddies as well. All the aforementioned are dependent on what type of repair you’re attacked with and when . . .

Here’s two seemingly identical situations:

1. Your rental property is located in Maine. Your tenant experiences a minor roof leak in December.
2. Your rental property is located in Maine. Your tenant experiences a minor roof leak in May.

With two very different possible solutions:

In situation:

1. If the roof is leaking in December in Maine, then you’re getting melting snow and ice that is squeezing its way into the wood of unit during the day and then freezing and expanding at night.
2. If the roof is leaking in May in Maine, then you’re getting much more direct rain relentlessly pounding its way into your unit.

Both situations require a different set of tools and skill sets needed to get the job done quickly and correctly. ALL of this figuring and analyzing and planning takes one resource away from you: TIME.

Just when you think you’ve had enough of prepping for your repair the tenant in your unit says, “Hey. I can help you if you want.”

FREEZE! Right There . . .

This is where all of the time and energy you’ve invested in dealing with your little disaster can really turn into a situation where you’re urinating gasoline on a brush fire.

We know. We know.

The tenants offer to help sounds really attractive right now with all you have going on. And, we’re not saying that in every case you should refuse help from your tenants. We just want you to be aware of what negative impacts a tenant helping you do repair work can have on your business:

1. The tenant THINKS they can help you, but really has no skill to do so, thereby taking away more of your time and energy to do the job right.
2. The tenant helps you and then begins to ignore the part of his/her lease that explicitly forbids them from modifying your property. So the next time something breaks, they DON’T tell you about it. They just fix it themselves, which could lead to more damage in the future–especially if said repairs are related to plumbing.
3. The tenant is really plotting to not pay your rent next month, and uses his “help” as a scam to butter you up for the big clam bake he’s got planned for you come the 1st of the month where you’re looking for the rent and he says, “Remember that time I helped you with the roof . . .”

Let’s get something straight:

You’re in the real estate business, right? Are your tenants the customers or employees? You gotta pick. Maybe you’ve got a carpenter as a tenant with a good relationship in the community. Maybe your tenant is “honest” and trustworthy. Regardless of what you think about your tenants, The Money Kings advise to do your job as the landlord to properly ensure that the tenant does his/her job as the customer.

If your tenant is “helping” you by screwing up your drywall, or “fixing” your freezer without letting you know only to complain that his food isn’t frozen anymore, or using “help” as an excuse for not paying rent in the future, then you’re LOSING MONEY and ultimately getting scammed because you’re spending time and effort on something presented to you as a benefit. The tenant is RULING you! Think twice before accepting a tenant’s helping hand.

Good luck out there.

The Money Kings

Keywords: real estate, scam, tenants, repair, help, Maine, roof