Lubbock Landlords Should Listen To Tenants Before Its Too Late

A Lubbock landlord recently headed to Reddit to ask the following question:

Why is buying houses and renting them out frowned upon?

The simple answer is that it's not, so long as you aren't preventing a family from the opportunity to own their own home by greedily outbidding them. However, the question opened up many other "answers" that this person probably didn't want- answers as to why landlords have become so reviled in Lubbock and elsewhere. And I think it boils down to one major issue:

Landlords rarely listen to the tenants. 

Let me explain from personal experience. I rented what I thought was an incredible home in a great neighborhood for a fair price. Boy, was I wrong.

I didn't mind that the landlord had failed to patch any nail holes on the interior walls, or that a section of the very dated-looking carpet had a burn from a dropped iron. Now with a little hard-earned wisdom, if I ever see that again, I will run, not walk, away from that property. 

Turns out that was an obvious clue that the landlord was majorly neglecting the property. The first of many problems I had was that the shower only dribbled out a tiny amount of water. The "handyman" they had to fix it seemed majorly out of his element and failed to fix the problem. I let my landlord know, meanwhile, I had a family member fix the problem for me. In the process, he discovered that the house had this and many other leaks. Again, I informed my landlord, who didn't listen to me. 

What happened? Rooms and rooms of carpet were ruined. Being ancient, the carpet filled the house with allergens, and I was unable to walk into most places in the house without my face swelling. Had the landlord listened to me and repaired the original problem with any competence, they wouldn't have been out so much flooring (although to be honest, it was long past its time to be replaced).

Many other problems popped up with the house, and every time we told the landlord, we were ignored. In the summer, the rotten wood inside the walls from the leaks attracted thousands of ants that popped through all of those unfilled nail holes. We barely made our year lease and then left without looking back. I certainly hope that the landlord didn't use my deposit to buy a nice steak dinner and then choke on it. Certainly. 

Landlords, no one knows your property like the people who live in it. If they tell you there's a problem, it's rarely because they are simply bored and lying about the dishwasher leaking everywhere. Instead, listen to them, make the simple needed repairs early, and you'll save yourself major repairs later. And you'll also have less tenant turnover, which will keep you from missing months of rent payments.

What's wrong with buying a house and renting it out? Nothing, so long as you are ethical and not a total idiot about it.