by Vena Jones-Cox

Q: We’ve come across some problems we thought your readers might also be encountering, hence this note to you for your consideration in possibly addressing the below subjects in your newsletter. The past 2 weeks have been really frustrating as I have been stood up by prospects at scheduled showings 8 times. We try to prequalify interested prospects over the phone, explaining our screening process, up front money needed, the lease/option as a way to become a homeowner, etc. We always ask if they have driven by the property and also tell all prospects when scheduling a showing to please call if they need to cancel. Of 11 scheduled showings, I actually had one show up, two had the decency to call me and cancel, and 8 just failed to show.
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by Dan Auito

This report will give you perspective and understanding in the realm of your tenant’s mindsets and Modus of Operandi. It’s looking at their situation from their point of view as well as your own.

It goes without saying but I will say it anyway. The better you understand your tenants and their personal situation, the better you can serve their needs and your own. Notice that your needs come after your tenants. Always put your tenants’ needs before your own and they will buy real estate for you in return. That’s a fair trade. Take it!

Many cold-hearted, self-serving, money-grudging, wanna-be landlords don’t understand human nature. Let me tell you right now, if you can’t put yourself in another person’s shoes and see a problem from that person’s perspective with empathy, you will fail miserably in the “landlording” business and in life. Wise up!
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This article was re-printed from the Denver Post, dated July 13, 2008 by Tom LaRoque.

Landlords incur risks from all sides. They are often seen as wealthy, particularly by the people who write them monthly checks. Their tenants have ample opportunity to develop grievances, real or invented.

The risks call for self-protection, said lawyer William Bronchick. Among all professions, landlords face the greatest threat of being sued, he said.

An active real estate investor and president of the Colorado Association of Real Estate Investors, Bronchick sells do-it-yourself software to help savvy property owners protect themselves with the right legal structure. It is one of several products sold for that purpose.

The right legal structure, he said, often includes a land trust. Such an agreement allows one party, called the trustee, to hold ownership of property for the benefit of another, called the beneficiary.
Land trusts offer several advantages to property owners under the broad headings of privacy, protection from liability, and tax minimization, according to Bronchick.
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