Landlord vs Slumlord
What distinguishes a Landlord from that of the Slumlord can be as simple as a philosophy on how they manage their properties to the way they treat the tenants themselves. Understanding the difference may allow you to decide if you are right for the job of owning rental properties or having the realization that your perceptions of a investment owner were wrong.
You may have seen the move “The Super” which cast Joe Pesci as a wealthy slumlord that was sentenced to 6 months of living in the same building he failed to properly care for and manage. He learned the hard way that the tenants in his building were being truly uncared for and his building itself was in ruins. This realization brought him to understand the value of taking care of both. A slumlord is typically an absentee landlord that is only looking to make profit and pays little care to the upkeep and maintenance of his properties. His properties usually are located in deteriorating neighborhoods and warrant low rents and have high vacancies.
Slumlords are so caught up in trying to make a profit, they sometimes forget about the greatest asset they have, which is the tenants they house. By taking better care of their tenants and maintaining the properties better, they would be able to spend less on maintenance costs and have higher rents. Most slumlords do not consider the consequence of improper care of their belongings, nor to the effects on those around them.
In some cases, landlords can become a slumlord by becoming overwhelmed in the amount of properties they maintain, illness, or even financial situations which make it difficult to maintain properties to acceptable levels. On the other hand, a slumlord may become a more involved owner and remove himself from the status of one that is considered a slumlord owner. This is due to the slumlord actually being an uninformed or inexperienced owner that has developed and modified their management practices.
There are many responsibilities that need to be adhered to when managing rental property, but involvement in the day to day operations is not only important but crucial in maintaining the value of the property and keeping a low vacancy rate which is the sign of happy tenants. Doing these two things will help make you a better landlord and also a profitable one at that!