From the Podcast

Ep. #27 - Are You The Owner? No, I’m The Property Manager.

Ep. #27 - Are You The Owner? No, I’m The Property.
Ep. #27 - Are You The Owner? No, I’m The Property.

“The secret to success is to own nothing, but control everything.” - Nelson Rockefeller

So last week in Episode #26, I spoke on the need of Landlords to treat this profession seriously and run their Rental Properties like a business. Well, this week I speak on why you should avoid the title of "Landlord" and being known as the property (business) owner entirely - own nothing, but control everything.

But for me, its a matter of pride that I own over a dozen Rental Properties - so my default answer to the question of "Are you the owner" has always been to quickly and proudly say "YES!" - and claim full Landlord status. Why shouldn't I?

Well there are reasons you shouldn't. A better answer to that question may be "No, I'm the Property Manager". And so in this episode of the [... and Landlord!] Podcast, I go into details as to why being known to be the owner, is not likely to your benefit. Its better to be known as the Property Manager than Landlord or owner.

Because the owner is a mean and greedy SOB in the eyes of many; whereas the Property Manager is just a hard working employee (just like the Tenant) - who must unfortunately adhere to the lease in all dealings.

The Property Manager would love to waive the late fee for the Tenant, but they must adhere to the lease and treat all Tenants the same. As Property Manager, you'd love to let the Tenant out of their lease early, but you must adhere to the full term of the lease. You have no problem with allowing the Tenant's boy/girl friend move in, but as the Property Manager, you must adhere to the lease's stated authorized occupants.

When you're the owner, you're the bad guy. But when you're the Property Manager, the lease becomes the bad guy. This may sound like semantics, but it gives you tremendous freedom from negative perceptions from Tenants when you can point to the lease (that they agreed to and signed), and explain that you must adhere to the lease in everything - no exceptions. And when you are not seen as the owner (who is thought to be able to make exceptions at will) - life as the Property Manager becomes smooth in comparison.

So in this episode of the... and Landlord Podcast, I talk about my initial desire to claim full Landlord status, proudly being known to be the owner. But how I've since come to realize that this is not necessarily in my best interest. And so upon coming to this realization, when now asked by a prospective Tenant, "Are you the owner?" - my response is now always, "No, I'm the Property Manager." - listen to this episode to learn why you might want to make that your answer to this question as well.

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