Money Monday: Landlords, Slumlords, and Me

You know how people call their landlords ‘slumlords?’ I am the opposite of that.

I’ve been renting my 1-bedroom, 650 square foot condo in Lower Pac Heights since June 2009. This 3-and-a-half year time frame can be broken down into 6 separate lease agreements ranging anywhere from 3 to 18 months. I’ve had interns, an award-winning documentary film maker, and graphic designers from France.

I’m friendly, responsive, and accountable. Each of my tenants gets a warm welcome with a document listing all my favorite restaurants and things to do in the city. Who does that? I respond quickly to leaks, ants, and all other issues which are corrected immediately. If anything, I’m the Funlord.

Between you and me, I am gearing up to sell my property, cash in on my investment, and extract that trapped equity. Lord knows you can barely buy a 2-bedroom in the city with less than a $150,000 down payment. The real estate figures in San Francisco are mind-boggling.

Being the Funlord that I am, I told my tenants immediately upon deciding. I wanted to be respectful and up-front with them. Well, they pretty much turned on me, and asked for a substantial payout which they are NOT entitled to, not a single penny. GO SUCK IT!

The reason I’m writing this post is because I had dinner with a few of my lovely city-dwelling girlfriends and they all believed that as a landlord, you are required to give your tenants a lump sum upon kicking them out. Turns out, that is not true for all circumstances. So please before you go writing unnecessary checks, talk to the experts and authorities. My real estate agent Brendon DeSimone is the bees knees. He is constantly in the press, does interviews for Fox News, blogs on Zillow, and he’s appeared in a bunch of the home design shows on TV. AMAZING, AMAZING, AMAZING.