I would remind Mr. Mork, and the list, rental property owners take risks beyond what's suggested below.
Yes, landlords do cushion themselves with first and last months rent (or one months rent and a deposit). However, a less than honorable tenant can quickly do far more damage to a property than this "cushion"- especially if they decide "it's not my property, so why should I care?". I'm not implying all, or even most, renters would do intentional damage. But, guessing a month's rent to be about $500-600 and a deposit of perhaps equal, it would take not paying a month's rent and some carpet damage to level this "cushion". For small property owners, such as an owner-occupied duplex or fourplex, such a hit is a HUGE risk to take. And, if this small property owner doesn't have other resources to repair damage done, it is going to be difficult to keep your property value up, or even be able to continue to rent your property. Let's remember, rental property owners serve a needed function in Minneapolis. They provide a place for people not ready, willing, or able to buy a place. Let's remember this before we start the subtle name-calling on rental property owners. Gary Bowman Audubon Park --- Jim Mork <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It is quite amazing to see list participants > claim as some do that landlords experience > unusual risk. Heck, they are in one of the > safest businesses on earth. Their main risk is > not getting paid, and they cushion themselves > from that by requiring first and last month's > rent. Even the utility companies don't do that. > Plus, they own an asset that never goes to zero > like so do. Look at what happened to employees > of Moline and Enron and you see REAL risk. I > guess anytime a landlord wants to trade the > illusion of risk in owning land for the real risk > of hiring out time and skills, they are welcome > to do so, but the people who buy their real > property will be shaking their heads (which > smugly enjoying the chance to make money off the > seller's fallacious notions). > > ===== > Jim Mork -- Cooper Neighborhood > ________________________________ > > Help stop spam -- Join SpamCon Foundation, > http://www.spamcon.org > > > __________________________________________________ > Do you Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up > now. > http://mailplus.yahoo.com > _______________________________________ > > Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic > Discussion - Mn E-Democracy > Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus - Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
