Do you Really Want To Be a Landlord? Really?!?

This will just be a short off subject post. One item that has been in the news a lot (at least in Miami) is that a lot of investors are "snapping up" cheap homes and condos, thanks to the depressed markets, and then turning around and renting them "for a profit". The articles usually go on to say how these units are rented quickly "in days", providing a nice return on investment.

Well, true.... but. This turns many of these investors into landlords since owning rental property is an "active investment". And any landlord can tell you is that it's usually a thankless job. No offense to landlords, but I am sure most of them would agree that being a landlord is not easy and certainly not for the fain of heart. Nor is it a decision that is taken up lightly.

I also wonder what will happen to these investors when the real estate market changes - as it will eventually. Being a landlord may sound fun when there is high demand for rentals. It's less fun when things change and get tougher for the rental market.

I am only writing this because all these newspaper articles seem to endorse the practice by writing glowing reviews about these investments but not painting the whole picture. I would wonder what would happen if they interviewed those same investors after three years of being a landlord. Will they print the horror stories about trashed homes, maintenance costs and other expenses that creep up?

Anyways - just a quick personal observation. I promise to get back to the subject of factoring.