Time to quit? Anti landlord sentiment in my state is widespread. Rental moratorium extended. No way tenants will be able to pay back rent if they can't pay now. They are STEALING my income with no realistic hope of ever being paid.

What is everyone thinking?

Have your tenants stopped paying? Were they behind before or no?

There was a thread recently here where it was asked how many were behind. There were actually surprisingly few except for those who were already problem tenants before this started.

I'm just curious of your situation?

- John...

What else will you do with the money if you sell? Do you need the income, or is it just providing ‘extras’? If you need the income, can you replace it? All questions you have to answer for your own knowledge.

There will always be someone who can figure out a way to make a profit off of rentals in your area. Maybe in the Oregon of the very near future it will only be with massive bribes to the government overlords. Or, maybe it will take having the backing of a drug cartel. Even in USSR, some were still able to make money off of housing. Me, I probably would have been sent to Siberia.

Starting on October 1, tenants need to pay their rent each month under the terms of the rental agreement.

But tenants have six months to pay back rent that built up before October. ...

OPM: If a T who has not been paying rent during the last few months tenders money on Oct 1 (or Nov 1, I am not sure which it would be), can you apply that to the unpaid April 2020 rent and evict on Oct 2? Not evicting on the rent that came due during the moratorium, but evicting on the Oct 1 (or Nov 1) rent that is still unpaid because you applied the new money to the old rent under the "first in time" rule.

Deb,

From what I read about Oregon's laws against LLs I would never invest in that market. Insane lawmakers.

(please remember the people who make those outrageous laws are VOTED IN.)

In Indiana prices are high and homes are selling in days. If your area is anything like that this could be THE opportune time to sell.

If this creates a large tax bill consider doing a 1031 Exchange to defer the taxes on the profit. You can sell and exchange the property for something easier in a more LL friendly market as long as it's rental to rental.

I'd love to sell everything and exchange it for farmland - let the farmer work it and worry, just pay me rent on the land.

BRAD

So far my 3 tenants are paying. My property is paid off. Money isn't the issue. I am just feeling do angry that we seem on a downhill slide, with no protection for little guys like me who have worked 40 years to make my business profitable. The liberal agenda here seems only likely to further degrade.

When you see a train coming down the track right at you it's time to move off the track, not hope it will miss you.

You've worked hard for 40 years to get what you have.

Don't let socialists steal it from you.

Deb - Do not make any hasty decisions based on the news media.

To eliminate worry - research - research and research some more until you find valid information concerning rentals and their future in Oregon. Talk to local LL, Realtors, used car dealers and Pawn shop owners. You would be amazed how much used car dealers and Pawn shop owners can tell you about the local economy.

After the research is complete and if your fears are justified you may need to sell - BUT you need to determine what to do with the money when you sell.

+100 points to Richard's answer.

There are several options, I think. Have you considered redeploying the proceeds of the sale into commercial property? Not retail, but something like self-storage units or office/warehouse space?

I recently bought a 6 bay office/warehouse. This is the kind of place where there are small business tenants who run an auto-shop or small manufacturing business. The nice thing about having commercial tenants is they have inventory and expensive equipment. Valuable assets I might be able to get my hands on if they ever stop paying. The other thing too is if they do a midnight move out, they'll have to set up shop elsewhere, at which time I show up with a judgment and start till-tapping and taking equipment. Unless they completely re-brand themselves, and odds are still I'll find out where they are if they stay anywhere in my town. There are only so many auto-shops, and they're all registered with the city under the owner's name.

I also have a small self-storage facility. In my state, self-storage units don't require eviction or filing in court. If rent isn't paid, I simply over lock the unit, and after sending the required notices you cut their lock off and dispose of the property. "Self-help evictions" are allowed, in other words, as long as you follow the time line.

Deb, I don’t blame you.

House people for free and continue to replace their refrigerator when it breaks, is their air conditioner and water heater, pay the utilities if landlord supplied, taxes, insurance etc....

It is like requiring a grocery store to give food away for free and be forced to keep paying their employees and keep their store stocked.

Deb, knowing you have three properties, I say, continue to have a business relationship with your tenants. Keep the places in condition that good tenants want. ( you probably do.) The tenants know what they have, and value that, no matter how much ‘they could get away with’. As you noted, your tenants are paying. They likely realize what they’ve got- a landlord who maintains the property and doesn’t jerk them around ( shock and horror! No landlord would ever do that. Oh, wait.... landlords are people, and some people are jerks, especially when they think they are in charge. Again, Deb, this is not you.)

Great points Busy.

I have many more units than three and no payment issues. After 36 years doing this I seem to have become pretty good at screening/selection. I can’t imagine any of my tenants expecting to live in their rental for free.

The most I could ever see them doing is asking to move early if they had a hardship or perhaps asking if a roommate was ok to add. Since this began I have only had one tenant ask to pay a week late. Her hours had been reduced and she hadn’t gotten her stimulus check yet but was also just starting an extra job to make up for the loss. I offered her a twice a month payment option at no extra cost until she felt able to switch back to monthly. She accepted and apologized profusely for causing me any grief or worry because she recognizes it affects me. I also made it clear if it becomes too much for her she is free to break the lease and I will waive any penalties/fees because of this situation. She absolutely doesn’t want to move but is grateful for the options.

So while I haven’t been adversely affected I’m angry at what this has done to others. I’m angry because I can see the long term consequences. I’m angry because our rights have been stripped from us. We have insurance to cover unforeseen acts of god. We plan for the risk of vacancies and repairs. Never was it possible to imagine we would be ordered to house people for months on end without pay and with the expectation we must continue to make repairs, pay our taxes and insurance and other financial obligations.

Lisa, I concur.

I had a long conversation with my son who is a huuuge history buff. This is upsetting him greatly, he sees so many parallels to 1900s Russia. When I first got into landlording (2012) we considered getting rentals out by our son and his wife, so we could fly out to work on houses with them, get tax write-offs, and, I love working on projects with them. But, even then, we just couldn’t see getting into rentals in Oregon or Washington states. It has only gotten much worse.

Can you hedge your bets by selling half of your properties?

Just make sure your fire insurance is paid up, and as houses become vacant, post Trump signs in the yard and collect the winnings when the "peaceful" rioters burn down the place.

Yes, it's time to move. Better to move now while you are still ahead and before all the failed landlords sell at a loss.

Deb,

The rental home business is NOT good in EVERY area.

There are some areas that should be avoided.

Business climates and laws change so what was good yesterday might not be good today.

Brad is right. We've heard enough on here to know that some areas are WAY better than others to own or buy or sell property.