When do you know it's time? I'm going to list two of my 4 buildings in May. Only 15 years in, but I've about had it. I just spent several thousand dollars rebuilding an apartment I rented under market to a Navy vet I found living by the river. He left after 8 years threatening to sue because I wouldn't let him have a dog. Rebuilt the apartment, new people lied on their app and told me within two weeks after they moved they are bringing an ESA cat in. I'm just over it. Especially the constant nonsense about animals. That I can't build a nice place for people to live and say no animals, no ifs ands or buts is it for me. The poor keep getting poorer, the system keeps getting worse, and I can literally make more money investing the cash outside of real estate than I can working my butt off to provide clean, nice housing for people who are getting dumber and dumber. I'm 52, and I'm headed out the door to the land beyond employees and tenants. Good luck, ya'll.

Good luck to you.

Adam,

I hear ya !

Welcome to the Sellers Club.

This is a "to each his own" decision.

Move forward, with peace and tranquility.

Over.

You know when it is time to say when.

Adam, I here you. You are right. The truth is the nonsense and challenges with making money with rental property will only continue to get more daunting. And I have had that "It's time" feeling a few times over the years.

I've pared back a bit for other reasons. I plan on selling my remaining places in the next few years, park the cash and live off of the returns. That was always the plan though.

I've pared back a bit for other reasons. I plan on selling my remaining places in the next few years, park the cash and live off of the returns. That was always the plan though.

Welcome to the club. I started selling in 2019 and am down to ten from 36. I no longer wanted to deal with new unvetted tenants or be told I must take their unneutered ESA pitbull or four ESA cats. All I have left is long term quality tenants.

I’ve made a whole lot more investing the after tax proceeds in the stock market with gains taxed at favorable rates. Better to sell while prices were high. I have zero regrets and will be thrilled when someone decides to voluntarily move again so I can reduce further.

I'm going to respectfully disagree with Jeffrey [VA] on his tenants are not getting dumber phrase.

I would replace "dumber" with tenants, especially younger than senior citizen ones, are less responsible and civil, and have no or very low positive ambitions and patience than in the past.

However, I have noticed applicants becoming "smarter" in trying to "milk the system for all its worth" in trying to get rental assistance from other than their own means and responsiblity and pride.

My opininion in regard to applicants is not so much landlords need to get "smarter and smarter" but stick to the basics of qualifing applicants to fit the LL criteria for the best renter possible to rent an empty unit and to keep said renter as long as possible.

Where I would agree LL need to become creative is in defeating the increasing socialistic nature of government.

To paraphrase Ecclesiastes 1:9, there really isn't anything new under the sun regarding human behavior :(

I don’t think it’s dumber and dumber either. There is often a sense of entitlement that renters have now. With some people it doesn’t matter what you give them they believe they deserve more because they are good tenants. I don’t understand this logic. You don’t get a reward for just doing what you are supposed to.

I'll be selling houses as they become vacant. I don't think the problem is so much that tenants are getting smarter or dumber or worse, or whatever they are doing, The problem is that when I started, it was a contest between me and the bad tenants. As long as I could figure out how to keep them out, I was dong fine,

The GOVERNMENT is rigging the game and it's not in favor of the property owner. Virginia will soon find out as it is on it's way to becoming Massachusetts, New York or California.

Welcome to the seller's club. We bought a ranch and have never looked back.

This game isn't for everybody, but I must say, I've never gone looking for tenants down by the river.

I feel that way until I get my savings account statement.

We have some money in the stock market but I'm afraid to put too much. A few CDs not many.

#1 Picking a tenant from a van down by the river was not a move I would make in year 1 or year 35 or ever.

#2 I've always said my lease is a living document: every time a tenant does something I didn't anticipate, it becomes a new clause in my lease. This year, the three different tenants who though NOTICE was an arbitrary, non-enforceable, unimportant clause found out differently, and I have added a front page to my lease spelling out notice requirements in large type requiring requiring initials and signatures. We'll see...

As the economy changes the quality of tenants seems to go up and down,18 years into a 18 year cycle i wouldnt be surprised in a couple years to see the quality of tenants improving.

I have, Ken, but I am by nature a suspicious person. I can see my houses from the street, and if nothing else, we have the land even if a tenant burns a place down.

Ken, I know people think that FINCEN is dead, but I think otherwise since the "Ds" are all for it. I wouldn't be a hard money lender knowing this change is hanging over us like Damacles Sword.

Yes, the tenant shenanigans have changed. That said, you simply can't do business today the way you did 10-15 years ago, or even post Covid for that matter which is when a lot of entitlement became much more normal.

I remember in the 1970's listening to an older landlord grumbling to my dad about this new thing called a self-help eviction. He couldn't see how he could get non-payers out so he was discussing selling his units to my dad.

The things you say are similar. Someone who is homeless would never meet my screening criteria. Those criteria are established to protect my investment from people who are used to and have a history of destroying a place. Those criteria have changed over the years based on tenant experience and my own learning. For example, doing an in-home inspection at an applicant's current home would tell you what your property is going to look like in a few months and can be grounds for denial, I added that criteria just a few years ago.

As to the tenant notifying you they are bringing in an ESA, that's not how it works. They are managing you rather than you managing your tenants and property. You need to read up on the process and requirements. They are required to request an accommodation and provide the documentation to support it. An internet "registration" is not sufficient.

Anyone who is selling or sold, carry the note

for your buyer ? You still pay the taxes, but

I am a rule-follower. So when FINCEN started a year ago (was it then?) I got us FINCEN numbers, paid the $200 filing fee or whatever it was, and done. And then it was killed but if it comes back, I'm ready.

It was absolutely no different than getting an SSN, a personal EIN, a business EIN, a DL number, a passport number, a CCL number, a Medicare number, a Blue Cross number, a Humana number and now a FINCEN number.

Ken, WHC, It has greatly expanded since when it was first rolled out. Basically a paperwork colonoscopy and many more fees.

I am not in a position to say if this is a matter of the chicken or the egg that is causing the trends within the industry. Jeffery's message rings loud in my ears get and stay trained up within the industry or get out.

The path ahead isn't going to get any easier. If you are planning on doing the path ahead blind folded, you are only hurting yourself. So, if you are not willing to adopt new and improved methods, there is absolutely no shame in pulling the rip cord and giving others the opportunity that you have used.

Gotta reply to a man from my home state. COVID and age made me decide to sell. My last house was sold March 2025. I sold 1 or 2 houses per year and the market was hot. I got 8-10 years of income on all of them(before Capital Gains Tax of course).