An age-old proverb first recorded thousands of years ago serves as a good understanding of why landlords being too close to their tenants can produce a negative experience for both the landlord and tenant.

"Familiarity breeds contempt" is a proverb that means the better you know someone, the more you will find fault with him. Familiarity breeds contempt means the more time you spend with someone, the more you lose respect for him. source

Many landlords who self-manage their properties tend to get too familiar with their tenants and the goings-on in their daily lives (jobs, money, friends, family, etc.). While this may seem innocent enough, one must remember that this is best to maintain a business relationship, not a friendship.

Problems often arise when a breakdown in the business end occurs, which could be something like the tenant having a shortfall in their monthly rent.

It could be that the tenant's financial problem resulted from losing a job. When you are "friends" with your tenants, sometimes the business hat comes off. But, unfortunately, when the friendship hat goes on, it may result in you as the landlord neglecting your business by accepting compromises you otherwise would not.

Imagine a friend approaches you in tears and tells you about how they lost their job and will not have money to make their rent; you may feel compelled (or worse, guilted) to help them out. If you were truly friends and had some extra cash, that could be one thing, but in this case, you are exposing your business to financial difficulties; rent loss equates to income loss.

The rub is that when you tell them they "still need to pay the rent," explaining to them that "we need to keep friendships and business separate." They may accuse you of not helping them out as a "friend,"; yet here is your "friend" asking you to compromise your business financially potentially.

You see, the perception from your tenant is you are their friend, and friends help friends out, correct? So when they feel that their friend is not helping them out, they may feel now that their friend is just a greedy landlord. So they start making emotional decisions and saying personal things instead of making business decisions and acting more professionally.

The simple way to avoid a direct conversation and create an emotional distance between their issue(s) and your business as a landlord is to have an intermediary or a buffer between you and your tenant.

In this case, the landlord is not a friend, and with a couple of phone calls, the tenant solves their problems, maybe gets a new job, or they financially tap into their family or friends.

The landlord may not even know that anything was wrong; they get their rent on time. And best of all, as there is no familiarity with the tenant, this breeds no contempt, and no respect is lost. You will still feel good about your tenant and feel good about being a landlord.

This buffer will give you emotional space to make business decisions instead of getting compromised into making emotional decisions based on the faults you have found in the tenant.

When it comes to investment rental properties, a buffer is a property manager or caretaker who can filter emotions and discuss what you can and should do; making informed business decisions.

For example, a business decision would be implementing the steps required when your tenant cannot make the rent payment or pay their rent on time.

Your business needs to receive rent payments from tenants on time every month regardless of the tenant's circumstances. However, if the tenant can no longer make the rent, the situation needs to be managed; time is of the essence and proper legal process, including good emotion-free communication, is critical.

Now, if the tenants are your "friends," this could be a highly charged emotional event that drags on for many emotional weeks, months, or years.

This example does not suggest landlords should be cold or callous towards tenants, as landlords can always choose to accommodate or make arrangements if their tenants' history is deserving of such consideration. Still, based on emotion alone, one should not be put into situations that could compromise their business.

Your property manager or caretaker will ensure that your tenants are treated with the utmost respect while adhering to the rules and laws governing landlord and tenant relationships. Protecting your investment property from bad situations that can quickly get worse over time is a wise investment.

Not only will you significantly reduce the emotional rollercoaster and time spent dealing with these personal situations, but the exposure to the business of being a landlord will be minimized or eliminated in terms of loss of revenue.

The best and healthiest way to culture a robust and long-term relationship with your tenants is through a property manager or caretaker, as this buffer will significantly reduce the familiarity that breeds contempt.

If your rental property is in Delta, B.C., (North Delta, Ladner, or Tsawwassen), South Surrey, B.C., or White Rock, B.C., contact Greg at Nicholls Property Management; and have a stress-free investment property experience as a landlord and have happier tenants.

Nicholls Property Management

+1 (604) 749-4676

Greg@NichollsPropertyManagement

www.NichollsPropertyManagement.com