according to a legal reddit, 9 out of 10 cases the renter is the fraudster but the 10 case where the landlord is, it’s usually a doozy.
I’ve had people create fake proof of income, lie on their applications, move in pets after moving in, etc. I’ve had people get rental assistance while they bought new cars etc
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And this is why I never became a landlord, I’d be a slumlord or dead from the stress.
I had one tenant where everything checked out and signed a lease with me and didn’t pay the first month’s rent. Had to evict… Googled her, and she (and her boyfriend and “uncle” who was a “self proclaimed lawyer”) stole a $1.5m boat in FL (they lived in TX) and sailed it around the Caribbean and got caught in Belize for shoplifting 
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I take first months due at lease signing
The problem is that landlords aren’t making enough cash flow. Making money off appreciation is awesome but when that happens, it’s unhealthy for the market imo
First month due at signing + 2 months security (clean credit/background, but had some missed payments about 5 years prior). Honestly, she left the place a mess, but after all legal fees, clean out, vacancy, etc, I was only out like $2k.
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Alright guys, help me with the concept of a 1031 exchange. How strict is a property checked for rental history? As I mentioned, we don’t really rent our unit, but I give it, a few weeks each year, to friends and family. Usually, I will take something in trade for the stay. I could even probably produce a few invoices. Would this be enough to qualify for the 1031?? Or is my problem that I exceed the personal use limit of 14 days or 10%. We probably use it close to 20 days.
Probably would raise some red flags in a system somewhere if you didn’t report rental income in prior/current years taxes. The 1031 process itself is strict (e.g., have to use intermediary, time to identify and then close on an exchange property), but not hard… the identification period can be a bit stressful if you’re not finding worthy deals.
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It’s all scale now. Very hard to stay afloat in the current market unless you own many many units. People that bought 4 years+ are doing very well. Going forward it’ll just be corporate landlords getting into the game.
On another not blackstone just bought my condo building so expecting my rent to increase substantially. Pretty significant acquisition.
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Has Blackstone been reading our comments, Jim? They will be savages with rent pricing, so I’m sorry to hear that. This sounds terrible, but I suspect squatters could put huge pressure on those over leveraged on rentals too. Maybe it would be for the greater good for the “80 million AirBnB bros” house of cards to collapse anyway. 
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Airbnb people just have such low mortgages they just don’t have to make much to cover expenses. It’s the perfect storm honestly for supply issues. Those that got in at 2-3% are so flush right now they have no reason to ever sell.
Hotel prices are insane also now so that will keep airbnbs viable. I paid $1200 for 2 nights at a Hilton in the keys this week, not even a weekend. Place was very disappointing for the price, should have just gotten an airbnb for that price.
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Completely agree with you. Many of them are greedy and cash out and lever up properties to buy the next one though, which is dangerous. Then repeat that again and again and again. I think that’s the only way it cracks is if something threatens their cashflow, where they can’t cover the monthly float. I’m sure the institutions would love to sweep properties up from banks.
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OOFFF that sucks.
And it really is. You need scale to do anything in RE now. You can still get into it but you need to plan for scale. The retirement plan RE investor or the college savings RE investor isn’t it anymore. Go big or go home.
Well, most of these airbnbs and stuff have gotten nice sized appreciation so less likely to see foreclosures. At the end of the day, for the RE market to crash, you need high employment or a huge cultural shift of less households creation
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All you need is forced sellers in some fashion, where supply exceeds demand. For the Airbnb crowd, a slow in consumer spending and high frequency of unrented units combined with owner leverage would do it. As you mentioned, higher unemployment would also do it. If you make the argument that institutions want it all, it’s safe to say they’ll find a way to crack over-leveraged rental owners. We will see it by the end of 2025.
EDIT: I don’t wish anyone ill will of course. Leverage just has a way of getting pressed and squeezed, and it will continue to happen at the right times.
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Someone else brought it up here but it happened in Palm Springs. They banned airbnbs and properties crashed hard. Doubt that would ever happen on a national level though. Airbnbs break all sorts of local zoning laws and most municipalities do nothing, prob bc many of the local politicians have skin in the game.
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not just that, your service at the building will steadily go into the shitter. might want to look at getting out while the getting’s good.
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Don’t forget that a TON of these Airbnb operators don’t actually own the property— they just rent it from the owner on a long term lease with the right to sublease it as a STR/MTR for arbitrage profit.
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Word is they’re gonna turn it into a more luxury building than it already is and try and double rents that way. Actually smarter move bc people will pay 15k for a 2-3br here if it has that fake luxury Miami plastic feel. Most of the buildings south of fifth are already 10k+ for 1200 sqft condos so there’s comps for it
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