Four Ways To Quit Making Your Landlord Rich
Posted on: 18 June 2018
Landlords and landladies have been making tons of money for hundreds of years. Your own landlord is probably not that old, but he does seem wealthy. Renting apartments and houses is always a fairly lucrative business. If you are tired of taking your hard-earned money and lining the landlord's pockets and giving him lots of tax benefits, there are things you can do to quit making him rich and make yourself better off.
Quit Renting and Buy a House!
It is sort of tongue-in-cheek to tell you to quit renting and buy a house. After all, you probably already know that your continued occupancy on your landlord's property puts money in his bank. Yet, if you were to get your own house, it resolves so many of the issues and feelings of resentment you may have toward your apartment building neighbors and toward your landlord. The house is all yours, you earn the tax benefits on it, and it is only as loud or as quiet as you want it to be.
Leave Your Apartment White-Glove Clean
Landlords set large security deposit amounts because they know that many tenants will wreck the apartment and not bother to clean it when they leave. If your landlord cleans the place himself, or hires cheap labor to clean it, he can pocket some or all of your security deposit. Get most of your security deposit back by cleaning the place and making sure it is "white glove" clean (i.e., if you wore white gloves and ran a finger around every square inch of the apartment, the glove would still be clean if you cleaned exceedingly well). The money you get back from your security deposit can help pay your first month's mortgage payment!
Do NO Harm (or Damage)
The landlord cannot pursue you in court for more money if you did not damage his apartment. Sometimes this is completely unavoidable, but if you do your absolute best to avoid it, you will owe your landlord nothing extra. He could still take some of your security deposit if you damaged a wall or a door, but the cost should not exceed the large sum he probably charged you for the security deposit.
DO NOT Break Your Lease
Most landlords include a clause in their leases that allow them to collect several months' rent if you break your lease. That is a lot of extra money you would have to pay him for a place in which you no longer live. Meanwhile, if he finds other tenants to take your place, he still gets to keep your money from the broken lease. Stay up to the last possible second before moving into your new home.
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