Landlording: A Handymanual for Scrupulous Landlords and Landladies Who Do It Themselves

by Leigh Robinson

This classic book on managing rental property, widely known among landlords and landladies as their bible, has been in print for thirty-nine years, has sold over 375,000 copies, and has twice been selected as one of the top ten real estate books of the year by nationally syndicated real estate columnist Bob Bruss.

This latest edition has been thoroughly revised and updated and includes both the eighty-four forms in the previous edition plus TWO new ones. One of the new forms, the Household Pest Control Agreement, puts into words what both landlord and tenant need to understand about their cooperating to deal with household pests, especially bed bugs. The other new form, Automatic Clearing House (ACH) Recurring Payment Authorization, enables tenants to pay their rent through an automated clearing house (ACH), so they needn’t bother writing a paper check every time their rent is due.

ALSO, new in this 12th edition is a coupon which the first purchaser of the book may use to receive free of charge all of the forms in the back of the book in common computer formats, PLUS a trial version of “Pushbutton Landlording®,” the author’s stand-alone program for handling the tenant and income sides of rental property management.

Genres: Finance, Nonfiction

510 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is kind of a weird book. The author clearly wants to help people by passing on his knowledge and experience, but he is also adamantly pragmatic and blunt about utilizing every advantage one has available (that is, for the most part, there's no moral right or wrong in landlording, but there is what's legal or achievable versus what's illegal or unachievable). This leads to lots of words about not caring if people like you, which would only be a concern to someone who does care...

The previous observation isn't a criticism; it's just weird. Also weird are the, to be frank, awful illustrations.

But, for a manual, what really matters is the content, not the style, and this book delivers. If anything, there's too much info packed into its many pages. There's lots of fuzzy, common-sense kind of advice about choosing tenants, not getting emotional in conflicts, or being available to tenants without letting them monopolize your time. There's even more detailed, precise advice about things like phrasing rental agreements, keeping the books, choosing insurance, and so on.

The ultimate judge is whether the advice turns out to be useful, but, on its face, this book is a keeper.

my favorite quote: "I consider them a rip-off, something you have to be sold, not something you'd buy."

[Rhode PVD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly useful. I especially like the sample form letters and checklists you can use when dealing with tenants. This is NOT one of those 'how to get rich in real estate' books. It's a true, in-depth instruction manual on how to be a landlord. Anyone considering investing on rental properties should read it first... and then keep a copy by your side forever after.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good guide written by a landlord who has been in the business a long time and knows what he's talking about. Lots of humor and cartoons too so it is a pretty light read. I never seem to use it as much as some of my other books on the subject though..

[DA GB · Rating 3 out of 5]

This and other books on managing rental property seem to gloss over or ignore the 800 pound gorilla in the room. That is, a punitive tax system that taxes...not profit...but cash-flow. Profit being defined as what you have left after ALL expenses have been paid. A tax system that encourages debt rather than thrift and savings…short-term fixes rather than long-term solutions…"slum-lording" rather than land-lording…. and discriminates against older investors.

Example: you have a leaking roof on your rental house. It’s an old roof and should be replaced. You could 1) spend $500.00 and patch it with tar and tar paper, or 2) spend $3,500.00 and have it torn off and a new roof installed. If you choose option one, you can deduct the entire $500.00 as a repair on this years taxes. However, if you choose option two, you must depreciate the $3500.00 over 27 ½ years.

Therefore, by doing it the right way...the responsible way...the long-term way...you can only deduct $127.27 from your taxes this year. Doing it right you are in the hole for 27 ½ years.

Now lets say you are 65 years old to begin with. What are the chances of you even living to be 92.5 years old??? That’s how old you would have to be to realize a return on your $3500.00 investment in this roof. Not factoring in the depreciating worth of a dollar over time, and ignoring the fact that you may need yet another roof before the 27 ½ years are up.

Some things can be depreciated over shorter times, but it all has the same effect. And consider that the government still taxes you as if that roof only cost you $127.27. Even though you took $3500.00 out of your pocket, the government only lets you put $127.27 back in before paying taxes on the rest.

That is why rental property always looks so much worse than property occupied by the owner. And that is why there are so many “slum-lords” out there.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very helpful reference book, both for wisdom and legalities.