The following is an interview with Robert Puharich, Founder of TeenLearner.com, by Peter McKenzie, CEO of Rincon Property Management, on The Accidental Landlord podcast.
How did you become a landlord?
There was a house that went for sale next to my parents house. I thought about buying it. I took a chance and went in on the house about 15 years ago. I converted it from one unit to two units, which allowed rental income to cover the cost. I was able to grow from there, and bought an apartment in Vancouver. As prices went up on condos, I sold a presale I had purchased and purchased a house out in the suburbs and converted it to two units. I was managing multiple units at that time. I was renting a basement suite and paying much less rent than I was collecting in rental payments.
How much experience did you have managing properties at that time?
I had zero experience managing properties and my family had zero managerial experience as well. We learned a lot of lessons and I took over completely, learning as I went. I learned a lot.
we see you have a few stories you can share, and one is about a kitten. can you expand on that?
It's a good story and a great learning experience. It could've been worse, though. One of my tenants in the basement suite of a house asked if she could have a kitten. It was an older suite and wasn't super nice. I thought, "What could happen?"
It was an inside cat so I said no problem. I never checked up on the unit because she paid on time, and never bothered me. If there was a concern it was figured out over the phone. I never checked the inside of the house. One day her electrical breaker was having an issue and she called me to come help, and I did. She let me know that her kitten had had some kittens. The first thought in my head was, "Okay, great, when are they going to leave?" I went in there with the electrician and two big cats ran out. I thought, "Okay, no big deal, but it isn't what you said." Some of the ceiling tiles were moved, and there were eyes looking at me. Another two cats were in the ceiling and another two were on the ground. I said, "Excuse me, this isn't what you said. These cats are not small kittens." She told me, "Yeah, they grew a little bigger." The urine smell was awful. So, there were ultimately six or seven fully grown cats in the unit.
What happened with the tenant?
She slowly got rid of the cats and kept one who still caused issues. I finally said that it was time for her to move out. Her cats were very valuable to her, so she was okay with that. It worked out for both of us.
You mentioned you had some water damage. What happened?
A couple of incidents that I thought were small turned out to be bigger. A gutter was leaking and the water dripped down. I didn't think it was a big deal, and time went by, and I forgot. What I didn't see was the water that was crawling down along the house and into the house through a crack. It was going into the bedroom and creating a mold issue. So even though it looked like a small issue, it ended up being a big issue. It cost a lot more than it would've if I had fixed it right away.
The only reason I knew was because they moved out, and they didn't know. It would have been behind their bed.
How has this affected how you manage properties now?
The biggest thing is realizing that small maintenance issues can become big issues. You should take care of them right away. Even walking through the house once a year would have saved me trouble. It can help identify issues. With the proper inspection, you can solve these issues before they happen.
the few dollars people save by doing their own maintenance often isn't worth the potential larger cost down the road if it wasn't done correctly. water is a big deal, in any house, and can cause a lot of damage.
I have another water story. The perimeter drainage was cracked. I knew something was wrong but not what. I didn't want to dig down four feet to figure out what it was. Eventually the flooring in the basement started floating. It was underwater and we couldn't figure out why. We thought maybe there were leaks in the walls, and called a plumber out. Eventually they said it was cracked and the water was going under the floor and concrete and then coming through the concrete. Learning that water can go through concrete with enough pressure was a learning curve.
