It Could Have Been Me........
About a month ago I viewed a building in a less than desireable neighborhood but had an excellent cash flow. I passed on the deal due the seller being a true slumlord, people walking on the street with open beer cans and a flat roof with minimal leakage.
I was at the gym today and caught the end of a story with what looked like the building. I just looked up the story and found that one of the tenants that I met named Carol was brutally murdered inside her apartment. Her niece said that she took in homeless people and the down trodden yet she had trouble paying her rent.
I feel terrible because she exuded a genuine niceness but just imagine had I purchased the building.
Landlords check on your buildings and get to know your tenants on a business level. I am positive the slumlord knew of the "people" hanging around and shacking in her apartment yet did nothing about it. Maybe just maybe he could have saved her life.
I am going to speak to my attorney concerning the ramifications of wording my lease to include
constant "traffic", "loitering", or "housing" those who are not on the lease.
[ Edited by fmmp on Date 01/13/2006 ]
When my agent and I met the seller he approached us while drinking beer.
1. There was trash including beer cans around the property, front, back, etc. His office was 2 doors down so I know he saw the debris at some point in time and walked right by it.
2. Ceiling tile in the upstairs units that were deteriorating from roof damage
3. There was some type of drainage coming out from one of the upstais apartments, through a tube and dripping down onto the outside alley which seemed to decay the brick on the building.
Now the kicker was the building that he owned across the street. It was truely uninhabitable for my taste but there were people living there. Needless to say it is still on the market but someone purchased the building where Carol was murdered.