Mustang Bobby’s Landlord?

by Bryan

6 comments

1 hipparchia { 06.01.08 at 11:51 pm }

i’ve lived in one of those. the garage, not the cardboard box. my landlord at the time i was living in the garage apartment, actually had lived in a cardboard box on the street of nyc at one time.

2 Bryan { 06.02.08 at 12:08 am }

I lived in what was essentially a cardboard box in Asia, but it was spacious [compared to a military barracks], and well suited to the heat. Of course, painted rice paper is a much better grade of cardboard.

3 Mustang Bobby { 06.04.08 at 11:00 am }

I think I actually met my landlord once, when he came by to look at the place before buying it. He bore a startling resemblance to the species indicated (Procyon lotor), but lacked its morals. After he bought the place, we made all the lease arrangements via his secretary and I sent the checks to an address that was a Mailboxes Etc. office. I should have known.

As I type this, the moving company guys are here packing up my worldly goods and tomorrow they will move it all to the new place. It beats having it tossed on to the street like some of my fellow Miami unfortunates.

4 Bryan { 06.04.08 at 11:28 am }

It is one thing to be evicted for something you have some control over, or because of something that occurred in your life, like job loss, but to be ejected because of someone else’s screw-up is just too frustrating.

At least you had some money in escrow and a little advanced warning. Some people are losing their deposits and rent payments, which they need to get a new place to live.

The banks are being stupid on rental properties, because they could be getting some return on their investment if they just turned them over to a management company, which is better than just foreclosing.

5 Mustang Bobby { 06.04.08 at 2:46 pm }

Banks don’t want to think about the long term; they just want their money back, and they don’t want to be connected with the property because of the liability connected with actually being in contact with people and their lives.

6 Bryan { 06.04.08 at 3:19 pm }

I have a friend whose child is working on foreclosed properties for a major bank, and based on the stories from the father, the banks need to rethink their business model.

Any money is better than no money, and until the mortgage market recovers, the banks are losing much more than is necessary. Selling for less than half of the mortgage is not a way to make money.

I understand it is not their business, but there are a lot of rental management companies around, and it wouldn’t hurt to stabilize the market a little. Empty units deteriorate rapidly down here, and unmowed lawns hurt the value of everyone in the neighborhood.