I recently bought a building that contains four separate apartments.
The apartments were all occupied at the time. Before the purchase, I toured the apartments and spoke with the tenants. Everything looked good and everyone seemed quite happy with the accommodations. The building inspection turned up only minor issues that were easily taken care of. Once I took ownership of the building, I wanted to fix things up a bit. I spent an entire weekend on the landscaping. I mowed the lawns, bought plants for the gardens, pulled weeds and trimmed the shrubs. I noticed that the windows needed some paint and caulk and decided to add some exterior lighting. The renters noticed my efforts and thanked me. They then started mentioning some issues with their specific apartments. The one renter complained that her bathroom faucet is corroded and difficult to turn on and off. She was also unhappy with the water pressure in the shower. I checked it out and decided to purchase and install new fixtures for her. When the rest of the building heard about this, I was bombarded with requests for improvements. The one renter explained that the oven smokes every time she turns it on. When I inspected the oven, I discovered that it was simply very dirty. The renter was unhappy when I refused to buy her a new oven and suggested she get busy scrubbing. Another renter called me because his apartment has a very bad odor. I quickly realized this is because of his cat and his failure to keep up with the litter box. Managing these apartments and renters has turned into a much bigger commitment than I first realized.