“Why did you rent by owner?”
“Because I was able to save paying the listing fees and besides, I don’t trust real estate agents.”
Does that conversation sound familiar? Most of us have heard it, or a variation of it, or had that conversation ourselves. It’s based, most likely, on a bad experience a person had with a real estate company, and that experience soured that person for life. They absolutely refuse to ever deal with a real estate company again, not for a residential home, not for industrial property for lease, and not even for a garage for lease.
Never again!
But here’s the thing: there are as many disreputable “owners” as there are real estate agents.
Put another way, there are as many reputable real estate agents as there are “owners.”
When I was a kid, I once bit into a sour apple. I still eat apples. One bad one did not make me swear off apples for life. That would be silly, right? And yet people do exactly that once they have a bad business transaction.
Here’s the reality of this topic: there are many reasons why you should rent by owner, and there are many reasons why you shouldn’t rent by owner. The same can be said about renting from a real estate company. There are pros and cons, and it all boils down to what you are comfortable with.
But be aware!
Yes, there are times when you can save money by renting a home or a shop or an office space from an owner. There are also times when you’ll pay more.
Yes, there are times when you’ll get more flexible terms dealing with the owner; there are also times when the owner is an inflexible butthead.
Yes, it’s nice working one-on-one with the person who actually owns the property you desire, unless that person is a money-grabbing heartless landlord who will make your life miserable.
And yes, it seems like it would be a simpler transaction, dealing directly with the owner, but be aware that real estate transactions are legal, binding transactions, and it is important that all legalities are taken care of, something a real estate broker is trained to do.
With all that out of the way, would you like to know the best of both worlds?
Rent retail lease property from the owner who also happens to be a real estate broker and is listing his/her own property . . . unless the guy is a real jerk and then forget that advice!
Let me give you an example of a perfect world. In the Fort Worth, Texas, Alliance Area, there is a new business park called Box Office Warehouse Suites. It is owned and operated by Ron Sturgeon, a Fort Worth citizen, local entrepreneur, and one of the largest commercial real estate owners in the area with over one-million square feet of commercial properties for small businesses. Sturgeon also owns and operates RDS Real Estate, which happens to manage Box Office Warehouse Suites. This is the best of both worlds in real estate. Customers are dealing with the owner and a real estate company, a well-established and trusted real estate company, one which only succeeds because of the integrity of its owner.
That’s the kind of scenario you want the next time you look for property to rent.
