Drug dealers and neighborhood miscreants now have NEW ways of attacking landlords who have property. They no longer shoot and stab all the time but make their points crystal clear that landowners can't ignor them any longer. Exactly what their point is, they never say, sometimes it's jealousy. But even though there's no physical assault that can be filed, they're point is made through harassment and constant "in your face" antics that take your focus away from where it should be, which is on keeping your property rented and in pristine condition. When local police won't listen or help, what should you do? More to the point, when you know you've done nothing to garner their disrespect, when you treat them with kindness and respect and do what good landlords should do in keeping your part of the bargain, what should be your strategy, IF SELLING IS NOT AN OPTION, BUT YOU HAVE NO CHOICE OTHER THAN TO MAKE IT WORK?
I have a BS degree from UCLA, AA in Fashion Design and have worked in many executive jobs prior to deciding to own my own property and work for myself. There's no pity party here but I have worked very hard to make this work. I try to treat everyone with love and respect, but from the time I arise to the time I go to bed I am followed, stalked, harassed and made to feel I'm less than. I think "no problem" and this is the price you pay when you're independent and don't have to ask for anything. I know I'm a threat just for this reason, and I should be grateful, because it's definitely made me stronger. What I Don't GET is why I'm made to feel that I'm THE ENEMY. My philosophy was, don't rent any property, you wouldn't live in yourself. And I pride myself in knowing what's one the mindss of my tenants...are they happy, do they enjoy living in these homes I provide?
I will never forget being told by a subcontractor on one of my jobs that many men don't have what I have. But is THAT my fault? Is there some obligation for me to cut my ambition because in my endeavor to succeed, I may outdo some men...who simply just weren't willing to work as hard?
Yet I feel that whether I succeed or fail is the farthest thing from their minds, and all they care about is their own will, and have no idea that there just aren't that many business women or men who can succeed in a underclass area. And, nobody in their right mind wants to, and, in fact, runs from areas like this because they have WRITTEN OFF the value of poor people think they are not a "GOOD INVESTMENT."
So, what an investor may face is HOSTILITY, for wanting to do good. And hatred. In one area, I rebuilt three units and in one, there are DELIBERATE holes in the wall, that I waited to be fixed by the couple for many years but were deliberately done. And since this couple has chosen to raise their family there, I wonder why. The other day, she called me, "my friend" but when she leaves a hole in the wall for many years, that I've gone in debt to build in the community, does she mean it? Is she saying "friend" when she means, I hate and disrespect you?
This is what I mean by harassment. It hurts so badly when you put your very best foot forward, and someone catches it to make you fall.
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