How to sack your landlord
How to sack your landlord
I trust that everyone who reads the title of this write up understands that its intention is not to teach you how to dislodge your landlord or landlady out of their properties but rather to encourage you to take the right steps towards becoming a property owner. Sincerely, if you do not sack your landlord, he or she will eventually sack you! No matter how nice and friendly your landlord may be, at some time, he will either sack you directly by asking you to vacate his property or indirectly by increasing your rent unreasonably or making the environment less-friendly.
Some people, especially those who have won the ‘Long Standing Tenancy Award’ in their place of residency, need to be told that renting a property should be a strategic choice with a timeline. Rent is basically money going towards helping another person achieve his own goals. Your landlord has either personal financial commitments or bank commitments that he needs to meet before their due dates. He expects this to be met by you through your regular rent payments. If the property was bought on mortgage, your rent payments will help him or her pay down their debts.
The moral of these realities is that renting should be a stepping stone to owning your own property. In order to sack your landlord, you definitely need a strategy. To implement your plan and strategy, you need a good team. Like it has been said, a goal without a timeline is a wish. Thus, you need to have a clear blueprint with realistic timelines for achieving it. You need to believe in your vision and be committed to achieving those goals that you have set. A step-by-step plan, as we prefer to refer to these few suggestions, is workable and achievable.
In order to sack your landlord, you need to associate yourself with people who share a similar goal or are able to help you to achieve your goal. A good starting point is joining a co-operative society that also invests in real estate. Generally, most co-operative societies actively engage in acquiring large parcels of land for their members and make it easy for them to buy one or more plots with payment in installments. Even if you choose not to invest in the land acquired by the co-operative, as a member, you can access low-interest loans that you can use to either acquire land or develop the one that you already have.
Your first aim is to acquire a parcel of land as soon as possible. Although, you may love the area where the house you are renting presently is located but if the cost of land is prohibitive for your budget, look for land elsewhere. Many people have shortchanged themselves by disregarding this simple piece of advice. They keep hoping that they will one day be able to afford land or building in a particular area. They refuse to invest in or consider any other area. You need to start somewhere and you can always move higher later in the future. If you intend to sack your landlord in real-time, you need to be flexible and acquire land or property in any area that you can afford.
After acquiring the land, you need to get a team to help you conceptualize and visualize your dream home. This is where you need an architect and a quantity surveyor. A quantity surveyor can give you a provisional estimate of what it takes to complete your building project for a nominal fee. Many people, including professionals, neglect or avoid this important aspect. A proper bill of quantity helps you to plan better and be able to break down your costs into specifics. Of course, the price could be affected by inflation but you are better off than many people who choose to go into such projects blindfolded because they want to avoid paying professionals.
Someone has said that the best way to eat an elephant is little by little. If you will like to apply the same principle to our discussion, the best way to sack your landlord is little by little. Rather than allow the cost of a building project to intimidate you into inaction, it is better that you use the information provided by your quantity surveyor and others to execute your project one step at a time. The foundation, the decking, the roofing, and the finishing are the four critical areas that require the greatest expenses. The stages in between them can be your breathing spaces. With proper guidance, you can sack your landlord faster than you thought possible.