Landlords And Peace Of Mind

A $31 million slumlord settlement in the Bronx is a wake-up call: housing isn’t just an “investment” on a spreadsheet, it’s where people live. We start with a light catch-up on travel and weather, then zoom into a bigger shift happening across vacation markets and home markets alike. Rafael’s upcoming Puerto Rico trip turns into a real conversation about Airbnb, cash buyers, and what happens when short-term rental demand changes neighborhoods and squeezes long-time residents, especially after hurricanes and major storms. 

From there, we get practical about what responsible landlording actually looks like. We talk straight about budgeting for repairs, planning for vacancies, staying ahead of maintenance, and why ignoring basic needs like heat and hot water isn’t just unethical, it can become expensive fast. We also dig into how tenant screening and day-to-day responsiveness build the kind of reputation that keeps your units filled and your stress low. If you own rentals or want to buy your first investment property, this is the mindset that saves you years of headaches. 

We also make the case for homeownership when rent keeps climbing. We break down why a mortgage can build equity over time, how small extra principal payments add up, and why “peace of mind” is more than a slogan. Then we shift behind the scenes: Rafael shares the milestone of his first listing and what it’s like learning the full selling process, and Angelo tells a high-pressure closing story where the team pushed to start at 8:30 PM to help a client avoid a rate extension cost. 

If you like real estate stories with real lessons you can use, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What’s the biggest landlord or rent problem you’ve dealt with?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:07

Welcome everyone to another episode of the Buyers Real Estate Podcast. My name is Angelo, and I'll be the host. And today I have my co-host here who is going to be Rafael. Rafael. Welcome, Rafael. It's been a while. It's been a while, yeah. Since our last one. Absolutely. Oh my goodness. And we have been sacking a little bit with the podcast. But look, we have you on, so I know it's going to be a good time. We've been busy. We've been busy. I've been in Hawaii this past week. So nice. That's what I've been up to. Uh it was nice. It was very nice. A lot of people say it's very uh hot over there. It is, but it's not really humid, so yeah.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

That's uh well, like I said, you know, my Mexico. Uh I went to Mexico a while back and 105, the weather was 105, but the humidity was like dry, so it wasn't that bad. It was great. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 1:02

The humidity is what gets you, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because then you're sweating and you're all like, oh miserable. Yes, you feel miserable. Like it could be an okay day in New York, like maybe 75 or something like that. But if the humidity is so apparent, then it's like, oh no. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. So how you been, Rafael?

SPEAKER_01 1:23

I've been good. I said, been busy. Been busy. I did vacation. You mentioning vacation. I got my vacation coming up as well. I'm gonna be uh going out to Puerto Rico soon. Puerto Rico, yeah, next next week.

SPEAKER_00 1:33

Wow, what part of Puerto Rico?

Puerto Rico Trip Planning And Airbnb Shift

SPEAKER_01 1:35

I'm gonna go to San Juan. San Juan. I mean, it's it's always you know the capital. Everybody wants to go and then uh start at San Juan and then venture around and drive around and see where it takes me from there. Absolutely. So how many times have you been to Puerto Rico? I've been quite a few times. Yeah, I've been to San Juan, I've been to uh Aguadilla, mainly on a on a cruise, you know, like for the day. Yeah, I'll stay there. But this one's gonna be actually dedicated to Puerto Rico itself. So, you know, it was uh it was a bit of an adventure though, you know. I I must say, you know, trying to trying to find the hotels and whatnot. And uh, because everything now is all like Airbnbs. Yeah, you know, and and and the the houses, you know, I guess with all the storms and the hurricanes that they had, and a lot of people got washed out, and a lot of the elderly folks are getting uh taken over by people from here going out there to purchase Airbnb. Oh yeah, purchase the house cash, right, and then converted over to Airbnb. So now, of course, the hotels are suffering. And I it was uh like I said, it was an adventure trying to find hotels. I'm like, yeah, I found the the Hyatt uh in San Wow, which is a beautiful place, yeah. But I noticed that in my searching through it, some of the hotels are doing Airbnbs also. Really? Yeah, I never knew that. Yeah, I was like, oh wow, this is this is I mean, so when I stayed in Florida, some of the resorts in Florida did have uh Airbnbs.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Oh, some of the resorts had Airbnbs there, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:02

Some of the some of the so like when I stayed at one location and they also had an Airbnb, and I was like, oh wow, because I had my pet with me. So they was like, oh, you know, we also have this option for you. I was like, oh, and it's just as good. Yeah, it's great, right? You know, but you know, it's not taken away from the actual resort or hotel itself, right? I mean, they're they're still getting their their fair share, as opposed to just a regular Airbnb, you know, in a in a house that somebody got pushed out of.

SPEAKER_00 3:31

Yeah, that's true. I mean, like you mentioned it in Puerto Rico, a lot of people, you know, a lot of like the elderly people probably got pushed out. They saw money, like you said, and they probably took it, and now it's a lot of Airbnbs there.

SPEAKER_01 3:44

Yeah, and I'm sure they got they got under undervalue. You know, they saw cash because they're going over there with cash and and pushed them in, pushing them out, and then they they're coming over here and then trying to find somewhere to rent and yeah, and and to start their life all over, right? I mean, at a at a 70, 80 years old, you know, someone who are coming back coming back this way. Yeah, exactly. I mean to get into buildings and slumlords and slumlords.

Slumlords Held Accountable In NYC

SPEAKER_00 4:12

That that's right, New York City. That's the city of where you you find the most amount of slumlords in the in the area. And talking about slumlords, there's on May 6th, I recalled that there was a case that settled with two of the most notorious slumlords, actually in the bronze. It settled for$31 million. Yeah, I saw I saw that. I saw that. Yeah. So now, you know, it's gonna make an example out of, you know, slum lords who are slacking with, you know, may giving people the basic necessity for housing and stuff. Because you know how some lords are, they they essentially deny you access to a standard living of housing because they don't even provide heat sometimes, sometimes they don't address like repairs that need to be made. And you know what? It's good on them that they're uh having to pay these.

SPEAKER_01 5:03

So that this is this is a step in the direction, right? I mean, because now it's like hey, pay up. Exactly. They they're they're they're they're getting they're getting held accountable for it, which is which is great, right? 31 million dollars is not you know, that's not 31 dollars. That's right. A million dollars, you're gonna get it's it's gonna affect it, right? It's and and the word is already out, right? So now you have to take care of these folks, you have to do what's right by them, right? Don't put a band-aid over the the wall has a hole over it. We're gonna just put put some duct tape in the paint it. That's that's ridiculous, right? You know, water's leaking from upstairs, you know, there's a burst of pipe. I mean, come on.

Responsible Landlording And Tenant Screening

SPEAKER_00 5:39

Exactly. When you buy an investment property, right? Always make sure that you're putting money aside for repairs, vacancies, and stuff like that. Don't just think because when you buy a property, you get to net all of the profits and stuff and then neglect your tenants. That is never a good business model because it's gonna catch up to you one way or another.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Yep, exactly.

SPEAKER_00 5:59

Yeah, like that, that is such a bad business model. Well, it's not even a business model, it's just green. It's just yeah, yeah, pure green. Exactly. Because whenever we help the clients secure investment properties, we always tell them that, like, you know, if this is your first investment property, make sure that you're, you know, doing A, B, and C, because eventually, if you don't, then you know, something might c catch up to you, and it's just like a snowball effect. You start paying it one way or another.

SPEAKER_01 6:29

Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

One way is manageable, the other, not so much, right? Exactly.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

And then and then you're dealing with all the consequences afterwards, right? Because now you gotta treat, you know, now you gotta play catch-up, right? All these repairs. If you stay on top of the repairs, no issues. Exactly. Right? Peace of mind, peace of mind, exactly. And then you don't have that$31 million lawsuit that you just got you have to pay, right?

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Exactly. Like uh, not you can put no price on peace of mind, right? And the reason why you buy an investment property is for your retirement for your peace of mind, right? Exactly. Why make it that there's any any doubt that there will be a disturbance in there, right? That's why when you screen for the right tenant, you you should give them a, you know, do the screening process really well so you get the ideal tenant for you and what your rules, your house rules are, and also make sure that you start recognizing that part of what they're paying, you're you set it aside for repairs and maintenance and all of that, and then the rest, you can pocket, you can do what you need to do.

SPEAKER_01 7:33

Exactly. Yeah, do what's right by the people, that's it. Yeah, they pay their rent, and you and the sad part about it is you want you you have the audacity to take them to court because they didn't pay you the rent. Exactly. I mean, you're asking people to pay rent and there's no repairs being done, there's no heat, there's no hot water. How do you expect the person to pay pay the rent?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Exactly. And then sometimes you know, the word gets around that you're a bad landowner, and you know, sometimes they might not even want to go and secure an apartment with you because of your reputation. Yeah, right, exactly. Yeah, when you have such a good reputation when you're tenants, they talk about other people, they talk about it with others. So when you have a vacancy, say they're moving out, they might just refer a friend saying, like, look, this person is great as well. I'm leaving because you know, maybe I got relocated, but if you could give them the chance to or maybe bought a house. Exactly. Exactly.

Why Owning Beats Renting Long Term

SPEAKER_01 8:32

They move out to move on to better things, right? People get tired of the slum lord. People want to, they they want different, they want something that you know that they can call their own, and they have to worry about their own headaches. And but the best place, you know, to be would be owning your own property, right?

SPEAKER_00 8:46

Exactly. You don't have to deal with a slumlord unless you're your own slumlord. Right. Well, that's on you then. That's on you. You can't do anything about that, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:56

Get a get away from the slumlord, but don't become one, right? Get away from the slumlord and be your own manager, your own this is mine. I own this, right? Exactly. And I don't have to worry, and I don't have to worry about you know having to wait for the landlord or it's on me, right? I gotta run to Home Depot, I gotta make these necessary repairs. Exactly. If any exactly, but it's all it goes back to what you said, peace of mind, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:19

It's peace of mind because now you're you're a homeowner, right? Yes, yes, you're a homeowner and you have a lot of responsibility, just like any landlord, set aside your budget for expenses and stuff down the line and stuff, because it's also you have to account for those things, right? The reason why you're getting a house most likely is because you're you're probably at that step with where you're growing your family and you need more space. It's not like you just want a house, it's like you need a house, right? So make sure that you do your due diligence and start planning to save a little bit on the side to do your own repairs and maintenance. So when you get in there, you're not scrambling for money. And when something you know leaks or breaks or anything like that, right? Yeah, you you're secure, you know, you know you're good, and you provide a stable home for your family.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Right, exactly. Yeah, and that's that's it's important, right? I mean, uh you don't you don't want to continue paying rent, and of course the way the rent is going out is ridiculous.

SPEAKER_00 10:16

Oh, yeah, it's spiking like crazy. Rent is not mortgage, right?

SPEAKER_01 10:19

And sometimes even more than that. That's right. Yeah, so I mean, uh best way to go is start looking in, start looking into an investment that's gonna be it's gonna be yours, right?

First Listing Win And Team Support

SPEAKER_00 10:31

Exactly. And always we always preach about the fact that when you start owning a home, you're starting to every payment you're doing is also a payment to the principal, which is the equity that you're getting in the home. Right. So it's like uh it's almost like your own little piggy bank that you're putting every every payment is you're saving it as well. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, you're paying interest, but you're paying also the principal. Yeah. And if you pay a little bit extra every year, that does a lot in terms of how fast you're gonna completely own the home. Right. Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. And then, you know, another thing that I wanted to ask is that has there been anything else that you've uh been doing recently?

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yeah, I got my first listed.

SPEAKER_00 11:14

You got your first listed.

SPEAKER_01 11:17

Yeah. Awesome. Came came came at perfect timing. I mean, you know, it's just it's it's it's amazing. It was a it was a great, it was a great, great experience. I mean, the process from A to Z, it's a lot. And I was, you know, the selling, the the selling uh process is it's it's a lot. But my first listing, Alex, the team, everybody that chipped in and helped me out with with getting you know getting information that I needed. Amazing team. Alex is a bulldog. I mean, I I couldn't ask for anything better. You know, uh helping me out from A to Z. Chris, somebody you know, by my side helping me out with with the with the open house. I mean, it was it was beautiful. Yeah, and I gave you the signs. And you get, yeah, and of course, you know, that's what I said. The whole team, everybody together. Alex gave me the signs for the open house. Angelo, I'm sorry. Um and every and everybody and everybody working together. And this is why, you know, this is why I like, you know, and and I'm and I look forward to it many more, right? Because I mean, and you know, picking everybody's brain if I can. Uh, but it was but it was a it was great from from from beginning from well, we're still not at the finish line, but we've you know, from where we're at right now.

SPEAKER_00 12:26

Yeah, it's the journey. We're never gonna be at the finish line, right? It's always a journey, right? And the team that you have behind you is that that you know, the support that's gonna guide you smoothly through that journey.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

Exactly. Exactly.

SPEAKER_00 12:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:39

And I and I and I I'm looking I'm looking forward to my next one, right? Yeah, and then stay, stay, stay moving and stay, stay grinding and uh try to catch up with you guys.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

Oh, trust me, you are gonna catch up. Like one thing that you cannot teach to anyone is that that thrive to kind of want to learn and apply those things. Like, even for myself, it's very hard to do that sometimes. And that's why I'm very glad to be here with everyone else that does it consistently and stuff. It motivates me as well. Right. Seeing you have that listing and your brand new inspires me as well. I'm like, man, Raphael is like he did it, like the work that he put in those months and stuff, it's coming into fruition because he's putting himself out there, he's doing the work that no one else wants to do. And I knew you were gonna get something like it within a year or so. I I knew it was just amount of time because you said it though. Yeah, you did say it. I I was like, there's no way he doesn't get because it's a numbers game at the end of the day, right? The more you put yourself out there, the more chances there are of you getting something, right? Helping a client out, and then building your reputation around the the city being like that that person that was uh able to help me sell my home for top top dollar and stuff like that.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Yeah, it's it was it was amazing. I mean, I like when you told me that I was like, let's see. No, yeah, I and I I look at a couple of videos of people saying I didn't get my first let's see for two years, and I'm like I don't have two years.

SPEAKER_00 14:13

We gotta move fast. Exactly. You have that through you have that hunger in you, which is very rare to do because uh how how I look at it, it's sometimes like athletes, they have their kids, they have these expectations for them, but they don't have the hunger, right? The parents have the hunger and stuff like that. So that that's like the main component of someone who's successful, like you. You're gonna be incredibly successful, trust me. It's that you you have that you have that hunger in you that you want to learn, you want to be out there, you want to do these things, right? And most importantly, you want to help those people. Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:47

Yeah, of course. I mean, I do have the and I do have that hunger, and I do have the you know, the go get them. And and of course, I look at it most importantly is having the perfect support team behind you. Yeah, right, because you guys have been amazing, man. I mean, from from beginning to. And I can at any time pick up the phones, hey, listen, I help. Yeah, I got Chris's, you know, uh, I I I bug you guys enough, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:11

No, never that, never that. Don't ever think that.

SPEAKER_01 15:13

It's like I tell Alex, I said, hey, we'll we're one little happy family over here, right? I mean, the the the the the support, you know. So with that being said, uh I'm having the support, so that's pushing me to go further. Like, I gotta, you know, I gotta get my next one. Yeah. Right? I gotta I want to work on the next one because it's just the I don't know, it's in it, it's in me. I just I I gotta I gotta do it, right? Yeah. For myself, also the learning experience, you know, and like I say, you know, I mean you again, it's just ask asking the questions. Alex is, you know, phone call away, like he's always been, right? You know, hey, listen, you know, just call me. Yeah. And and you know, and I mean, and and watching Alex in action, man, that's amazing. Wow, this guy is non-stop, man.

Last Minute Closing Chaos And Problem Solving

SPEAKER_00 15:57

No, absolutely. He's probably the hardest worker right there. Yeah, Chris is probably gonna be the one that is gonna surpass all of us. Oh, yeah, yeah. Because he's the youngest, yeah, yeah. Without a doubt, he he has more time than us. Without like he's gonna be the best one, uh, out of all of us. Because it when you start so young, like he did at 18, yeah, it's just like the sky's the limit. Yeah, of course. Because you're born with it now, like you're you're you're integrated into it. By the time he's uh my age, your age, oh yeah, forget about it. Yeah, yeah. He's gonna be up there. Yeah, we won't even be able to get through to his phone because he's gonna be too busy. He'll be too busy. Man, but yeah, no, I'm happy that you feel that way, right? I feel like in our office, we're always trying to learn more and stuff like that. So when someone comes into the team and you're asking questions, we're more than happy because we're like, oh, we can actually share the knowledge that that we all all have. And it's that's fun because we go like, oh, we get to learn it again because now that we're sharing it, and it it helps us keep us sharp as well. Because when you're teaching someone about things, you have to be able to know how to how everything works, and you have to like question, like, okay, this is how it works, blah, blah, blah. And this is how I should present it to him. And it it helps us also, right? Explain it to clients as well. Because when you are able to explain it to other agents, you're also practicing again how to explain it to clients as well, how everything is working and whatnot. Right. So it's just a natural skill once you start getting into it. Yeah, what should yeah, it's a lot, man. It's a lot. That ain't easy. Oh, it is not, it is not. I mean, there's some files that are very tough. For instance, I had a client who basically her rate was expiring, and the closing was going to be set on the day after the expiration. And we were like, oh no, no, no, we cannot let that happen because we don't want her to pay the extension cost. It that's so unfair to her, especially since she's been so compliant, so on top of things. It's like this is absolutely not fair for that client, and we have to make sure she closes before it because we want to provide the best service to clients. That's one thing we want to do. We want to pride ourselves in making sure that we give them the best service because the lifeline of a business is also referrals and making sure the reputation stays well and consistent. So what we did is that we were trying to schedule it before it, we couldn't. And then on the day of the the day prior to the expiration, we were like, we have to come on. We've been trying to do this since the whole since the whole last week and stuff. And we were just like added and added and added in on the day of, we got incredibly serious about trying to get everything done on that day. So we just started making so many calls to so many people to make sure that the bank was ready, the lawyers were ready. Like, like we were trying. We we you could tell Heidi, it was such a crazy, crazy day. We ended up closing at 8 30 p.m. Wow. Oh my god. Yeah, closing at 8 30. Wow. 8 30. Yes. We started the closing at 8 30, and I believe it ended like around 10 or something. Oh my god. Yeah, because we were telling the attorneys, look, it's not fair whatsoever for the client, right? We have to make it happen today. When are you guys available? And one of them was, I believe it was the seller's attorney that was basically booked the whole day. So we told them, okay, if you're booked at this time, can you do it at this time? And that's a little bit extreme, right? Yeah. That you're you're gonna be booked until the whole work day, but can you accept? Because look, this fall, there was a lot to it, right? But the client was very fair on what everything what they did and stuff, and you know, we really need to close this, or they're gonna have to pay uh rate extension, and that's completely unfair to them. Please, is there any way we can make it happen? And then they finally agreed. We got our attorney to basically also agree to meeting up, and man, they just had to figure out stuff with the bank on how they were gonna communicate and with the numbers and stuff, but uh everything happened, and yeah, wow, you guys are amazing.

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Yeah, we'll make it happen. Realtors, problem solvers, troubleshooters, you name it, jack of all trades, it's not just a realtor here.

SPEAKER_00 20:26

No, and it's the whole team, right? Because everyone was pitching in Alex, Heidi, me, uh, everyone was pitching it on that file because we had to make so many different calls to everyone, make sure that you know everything got put in check. Emotions were a little bit high too because we were like, is it gonna close today? Is it not? Right, what's happening? Oh my god.

SPEAKER_01 20:45

Wow, that's crazy, bro.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Yeah, but that that's the life of real estate.

SPEAKER_01 20:49

You know, I I see, man. What I what I got coming towards me. I mean, my my first listing, I mean, knockout wood, it was nice and smooth, right? I mean, yeah, I have again because I had you know, I had the guys, I had the support, you know, I have everybody helping me out, but you know, it's like all the other stuff that goes behind it, right? Closing 8 30. Yes, that's that's powerful. That's dedication.

SPEAKER_00 21:10

Exactly. And you're gonna be there too. You're gonna be able to solve those problems immediately, right? You're gonna you're gonna try to do the best that you can serve your clients the best possible way as well. And I have no doubt that you're gonna master that within the next two years.

SPEAKER_01 21:24

Oh, yeah. I'm definitely I'm I'm so dedicated. I'm I'm I'm that sponge.

SPEAKER_00 21:29

Yeah, the sponge, I'm absorbed in everything. I've seen that for those of you at home. Raphael, he will ask you a million questions and he won't repeat any of them because he just absorbs them right there. Like he Raphael, amazing.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

If they're willing to teach it, I'm gonna learn it. Yeah, and I've hey I've I'll whatever I learn, I forward it on to the next person. Exactly. And and that's uh that's how it's all about, right? Just keep keep it going. I mean, you know, it's it's amazing on how how real estate is, right? It's it's It's never a dull moment. I mean, look, 8 30 at night. Jeez, 10 o'clock at night. I'm sleeping at 10 o'clock at night. Oh, so some of you guys are also sleeping at that time.

Final Takeaways And Call To Call

SPEAKER_00 22:09

These guys are closing deals. There you go. We'll close on your home, no matter what the time. As long as it's before 12. That's right. Before midnight, right? Before midnight, we'll make it happen. That's right. That's right. But yeah, guys, thank you so much for tuning in to this week's episode of the Buyers Real Estate Podcast. Rafael, do you have any final words for the audience?

SPEAKER_01 22:31

Just remember if you're tired of rent and you're tired of that slum lord, give us a call. That's right.

SPEAKER_00 22:37

Let us help you.

SPEAKER_01 22:38

Let us get you into that first home.

SPEAKER_00 22:39

Absolutely. Raphael will be right there to battle it out with the phone is ready. Just call. Absolutely. Well, guys, thank you so much. And thank you, Rafael, for coming on. Thank you, Angelo. Always a pleasure. Pleasure is all mine. All right, guys. Bye. Bye bye. Bye, guys.