Good Vs. Bad: How to spot a Good landlord

We've all met them. The heinous land baron that sure and promises you the world and delivers nothing, and the land baron that promises you the moon, and delivers. Now sure and I'm not going to name names, but here's a few things that I've run into when meeting land barons and how I've learned to differentiate the two. Hopefully, my experiances will help other make good choices.

1. Does the Landlord seem willing to conceed to speacial requests?

It seems like a no brainer, but this is very important. If you have a 'special' request considering your parcel, how does the land baron react? A good landlord will do everything in his or her power to make you happy in meeting that request. A prime example of a good land baron that won my heart forever was the baron that listened to my request and *added*, at no additional charge, and additional 2 meters of space to accomodate me. If your landlord seems unwilling to conceed to special requests, be wary.

2. Does the Landlord come when you call him?
This is another easy one. A good landlord understands that his renters are the source of his income and should be willing to drop everything to come see you when you call for him. If you call for a landlord and get no response or wait for an hour or more before he shows up, consider moving. Of course, this doesn't apply to a landlord that answers you IM quickly to say he's with another renter..that's generally a good sign.

3. Does that landlord respect your privacy and choices?
A good landlord will NOT tell you what you can't do with your parcel unless it's a clear violation of TOS or an area theme. Make sure you describe in detail what you plan to do with your plot to your landlord. If it seems reasonable to you but he says no with some quirky answer, find another plot. It's one thing to describe a high tech systems lab and have your landlord say "this is a medieval sim", but entirely another to describe a fortified castle and have your landlord say "But I don't like castles."

4. How does your landlord respond to your suggestions, requests, or inquiries about information?
Never, ever, under any circumstance rent from a land baron that answers such things with snapping, irritation, or short answers. Your dealing either with a control freak or with someone that doesn't consider you important enough to deal with. And if a landlord ever, ever, becomes hostile with you move IMMEDIATELY and lodge a report with LindenLabs. Then..warn all your friends. You're paying your landlord's bills...he's not doing you a favor and maybe earning a bad rep will make him understand this.

5. Does your landlord change things on you without telling you first?
Run. Quickly. A good landlord will wait until you get on and explain the changes he needs to make, and why. An exceptional landlord will go even further and work with you to get things to both your likings. If you ever log in to find the shape of your plot or the objects on it altered or removed, leave. Pack up and go.

6. How does your landlord handle volatile situations with his staff?
If you get into an argument with someone under the landlord's employ and the landlord hears about it ( and he will), how does he react? A good landlord will carefully listen to both sides and evaluate the situation before making a choice. Keep your cool, because this is a definate test of your landlord's calibre. If the employee becomes hostile and beligerent while you try to remain calm and mature, the landlord should by all rights side with you if your complaint/inquiry/whatever that caused the argument is reasonable. If your Landlord does NOT smack down the employee, correct their behavior, or considers you to be at fault ( and you have every reason to believe your not) find a better landlord. A landlord's freinds doesn't pay his bills. You do, and you should be the priority.

7. Gossip.
Does your landlord talk about you? And moreso, in a bad or good way? If your landlord is sweet to your face and rakes you through the dirt when you're not around, move. You owe him nothing. And if you hear that the landlord is being a penis behind your back, confront him with the charges. If he gets defensive, he's rumormongering behind your back and it's time to move. An honest landlord will get indignant with the charges and go hunting down the person responsible and not get testy with you.

8. How do others talk about your landlord?
Shop around. If you know others that are renting from the landlord, ask them about their experiances and situations *BEFORE* you buy. If most of it is good, you can be reasonably assured that your landlord is of good character. If all you hear is horror stories, back away quickly.

And..as always..buyer beware.

I rent from Hiro Queso and couldn't be happier. He is a great landlord and I wouldn't change for anything.

Alexa

I hope your advice is heard, understood, and followed, Athene. Some of it sounds like common sense but it's better to have yes sense than nonsense! RUR RUR RUR.

Related thread... Happy Landlord Tales

i Rent an Island from Alliez Mysterio and her hubby they are supper people to rent from they will help you in anyway they can.

Happy Renting!

IM very happy with my island from Alliez Mysterio, a great landloard to work with

we had an issue i didnt pay as much as he wanted and he didnt get as much he moved me to a little smaller place but thats what compromises are no ones happy but i know alot of you wouldnt even have the chance to reach a compromise with your landlord and for that im very grateful that our communication is so positive he always comes or his wife to be does shameless cp see you at your wedding sunday bro and thanks for everything kavak

For roughly 4 months now Ive been a tenant of Alliez and Tony and I could never be more happier. They are always online if you have any problem, and are fast on teh draw to resolve it for you. If you aren't happy with your land, they'll move you to another sim (if its avail) no questions asked. In fact I don't feel like Im renting from them until comes time to pay, because I have so much control on what I can and can not do on their sims.

I've rented from others in the past, but none of them can compare to the outstanding services that these two can offer. Couple times I was having money problems irl we all know how the Army can be with your pay once your out. And Alliez not having to was willing to give me an extension. How many landlords can you say is willing to do so. None that Ive dealt with either in game or irl.

So to Alliez and Tony I say to you both thank you and keep up the good work at providing reasonable prices as well as peaceful and relaxing sims for us to live on.

Alliez Mysterio and Tony Beckett have been really great land lords to me...I am very happy with the time I have spent renting from them...

I thought I'd already seen this thread, but apparently it's a new one.

One thing I'm not sure I agree with is that a landlord should automatically side with the person who's keeping his temper, whether the dispute is between customers or between a customer and an employee. The customer is not always right, and an unreasonable but smooth customer can reduce an employee to tears smiling all the while... I've watched it happen.

That's not to say that genuinely abusive or aggressive behaviour should be condoned, but anyone can have a bad day.

Saw this thread and just had to comment. I'm renting from Alliez and Tony, been there about a month now, while I havent had many dealings with them myself, I've never had any problems, everyone in the sim seems to like them, and they've handled a certain "unwanted" character quite well, this person was causing all sorts of problems and quarrels, so I believe they've done a good job there. I see Alliez flying by quite often to check on everything, and from what I've heard from many of the residents, they're more than willing to help out with any problems or requests. So there are definately good landlords out there, you just have to find them, and dont let your bad experiences affect how you view them all.

Just have to endorse what has already been said about Alliez and Tony.

I am more than happy with my lovely piece of heaven and they go out of thier way to be helpful.

You should probably note on this one that this is only a concern if they are online! Not everyone can be on 24/7 and most barons do still have real-life commitments too (like sleep).
But if you message them and they're offline, but it takes over 24 hours for them to respond without the courtesy of giving a good reason, or they're generally impossible to get a hold of, then that's bad.

I would like to thank each of you who have posted for Tony and myself. Each of you have become very special to us and it is our pleasure to have you on dAlliez Islands.

For anyone who is thinking of renting, I do agree with what has been said in this forum about what to check out. I can't state strongly enough to ask questions and be sure you understand the answers given to you. If you don't understand anything ask again. A person who is informed will more than likely be a happy person no matter where they live. An example of a question you might ask is does your future landlord give the common land or do you have to pull back your land making room between islands. We give all common land and as a result all our renters have more privacy, no chat can be heard from island to island, and they have the full use of the land they are paying for.

We all know RL has a way of getting in the way sometimes so we ask if a person has problems with rent to let us know and if we can. we will work with them.

Yes, your landlord should be responsive to your IM's. We respond immediately if on line to IMs and if not on when the mail is seen and I ck a lot, I will go right into world and do what must be done. If it is a question I can ans through a response I will also do that.

Read the notecard you are handed and be sure you understand all of it, it is so important to both you and the landlord. Any problems? Well, if we don't know about them we can't help to fix them. So tell us That is why we are here.

I for one will never push anyone to rent from us and try to let ppl know yes, the land is available right now and if it is when you are set to rent we would like to have you or we will help them find something else if they would like.

Please feel free to stop by the dAlliez Islands and see the great job being done by our friends. From the great builds to the Holdiay Decorations for the contest we are having for all who live with us. It just amazing and so much fun.

Again thank you,
Alliez

I would like to add that if I could not rent from Hiro, my next choice would be Alliez and Tony.

Alexa

Seconded

Another big thumbs up for Hiro. Extremely helpful and friendly, a great guy to rent from.

I rent from Sexy Partridge - Pink Residential (Fudo)- and have had absolutely no troubles what so ever.

Sexy and partner are polite - friendly and eager to please.

We talk when we bump into each other and they send me timely reminders well before rent is due as they know I am on and off at infrequent times.

So a great landlord - Yeppers

I also rent from Alliez and Tony. Super nice folks, responsive landlords and just pleasant to deal with.

*huggles Alliez and Tony*

Ash

:waves at Ash: Miss you, girl - and I'm new to Alliez as well!

AnsheChung?

Surely somebody has had positive experiences from the largest land owner in SL. If she were bad, she'd be out of biz.

Post your positive Anshe stories here!

I too rent from Hiro. After having to sell my own island due to RL move, I really wanted to continue to live on an island and not go back to the mainland. After some research, I found Hiro's rules to be very reasonable. After contacting him, he helped me to find a location to suit my needs and was very helpful. Recently, the islands that were grouped together have been seperated to give the tenants better sim performance. I've been renting from him for a couple months now and I am very satisfied.

MJ

I rent from Prokofy, well my partner does, though I pay the rent :¬).
He had the plot we liked best, and we've had no cause for complaint.

Yes we did check out some of the others you've mentioned, and added them to the list of people we'd rent from, but when all was said and done we found a place we liked and went with that.

Its horses for courses, always do your research, and try before you buy (rent a week, before you rent for a month) etc.

When Katt and I rented, many months ago, it was an apartment on the top floor of Ravenglass Tower. Well, the building is round, and the floor was divided into four apartments, each a quarter-circle in shape.

Initially, we had the one apartment, and the ones on either side of us were occupied. After a while, one and then the other came vacant, and we rented those as well, until one by one we occupied the entire floor.

As we added space, we asked the landlord (Prokofy Neva, who, despite what any of you may say about him, was never anything less than professional and cordial) if the walls could be removed between each of the apartments to make them one big apartment. This was done without any question.

It was a very positive experience renting from Prok.

P2

I have been nothing but happy with my two residential properties in Anshe Chung's Dreamland. I'm in Britannica and Ellis Island. Having neighbors who take pride in making their properties attractive and pleasant looking enhances my enjoyment of my own place. It's almost like we compete with each other to see who can spruce our own places up more to be model neighbors. We really have a neighborhood spirit. Even though I have a skybox on my Ellis Island property, I make sure to have attractive ground level landscaping for my neighbors to enjoy. And on my Britannica property, I take great pride in harmonizing with the unique aesthetic theme of the neighborhood (pre-1900 British architechture). I get much more value for my money by having neighbors who are all committed to having an attractive neighborhood.