Why the True Cost of an Eviction Is (Much) Higher Than You Think

On The Market

Evictions suck—for everyone. They’re bad for the property owner, the tenant, and America as a whole. On the lowest end of the spectrum, evictions cost Americans over $14,000,000,000 (that’s BILLION) per year. With this massive sum spent on court fees, attorneys, moving trucks, and lost rent, how do we STOP evictions before they happen? What can landlords do to ensure they NEVER have to kick out another tenant for nonpayment? Today, we’re discussing the true cost of evictions and how to avoid them.

We’ve brought our own Market Intelligence Analyst, Austin Wolff, back to the show to share how much evictions cost for the landlord, how much they cost to the tenant, and how much they cost society. We’re breaking down which costs hurt real estate investors the most during the process and how long it may take you to get a non-paying tenant out of your house.

Once you’ve been seriously sticker-shocked by the price of an eviction, James brings us some actionable steps he uses daily to avoid evictions at his rentals. He recently had one of the worst evictions, costing him SIX FIGURES. He shares what to do so this DOESN’T happen at your investment property, plus the type of rental you can provide that attracts the highest-quality tenants.

In This Episode We Cover

The astronomically high cost of evictions in the United States

How long evictions usually take, and why they often drag out months (or even years)

The cost of an eviction to a tenant and the fees they have to pay once they’re forced to leave

How to avoid evictions from the start by following some quick tips from James

The key to maintaining a high rent collection rate in your rental portfolio (fewer evictions)

What to do if you inherit tenants you suspect WON’T pay once you purchase the property

Overall economic impacts of evictions and why we MUST reduce them

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Join the Future of Real Estate Investing with Fundrise

Join BiggerPockets for FREE

Property Manager Finder

Dave's BiggerPockets Profile

James' BiggerPockets Profile

Austin's BiggerPockets Profile

6 Strategies That Help Landlords Avoid Evictions

Grab “The Book on Managing Rental Properties”

Evicted Book

Jump to topic:

(00:00) Intro

(02:23) Most Expensive Eviction Ever?

(05:23) Cost/Time It Takes to Evict

(14:11) The Cost to Tenants

(18:57) Serious Economic Effects

(22:47) How to Avoid Evictions

(29:44) Inheriting Tenants (What to Do)

(32:09) Astronomical Total Costs

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/on-the-market-265

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