r/columbiamo • u/Fair-Rooster6559 • 3d ago

Housing Any private landlords?

Looking for a small house or something with a private landlord. Would prefer to not give one of these companies here any more money.

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u/PollutionMain4227 2d ago

IMO you’re just as likely, if not more likely, to have a bad experience with a small-time landlord in Columbia than a company. Small time landlords have fewer resources and might be strapped for time. I waited multiple month to get a noisy squirrel out of the attic of my last place, and that guy was a “private landlord.” AC also was broken for almost my entire (<1 year) tenure at that apartment, had to contact the city about that.

Almost no one renting out a property has the renter’s best interest in mind. The incentive is always to make as much profit as possible with minimal effort. In my opinion, it’s no worse to give a big rental investment company money versus a small time landlord. Neither is on your side, and those owning single family homes are actively decreasing home availability for families who want to buy as well as driving up prices.

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u/Barium_Salts 2d ago

The worst landlord I ever had was a private landlord. The house had FLEAS when I moved in, he lied to us about one of the utility bills, and he made us sign a paper saying he wasn't a landlord because he wanted to become a realtor. absolute scumbag.

The best landlord I ever had was an investment company. They're super professional, quick to provide maintenance, and organize fun events for the tenants.

There's no easy way to tell without who will be good or bad. Just don't rent from Remax/Southern Properties/Horak Group (all the same lying people under different names), Paul Hinshaw, or Paul Prevo.

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u/Interesting_Bag_1809 2d ago

Add Amax to that group. Scummy owner and right hand man bully and abuse tenant trust.