Owning a medical office building proved too much to handle for this simple residential landlord.
By Bert Stratton | The Wall Street Journal
Writer Martin Amis, the son of novelist Kingsley Amis, said it is somewhat disreputable to be in the same business as your father. “Being a hereditary novelist is a freaky thing, and people do find it a bit creepy,” Martin said.
I’m a hereditary landlord and can say the reaction is much the same. I inherited four apartment buildings from my father, and now own six. I own walk-up apartment buildings in an inner-ring Cleveland suburb, and I used to own an office building in an outer suburb. I’m essentially Queens-era Trump, but Midwestern and so more civil.
Real estate is strictly nonfiction: eviction notices, water leaks and noise complaints like: “They’re literally stomping in the apartment above me. I’m having palpitations right now! If I die, it’s on your head.”
These delightful exchanges are outweighed by the boom in the multifamily residential market. Demand for retail and office buildings, however, isn’t quite as high. I sold my office building three years ago. “You’re lucky you got out of your office building when you did,” a commercial real-estate broker told me recently.
