Preface: The Dark Truth Of Property Rental​ ​

3
Property renting is a business.
As a Landlord​ 4
As a Tenant
Property Renting is a Relationship Game.
As a Landlord / Tenant
Principles That Guided The Direction of This eBook​ ​ 5

First Things First, Set Expectation

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
Communication is The First & The Last Resort

Chapter 1: LANDLORDS READ HERE​ ​7

How to deal with sh*tty tenants
Tenant Type A: The Sh*tty Late Payers
Tenant Type B: The one who sh*ts in your house (literally)
Tenant Type C: The sh*tty complainer​ 8

Chapter 2: TENANTS READ HERE​ ​10

How to deal with sh*tty landlords
Landlord Type A: The calculative sh*t master
Landlord Type B: The one who won’t fix sh*t
Landlord Type C: The one who never gives a sh*t​ 11

The eBook comes to the end​ ​12

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Preface: ​The Dark Truth Of Property Rental

Speedrent is a fast & easy home rental platform for landlord and tenant. Our mission is
to make home renting as great as renting and living in a hotel. Why hotel?

Think about the experience of renting and living in a hotel.

To rent a hotel is a hassle free process with instant confirmation as it is done online.
To live in a hotel is a luxurious experience as anything you want can be done with just a
phone call away.

Now compare it with the process of renting and living in a rented home. While the
experience may not be exactly like a hotel generally, Speedrent has began embarking
on the journey to make the rental experience great. We hope that we can contribute to
the rental community meaningfully - even to non-Speedrent customers.

Over the years we have seen thousands of issues related to home renting and we can
vouch that renting a home is not solely about renting a physical home with high class
furniture in it - it’s about the people to people relationship that happens throughout the
whole process.

That is the hardest part about renting: a lot of ego and pride at stake.

We hope this eBook can help shift your mindset.

So dear Landlords and Tenants, embrace yourself in these dark truths about property
rental that nobody will EVER tell you. We’ll break the news slowly….

Property renting is a business.

Contrary to common belief that property renting is a passive income, it is actually a business,
and it is especially true in Malaysia. There is no law that governs property renting effectively
which puts both landlord and tenant in a difficult situation when problem arises.
With no standards and enforcements to lean on, you are in the wild-wild west. You have to put
up with the spirit of entrepreneurship and govern property renting as a business you own.

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As a Landlord
Your tenant is your customer. And as all business goes, the customer is always right. In this
home rental game, it’s not about your ego, it’s about your cash flow. The moment your focus is
ensuring that cash flow is to break even or make profit, you will do what’s best to make it
happen.

As a Tenant
Your landlord is your supplier. You need a roof over your head to fulfill the basic needs of safety
and have a peace of mind. Either you live with your family, friends or colleague the
understanding that you are paying your ‘supplier’ is motivated by prompt payment and ‘less
complaints’ will help you go a long way for doing business together with your landlord.
.

Property Renting is a Relationship Game.

Generally, landlord and tenants do not or rarely communicate. This is mainly driven by the fact
that everyone sees it as a transaction. But as the generations go by, non-communication
becomes a thing of the past as millennials are more vocal to speak up about what they want
and issues they face. Meanwhile, landlords have tend to have a hard time dealing with the
younger generation because there is a huge gap in expectations.

As a Landlord / Tenant
As we proposed earlier that property renting is a business. A business only thrives when you
have a great product. In this case, a superb house condition, complete facilities coupled with
great relationship.
As we (as tenants) aspect the best from the landlord’s product, it is only fair that we protect the
respectful and cordial relationship with the landlord. This is significantly important because any
fallout is extremely painful for both parties and the consequences are a dire chain of events,
thereafter, is a long endring pain.

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Principles That Guided The Direction of This eBook

First Things First, Set Expectation

Be that you are a landlord or a tenant, know that both of your expectations are like the Sun and
Moon. In the end there needs to be a mutual understanding of what you can agree with. The
only thing that can cause a rental disaster is when you do not set your expectations right.

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

There’s always such a thing as being too calculative and still not earn anything. You can be on
either side of the spectrum; a landlord calculating at every little thing you do or a tenant trying
hard to negotiate to get the cheapest rental deal.

The truth is, nobody likes these kinds of people. It’s bad for business!

Communication is The First & The Last Resort

Throughout this ebook,we will stress again and again about the importance of communication.
Nothing gets passed one's ears without saying a word about what we want and what they want.

And it’s not just communicating per se, it’s also about being open to listen and understand each
other’s issues and concerns. Our two cents, communication is the ultimate key into being
successful in this business.

DISCLAIMER: This is purely based on Speedrent’s experience in the real estate industry. All
information is opinion based, though some may contain real life statistics. Speedrent does not
generalize its audiences, nor does it agree with the social stigma that has been embedded in
the market. Speedrent thrives to make the rental property market fair for both parties (in it’s own
environment) and hopefully will touch the lives of the communities that are not on Speedrent.

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Chapter 1: LANDLORDS READ HERE

How to deal with sh*tty tenants

We’ve taken time to categorise the types of sh*tty tenants you will eventually meet IF you
don’t follow our guide on how to make it in this industry.

Tenant Type A: The Sh*tty Late Payers

Need we say more.

Anybody owed you money before? How much? 10s, 100s or 1000s? Now imagine someone
owe-ing thousands of ringgit every month. That’s considered your salary as a landlord. Wouldn’t
you be agitated and impatient about late payments?

So here are the most common scenarios you will face when dealing with these shits: late
payday, uncleared payments, going overseas, going out of town (ridiculous), bad business
month, and the most popular, short of fund.
It’s aggravating, we know.

Here’s how to deal with it:

● Step 1: ​Communicate when you see a pattern in this behaviour. If it happens once, let it
go. If it happens more than 3 times, make it clear that this is a problem.
● Step 2: Be genuinely interested in knowing why it’s happening. Be open to reason but
set firm ground rules and make them stick to it.
● Step 3: Give them a call / text 3 days prior to the rental due date. And set a reasonable
deadline for them to pay.

Pro Tip: Incentivise your tenant with rental rebates when they pay before the due date or
request post dated cheque for the remaining of the tenure. If you’re creative, combine both
options to boost on time payment motivation.

Tenant Type B: The one who sh*ts in your house (literally)

Let’s talk about maintenance. Say you own a nice apartment in Ara Damansara. You’ve got to
cover for the house loan, management fees, furniture and utilities cost. You naturally deserve a
responsible tenant right?

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WRONG!

You’ll most likely come across tenants who: have no stakes in the unit upkeep like A/C
maintenance, cleanliness, utility bills, and if your tenant has children then they might be little
demons who destroy your furniture or if they own a pet and not tell you about it only to find out
the whole mess it has made on your Turkish carpet.

Here’s how to deal with it:

● Step 1: Set yourself a calendar to remind yourself to check up on the condition of your
property
● Step 2: Consistently communicate with the tenant. Randomly text and request for photos
of the house condition or if there were repairs, ask them to send a receipt.
● Step 3: Be firm on setting the expected behaviour. How you’ve made the house look up
to your standards when they moved in, that is how you want the house to look like after
they’ve moved out

Pro Tip: If you have a friendly contractor, share the contractor contract with your tenant to save
some hassle looking for a repair man. Consider subsidizing RM50 in maintenance to save you
money in the long run.

Tenant Type C: The sh*tty complainer

This guy or girl just complains about every. Single. Thing. They will never be satisfied with what
you provide, and always demand for more. And when you comply to their demands, it still
doesn’t make them happy. In fact, they will try to ask for more.

We call bullshit on these tenants.

Here’s how to deal with them:

● Step 1: Understand their preferences by interviewing your tenant before hand.
● Step 2: Lay out all the facilities and furniture you provide and tell them how much exactly
would it cost in the market if your rent is reasonable.
● Step 3: Do a move-in and move-out walk through to make sure your property is in the
same shape as before.

Pro Tip: Pay attention to the requests of the tenant, it’s normal for tenant to request certain
things to be fixed. However, you should be alerted if a tenant finds fault with everything. If you
really need this tenant for whatever reason, get a referral letter from their previous landlord or if
they’re renting out for the first time, at least have a reference check to be sure.

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Chapter 2: TENANTS READ HERE

How to deal with sh*tty landlords

We were critical about the bad apples in tenants. Oh yes, there are bad apples in the
landlord as well.

Landlord Type A: The calculative sh*t master

Calculative landlords are not necessarily bad, but they do make your living experience
miserable. They take into account on everything up to the cents. There is a fine line between
being proper and calculative.

Here’s how to deal with it:

● Step 1: Communicate the good behaviour along with proof as a tenant as long as you
live there.
● Step 2: Be firm on setting the expected behaviour so that you can live in the house
happily.
● Step 3: Always pay rent on time (crucial!)

Pro Tip: Always refer to the lease agreement whenever a dispute arises. Most landlord’s won't
pick a fight with a tenant if he or she pays on time.

Landlord Type B: The one who won’t fix sh*t

Home rental is all about the return on investment and regardless of what is the problem that
needs fixing and involves some amount of money, the chances of this landlord who won’t take
any responsibility is medium to high.

Here’s how to deal with it:

● Step 1: Before deciding to rent the place, make sure major defects are fixed and have it
written in the tenancy agreement. Ensure that tenancy agreement has wordings along
the lines of, ‘Landlord bares the responsibility to ensure a peaceful and enjoyable stay’.
● Step 2: During the tenancy, if it happens that the landlord doesn’t fix it, write an official
email / letter with expected timeline to be fixed, or else you will fix it on their behalf and
deduct from the rent.
● Step 3: If the house you are staying in is in completely bad shape and the landlord won’t
do anything about it, send the landlord an early termination notice on the basis that you
did not get a peaceful and enjoyable stay.

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Pro Tip: When you send an early termination notice, be sure to have a back up plan and all your
receipts compiled. Should the landlord strongly refuse, you can consider to file for a police
report.

Landlord Type C: The one who never gives a sh*t

We like to call these guys egotistical king and queen because they have no respect for you. This
type of landlord thinks highly of themselves, and you are on the other spectrum, a nobody.
Always having a take it or leave it attitude - avoid it at all cost.

Here’s how to deal with it:

● Step 1: Before deciding to rent the place, apart from liking the property, please make
sure the landlord shows you some respect.
● Step 2: During the tenancy, if it happens that the landlord changes totally, be firm that
you demand the landlord show you respect. Sometimes asking the why is important -
there could be a misunderstanding.
● Step 3: All else fail, sometimes you return them a favour by giving them a taste of their
own medicine to make them understand.

Pro Tip: Communication is extremely crucial. Sometimes it takes a villian to deal with a villian,
but to communicate immediately that neither party wants this to prolong and wishes to mend the
relationship.

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The eBook comes to the end
Follow these tips to save yourself from the pains of renting. It’s never enough to rely on your
own instincts especially if you are new to the market. Talk to others, take into account their
experiences. It’s inevitable that you will go through some shit.

Or better yet, talk to us. Share your experiences. Just email ​hello@speedrent.com​ and we will
happily answer all of your enquiries.

If you have any other pro tip or suggestions on how to deal with these situations, do email us
too so that we can improve this ebook for everyone.

Lastly, when you learn a tip or two from this book, please do share it with your friends by
clicking the link at the footer. Your sharing will help your friends to learn something too!

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