What are the Pros and Cons of Renting from a Private Landlord?

By Lilly Milman

Jul 23, 2024

What is a private landlord?

How can you identify a property being rented by a private landlord?  

What are the pros of renting a property from a private landlord?

• More flexibility on lease terms. When you rent from a private landlord, you interface with a human being when it comes to your apartment and your lease. Human beings tend to be more flexible than large companies when it comes to lease terms. For example, if a unit for rent by an owner says no pets, there’s a chance that they’d be open to small dogs or cats for the right tenant. Meanwhile, in a larger building owned by a company, they may have a no-pet policy across all units that they are unwilling to bend on.
• Room for price negotiation. On a similar note, when it comes to rent price (especially for lease renewals, once you’ve established a good tenant-landlord relationship), there’s a little more wiggle room with a private landlord. Property management companies are more likely to use data and algorithms to price their properties and may have a policy of raising rents by a certain percentage each year. A private landlord may be more amenable to negotiating rent, keeping the rent price the same for multiple years, or minimizing rent increases, to keep the right tenant in their unit.
• Opportunity to foster a relationship. If you are a person who thrives on personal relationships, then you’ll have much more luck forming one with a private landlord than with a property management company. They may live nearby or even in the same building and will likely be your only point of contact for all apartment needs, cutting out any middleman. This kind of direct communication is a pro for some but may be a con for others.
• More unique rental units. This isn’t a hard-and-fast rule, but in larger buildings owned by one company, you are more likely to see identical (or near-identical) units. In a small double- or triple-decker, condo building, ADU, or single-family home, you are more likely to see apartments that are individual to the owners’ taste with different architectural features.

What are the cons of renting a property from a private landlord?

• Less streamlined processes. The pro of working with a large property management company is that they’ve likely worked all the kinks out of their systems. That means you can benefit from digital advances like an online application process, maintenance requests, and rent payment. Meanwhile, with a private landlord, they may be more analog; so, expect paper applications, sending rent by check in some cases, and communicating via text or email rather than through an online portal. On the flip side, there may also be a less invasive tenant screening process.
• Less building amenities. If you are renting a unit from a private landlord, you are less likely to benefit from common apartment building amenities like a mail or package room, a gym, or a pool. A condo building may have some amenities open to renters, but a unit in a smaller multifamily property likely won’t. So, if you are looking for your building to provide much more than just lodging, then you may not find the right fit with a private landlord; in that case, look at larger apartment complexes instead.
• Less privacy. You may not like living in close quarters with your landlord if their private residence is another unit in the same building. Because you’ll know your landlord on a more personal level — and talk to them directly — you and your living situation will be more on display than if you were in a larger, professionally managed building. Your landlord may be coming over themselves more often to do maintenance, check on things, collect payments, or give updates — and that is a con for some people.
• More responsibility for the unit or building. Because there won’t be an in-house staff whose job it is to tend to the building every day in many cases, you may have to do more of the legwork with your rental home. This may involve shoveling snow, lawn care, or sweeping walkways and stairwells.

What to Know When Renting from a Private Landlord

• Look up the property records for your city to make sure that the landlord you are speaking to is, in fact, the owner of the unit. This will help you avoid a potential rental scam.
• Read the terms of the lease agreement carefully. You don’t want to end up renting from a property owner whose needs don’t align with your own, so read every clause of the rental agreement. A few things to specifically look out for are clauses surrounding maintenance issues, right to entry, and causes for eviction.
• Try to look up the rental history, if possible. Like we said, you may not find a slew of online reviews for your apartment, building, or future landlord. However, it’s always worth a shot.  

The Bottom Line