Table of Contents
Introduction
What this book can do for you
Purpose of this book
Part I: Making a profit while making a difference:
The promise and the perils
Chapter 1: My story
Becoming a landlord
Business with my dad
My first challenges as a landlord: Stories from the front line
Discovering the greater value provided by landlords
Becoming a professional mediator
Chapter 2: Case studies: Three good landlords
Introductions
What these landlords do
Chapter 3: Landlording in the 21st century
Landlord stereotypes
A brief history of landlording
Current challenges
Chapter 4: Five common mistakes landlords make and how to avoid them
A week in the life of a landlord
Introducing the five common mistakes
Straying from the law
Losing your cool
Failing to communicate
Failing to establish a paper trail
Not using lawyers effectively
Chapter 5: Beyond the bottom line: Why landlords help
Early American democracy
Helping as a landlord
More than money
Motivation
Helping as a balancing act
Chapter 6: When helping your tenant hurts you:
The helping trap
Joe and Maria’s story
Beyond codependency as a landlord
PART II: How to make a profit while making a difference:
The Good Landlord approach
Chapter 7: When helping your tenant helps you:
Enlightened self-interest
Redefining self-interest
Enlightened self-interest
Self-interest vs. enlightened self-interest: Making the distinction
The landlord opportunities map
Chapter 8: Your tenant is not the problem:
Understanding the power of relationship
People vs. problems
Perceptions, assumptions, and emotions
Unconditionally constructive behavior
Chapter 9: Making tenant relationships work: Four essentials
Prepare effectively–and make contact
Be friendly–but don’t be their friend
Seek to understand before being understood
Be reliable–and cultivate trust
Chapter 10: Getting what you need: Negotiation fundamentals
Focus on interests, not positions
Reframe, reframe, reframe
Persuade first and, whenever possible, avoid using threats
Invent options that benefit both parties
Insist on objective criteria
Chapter 11: The Good Landlord approach to eviction:
Two-Track response
When eviction is the best option
Ingredients for success
The Good Landlord approach to eviction: The three stages
Discussion and sample conversations
Chapter 12: Putting it all together
Appendices
A. A typology of landlords
B. Preventing homelessness: How landlords help
C. Mindfulness—An introduction
D. Dispute Resolution Prep Sheet
E. Eviction procedures in Massachusetts and other states
F. Analytical table of contents
Index