New generation learning the perks of being a landlord

There’s a new, increasingly prevalent type of landlord in New York City – the kind that views the task as an opportunity to own a property of their own, and maybe make some friends along the way.

These often-younger landlords are occupying their apartments with friends-turned-tenants — or tenants who become friends — and are learning how to manage their properties, such as how to go about home repairs, on the job.

“Young people are exploring the idea of becoming landlords as a way to have more control over their own destiny as investors,” Douglas Elliman broker Darin Shaw told the New York Times.

Frances Largeman-Roth and husband Jon Roth, for instance, decided to sell their two-bedroom apartment in Windsor Terrace for $750,000 nearly two years ago, and bought a two-family home nearby for $1.1 million to accommodate their own growing family.

With the help of Calvin Gladen at Corcoran Real Estate, they found a recently engaged couple to take the home’s second-floor apartment. Thus far, the new arrangement has gone swimmingly.

In addition to having spacious digs and lovely upstairs neighbors, the Roths are bringing in $2,000 a month in rent and feel that becoming landlords has provided them with more financial freedom.

“We never wanted to Buy A Place where all your life decision have to get made around a big fat mortgage,” Jon Roth said. [NYT] – Rey Mashayekhi