Landlording is a young persons game

Being a landlord wears most of us down over time. I'm not talking about a year or two, but over decades renting out property takes its toll on even the best of us. There is always that nagging feeling that some tenant is going to make a complaint, some terrible accident is about to happen, or the economy is going to crash ...again.

It seems that 'landlord burn-out' is the reason that the Wilsons are selling. The King and Queen of BTL, have put their entire property portfolio up for sale. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Wilson's sounded fatigued by the whole lettings business. The pair are clearly burnt-out and thoroughly fed up with the inevitable hassle that letting property brings.

I remember back to when I first started investing, back in the mid-nineties. I bought a small portfolio from a landlord who echoed the very same sentiments of the Wilsons, as he gleefully handed me the keys,  he pronounced "landlording was a young man's game" then headed off to spend more time on his cruiser moored in Plymouth. 

For the purposes of gender equality, let's just update his sentiment, to "a young person's game", but whichever. The older I get, the more I appreciate his gleeful exit. 

I'm not quite sure why it is - whether knowledge and experience outlines all the things that can go wrong, or whether my decreasing energy makes dealing with things feel increasingly like hard work, or whether overtime, you just get bored with the repetitive letting cycle, but for whatever reason, landlording does seem to get harder the older and the longer you do it.

I do wonder, whether the recent influx of older landlords entering the BTL market with their newly available pension pots know quite what they are getting themselves into.

Let's just hope it brings them the happy and relaxing retirement they'd hoped for.

Personally, I'm coming around to the Wilson's way of thinking. Old age might be better kept for gardening, walking the dog and clearing your mind to focus on what is important - family, friends and ashtanga yoga. 

Live long and prosper.