In fact, it doesn’t really matter if there is a foreclosure conspiracy or not. The mortgage meltdown crisis is a prime opportunity for landlords like yourself to consider raising rents. Counterintuitive? Hardly. Think about it.
Bad mortgages result in people being tossed out when a bank forecloses on their home. These very well might be people of some means. They have jobs and a reliable source of income. They may not have had enough to cover their outrageous mortgage terms but being thrown out of their home doesn’t mean they are going to live on the streets. Nope, they are going to become renters. What happens when everyone is buying and no one is renting? You probably have to drop your rents to be competitive. On the flip side, what happens when more and more people are losing their homes and have little to no chance of finding an entity to finance another house loan? They are now renters! More renters means demand for your income properties goes up. If the demand goes up, you would be crazy not to raise your rates accordingly.
You should be raising rents periodically to keep up with the rate of inflation anyway but the mortgage crisis is a perfect example of a freak time in history when demand for your product is going to skyrocket exponentially. Get those rents rising. It doesn’t make you a bad person. It makes you a smart business owner.
