Landlording advice, oversimplified

Book review
Title: "The Accidental Landlord: How to Rent Your Home When It Doesn't Make Sense to Sell It"
Author: Danielle Babb
Publisher: Alpha Books, 2008; 288 pages; $18.95 list ($12.89 on Amazon.com)

The premise of this book is simple: Those who can't sell, rent. Almost as obvious (and accurate) is the subtext that "accidental landlords" need a primer on investment property ownership, from cash-flow analysis to property management, and all points in between.

In its effort to be a simple, accessible and educational initiation to the basic concepts involved in owning a rental property, this book is successful. But for a novice landlord looking for guidance and tools, I would describe this book as a nice first step on a longer crash course in being a landlord, as you'll definitely need to reference more comprehensive, locality-specific and detailed guides.

The author, Danielle Babb, describes herself as a real estate licensee, investor and landlord. She frequently, and helpfully, describes her own logistical systems for managing properties and funds. She also dots the text with interesting landlord quotes and survey data in (the unfortunately named) "Talk From the Trenches" sidebars, which help make concrete some of the more abstract and emotional costs of landlording -- I imagine these would be important to prospective landlords who are still on the fence.

However, as I know from firsthand experience, one of the pitfalls of writing for beginners on a topic so vast as being a landlord is the risk one runs of omitting critical information. I was surprised to find only a single-sentence mention of rent-control laws and no mention of eviction-control ordinances or city business taxes imposed on rental income. Perhaps because these items did not factor into the author's personal experience, they were simply never mentioned (though, to be fair, she did spend a page discussing state-level laws). ...CONTINUED

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