A man who became a landlord “somewhat accidentally” has said there is a significant amount of “guilt” that comes with doing his job. 

Michael Houghton hoped to sell his home during the pandemic, but ended up buying a new property before a buyer had been found. 

He decided to rent out his previous home and has since bought multiple other investment properties. 

On The Pat Kenny Show, Mr Houghton said there is still a “negative connotation” about being a landlord. 

“I think there's a perception that every landlord is ripping tenants off and making big money and it's certainly not the case,” he explained. 

“Whilst there are bad landlords, as there are in every country, many of us are just normal people who may have become accidental landlords to a degree or, like myself, initially became an accidental landlord, realised that I actually enjoy being a landlord and have bought more investment property along over the last couple of years. 

“So, it comes from that.” 

For sale and for rent signs in a residential area. Picture by: Alamy Stock Photo.

Mr Houghton said he treats being a landlord as a business and believes his tenants are “ultimately customers and our job is to try and keep them happy”. 

Despite this, he admitted that he does feel “guilt” that he can afford multiple properties, while others struggle to buy one home. 

Whenever he lists a property on Daft, he typically gets hundreds of responses and then has to chose one. 

“I had a situation where somebody had come in from Italy the week before, they were moved to Limerick, they were happy to pay six months rent up front,” he recalled. 

“I met with them - they were the first person I met with - and they said straight away, ‘Look, we want to take this.’

“I kind of had to say, ‘Look, there's a process that we need to go through when selecting a tenant.’”

A man walking past 'For Sale' signs in Dublin. Picture by: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

In the end, Mr Houghton chose a different family.

Overall, he feels it is not the most profitable business to be in. 

“To be honest, by the time that you pay tax, you pay maintenance, you pay the mortgage down, you might be lucky to break even,” he said. 

“This is again one of those misconceptions where you know people hear that you own multiple rental properties and they think, ‘Oh my goodness, you must be making masses of cash every month or whatever.’

“And the reality is definitely not; keep in mind that for most of us who are doing this as private landlords, that income is coming in on top of any earned income from a job. 

“So, the income is typically taxed at 50%, so there's very little left by the time that everything is accounted for.” 

While his accountant has suggested that he sells his properties, he feels “in the long run it will definitely pay dividends”.

Main image: A man holding a bunch of keys. Picture by: Alamy.com.