Small Deck Equals a Big Rent Increase, According to Landlord

In what feels like a satirical post ripped from the web pages of The Onion, Reductress, or similar, a landlord tweeted about adding an almost microscopic deck to an apartment so he could increase the rent by $500 a month. This guy’s small deck energy is being ridiculed mercilessly by folks on social media, and it is one of those rare moments when it is truly well-deserved. For real, Romeo and Juliet wouldn’t even go near this thing, and they love balconies. Let’s get into it, if I can fit.

Nick Huber, known as @sweatystartup on Twitter, posted about a horrific new way he squeezed more money out of his tenants. “I added this deck to one of my rental properties,” he wrote. Grab a magnifying glass because you’re going to need it. Move over tiny houses because tiny decks have entered the chat. “I was able to take the rent up from $700 to $1200 per month.” What kind of wood did he use?

Nick then added, “This is the way you make more cash as a landlord AND make your tenants lives better. Win win.” I would be more inclined to believe this if Nick didn’t follow this up with the reveal that the tenants who were living there at the time of the wee deck’s construction promptly moved out. Sadly the next tenants were willing to pay $1200 a month but they definitely didn’t know that $500 of that was the deck tax. Something something, decks and taxes.

The haters came out in droves to mock Nick’s addition, which almost made it worth the $500 price of admission. “Add a pool and you could raise it another $500,” tweeted Greg who photoshopped a baby-sized pool into the picture. Jon Winchell chimed in with “or even a baseball field,” then threw in home plate. To Nick’s only credit, he took all of this in stride and even tagged the photo with the S— Planning Twitter account which is a “celebration of all the S— Stuff imposed on our environment.”

According to the link in Nick’s Twitter bio, he is a Renaissance man and it’s not just because he’s a land owner taking advantage of his tenants. Nick hosts The Sweaty Startup podcast where he offers advice on things like “building a remote team of 45 employees,” and “how to hire a CEO for your small business.” Incidentally, nothing he discusses would ever cause anyone to break a sweat.

If you’re like me and want to start a business with zero expertise, Nick has furnished the world with a “list of free business ideas.” Essentially, he has low-key insulted people by labeling all of these as “low skilled,” and of course “low risk.” For example, why not start your own pest control company? Don’t worry about the fact that you probably have no idea how to handle these potentially dangerous chemicals, because again, low risk!

If you also want to become a lord of the land, Nick has “free real estate courses.” In just 15 to 45 minutes, you too could be adding a tiny deck to the property of your dreams. One thing I did notice is, Nick forgot to mention where to get the money for these possible rentals. Perhaps he needs to add a “generational wealth” link to his website.