The Landlord Thread

[debthaven]

I told the agency to lower the price by 5K. We'll see if that changes anything.

[Bonny]

Arrrrgh, the condo still sits empty and it's been nearly two months since we put it up for rent. No serious bites. I priced it originally at $3900 which was the price a similar unit was rented out for in June 2015.

I lowered the price to $3695 about 3 weeks ago and with my agent's consent, ran my own Craig's List ad over last weekend. From the ad, two people looked at it on Friday. One said he was interested but he was leaving for Asia the next day. He said he would send his wife to take a look at it. My agent hasn't heard back from him. I tried sending him an e-mail and have received no response. She did an another open house on Sunday and had exactly one visitor; the friend of another Craig's List inquirer whom I really didn't want to rent to.

I know I have to lower the price again. But I'm really frustrated. I've never had this difficult of a problem renting the unit before. I know I'm picky; I won't take students or roommate situations, want good credit and at least a year's lease. I've had a few inquires about 6 month leases and for the right person (e.g. low impact; single person, no pets or kids) I would consider it.

Grrrr; this kind of situation just reinforces my thought that I have to be at the property to make things happen and can't delegate.

[geenamercile]

I am sorry Bonny, you think it may have something to do with the time of the year.

[Bonny]

Jul 6, 2016 16:32:56 GMT -5 geenamercile said:

I am sorry Bonny, you think it may have something to do with the time of the year.

It's five blocks from the beach. Typically I start my leases July 1 because it's peak season. Generally there's a lot of property in vacation rental service, students looking for off-campus housing, plus the normal people wanting to relocate during the summer break.

[Works4me]

Jul 6, 2016 16:47:23 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Jul 6, 2016 16:32:56 GMT -5 geenamercile said:

I am sorry Bonny, you think it may have something to do with the time of the year.

It's five blocks from the beach. Typically I start my leases July 1 because it's peak season. Generally there's a lot of property in vacation rental service, students looking for off-campus housing, plus the normal people wanting to relocate during the summer break.

Any notable changes in the economy down there?

Call me paranoid on your behalf but I can't help,wondering if someone is saying negative things about you and/or the unit. I also wonder if the agent is a worker or just lazy. IMHO, your best bet is probably to go down there and rent it yourself. 

[Bonny]

Jul 6, 2016 20:43:30 GMT -5 Works4me said:

Jul 6, 2016 16:47:23 GMT -5 Bonny said:

It's five blocks from the beach. Typically I start my leases July 1 because it's peak season. Generally there's a lot of property in vacation rental service, students looking for off-campus housing, plus the normal people wanting to relocate during the summer break.

Any notable changes in the economy down there?

Call me paranoid on your behalf but I can't help,wondering if someone is saying negative things about you and/or the unit. I also wonder if the agent is a worker or just lazy. IMHO, your best bet is probably to go down there and rent it yourself. 

Hmmm it's looks like my last post didn't go through.

I think the economy is really good based on the traffic!  And that might be part of the problem. That is, people who would normally rent in that price range are actually buying, just like my former tenants did.

We finally got an application last night. Single man in his 40s with a 12 year old son and 36 year old nanny. Sold his house in No. Virginia. Makes good money and has good credit. Renting sight unseen. Last one of these didn't work out so well but I'm guessing this guy probably won't try to quit his job to get disability for a broken ankle.

Prospect is currently in Australia visiting his brother. I want to talk to him before I commit. Ironically my agent has a friend/client who lives two doors down the road from Prospect's house. We got the low-down on him and it sounds good.

Fingers crossed this one works out!

[wvugurl26]

Good luck bonny. From one expensive real estate area to another for that guy!!

I'm jealous I want to go to Australia.

[Bonny]

Jul 8, 2016 9:33:27 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Good luck bonny. From one expensive real estate area to another for that guy!!

I'm jealous I want to go to Australia.

He's actually a Kiwi. Nice guy.

He's selling his 2-2 1100 sq.ft. house for about $550k in the Falls Church area. To buy a similar house where the condo is located would be closer to $1.5M.

[wvugurl26]

Falls Church is too expensive for me!!!

[Ombud]

I have no intention of ever moving away from California lifestyle, weather, amenities but I do feel for those who had to due to bad investments or lack of a retirement plan (not exactly how they phrase it but still reasons given by everyone I know who've moved out of state). But when they leave CA they should assimilate IMHO. I guess I'm just lucky (fortunate / talented) to have been able to recover from 2008-2009 in better shape than b4

Actually I came to this thread bc I'm thinking of becoming a landlord and want to read pitfalls to determine if they would negatively impact me so thank you all!!

[Bonny]

Jul 10, 2016 11:17:01 GMT -5 Ombud said:

I have no intention of ever moving away from California lifestyle, weather, amenities but I do feel for those who had to due to bad investments or lack of a retirement plan (not exactly how they phrase it but still reasons given by everyone I know who've moved out of state). But when they leave CA they should assimilate IMHO. I guess I'm just lucky (fortunate / talented) to have been able to recover from 2008-2009 in better shape than b4

Actually I came to this thread bc I'm thinking of becoming a landlord and want to read pitfalls to determine if they would negatively impact me so thank you all!!

You're bored, right and are looking for excitement?

Just keep piling into the S&P 500 index fund. You really don't want to interrupt your traveling plans because of tenant drama.

[Ombud]

Out of work for almost 2 weeks and bored with trading options, so there is a boredom factor. You'd think I learned via my son's issue. FWIW: thank you, Bonny, for your insight on that. The guarantor paid up to keep it off his credit report

[Bonny]

Jul 10, 2016 11:54:07 GMT -5 Ombud said:

Out of work for almost 2 weeks and bored with trading options, so there is a boredom factor. You'd think I learned via my son's issue. FWIW: thank you, Bonny , for your insight on that. The guarantor paid up to keep it off his credit report

Well I'm recently back from a 2.5 month property turn trip whereby I turned three properties one right after another. This was not how I planned my spring/summer but due to tenants moving out early and the state requirements for LL inspections and accounting for their deposits I had to completely re-vamp my schedule. I thought I was darn lucky that I didn't have an expensive overseas vacation planned during that time.

I know you like to travel so if you thought you manage the property yourself you would need to have a back-up plan.

I recommend keeping it simple and finding a nice volunteer gig to keep you busy instead.

[Ombud]

Not doing it for a few reasons:

1. Back to work Monday so when figuring out profit per hour, it's less

2. Couldn't come up with the full 50% of value without divesting 1 brokerage account which I won't do and he dn want to carry mortgage / I wanted to leverage

3. I think I'd make a lousy partner (gotta be honest with myself)

4. I reread this thread

[debthaven]

So I did the math, and I've decided to lower the price on that studio further, because I prefer to sell it and have more cash. I explained the math to DH and he agrees.

Ironically, the agency's Admin called the other day, because someone emailed that they are interested, and the Admin needed more info from us (since her bosses aren't there). It's just the Admin there now. The owner of the agency and the sales broker are both away till the end of the next week. I'm guessing the tenant is away too, since it's August. Nothing ever happens in France in August.

I mentioned lowering the price to the broker a few weeks ago but he told me it would be better to wait until he got back from vacation, and I agreed.

I did tell the Admin to tell the person who was interested that the price is negotiable. I will call the broker and / or manager in a week and tell them to lower the price again. The tenant should be back by then too.

[debthaven]

Apparently the person who was interested is "still thinking about it".

The broker and agency owner will be back from vacation on Tues, so I just wrote to both of them to tell them that I want them to lower the price by another 5K.

I'm guessing they won't get it to it early in the week but hopefully later that week or early the following week.

[lexxy703]

This may be the strangest situation that I have found myself in as a landlord. I just got subpoenaed to be a witness in a child custody battle for former tenants I evicted 3 years ago. Seriously people?!?

[Sharon]

Aug 29, 2016 14:27:53 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

This may be the strangest situation that I have found myself in as a landlord. I just got subpoenaed to be a witness in a child custody battle for former tenants I evicted 3 years ago. Seriously people?!?

I've known this happen before.  I had a relative that was in a nasty, nasty custody dispute.  Mom claiming to the court that he had left her with no money, boo hoo, got evicted, boo hoo.  He was able to prove that he had paid the rent directly to the landlord and the reason they got evicted was for a multitude of other reasons.  The former landlord also testified to the condition the house was left in when Mom moved out.  How much crap was left behind.  He landlord also testified as the change of condition in the house from when Dad was living there vs after Dad was gone.  Landlord had been appraised of the fact that Dad moved out but was continuing to pay the rent while they were separated.

[lexxy703]

Aug 29, 2016 14:45:52 GMT -5 Sharon said:

Aug 29, 2016 14:27:53 GMT -5 lexxy703 said:

This may be the strangest situation that I have found myself in as a landlord. I just got subpoenaed to be a witness in a child custody battle for former tenants I evicted 3 years ago. Seriously people?!?

I've known this happen before.  I had a relative that was in a nasty, nasty custody dispute.  Mom claiming to the court that he had left her with no money, boo hoo, got evicted, boo hoo.  He was able to prove that he had paid the rent directly to the landlord and the reason they got evicted was for a multitude of other reasons.  The former landlord also testified to the condition the house was left in when Mom moved out.  How much crap was left behind.  He landlord also testified as the change of condition in the house from when Dad was living there vs after Dad was gone.  Landlord had been appraised of the fact that Dad moved out but was continuing to pay the rent while they were separated.

Interesting.  I guess that is pretty much what they want from me only opposite that everything went down hill after she let him move in.  Thanks!

[debthaven]

Lexxy that must be really stressful. Hope it goes OK!

I told the agent (who is back from vacation) that I wanted to again lower the price by 5K and to my surprise he said, I'm not sure you need to, I think it's fairly priced, I'll get back to you soon. He wanted to check the stats / clicks / phone calls / etc. We have NEVER taken this long to sell a place (coming up to 3 months) over 4 months.

Um, I want it sold. But I was taken aback, and school starts on Mon, DS1 is getting married on Fri, and I have my sister here and other family members arriving soon for the wedding.

So I'm leaving it for now but I'll get back to him after the wedding and insist on him lowering the price. By then their exclusivity should be over anyway.

ETA: I just looked up the date of our first appt, 30 April! We signed for 90 days exclusivity, which ended 30 July. It's true that nothing happens here in Aug, but game over! Off to send a nastygram!

ETA: Nastgram sent! We like the agency and we like the people, and it is literally on the same block as the place we are trying to sell, which is obviously convenient. But I told them I will contact other agencies after DS1's wedding, ie starting Sept 13. I'm guessing they will lower the price this week. Hopefully it will sell soon.

DH told me I was wrong to mention the wedding, but I disagree. We wanted 110K net. It was priced at 120K, it didn't move. It's still not moving at 115K. They need to lower it to 110K, cut their commission from 7K to 5K, and offer us 105K. On the contrary, I think telling them I'm too busy to contact other agencies this week because of the wedding is a GREAT incentive for them.

[debthaven]

So the agency wrote back first thing this morning, they've lowered the price to 110K. Hopefully it will move now. I still have to print out / sign / return the agreement, but the listing has been modified to reflect the lower price. I'll do that tomorrow.

[debthaven]

The price change seems to have done the job ... the agency called to tell me there is a lot of interest! I agreed to continue their exclusivity in exchange for them taking a smaller commission. He needed to confirm with his boss but said it should be fine.

[Bonny]

Well yesterday I got the call from the new tenant in the condo that he's gotten engaged and he and his fiancé are in the process of buying a house. He's been in the condo about 2.5 months and it took almost 2 months to find him.

He's been a great tenant (very understanding when we had a problem with the washer draining when he first moved in) and knows he's responsible to keep paying the rent until a similarly qualified tenant can be found.

But that means another trip to San Diego and I'll probably need to paint the living room since a number of prospective tenants complained about the color scheme this summer.

I've asked him to put in writing his time-line for vacating the property. I expect I'll hear from him next week once his offer is accepted. I've warned him that trying to rent out the property this time of year may take a while. My best market for this property is generally May due to the student crush in the summer plus the short-term beach demand.

It will work out but it's still a PITA.

 

[debthaven]

You're probably relieved you have one less property to worry about Bonny. I hope you find somebody else quickly.

[zibazinski]

Went and visited my old tenant. The one who got her rent raised big time. The new owners put in new carpet, something I wouldn't do because of all her furniture and stuff. Sure enough, some of her stuff got broken which is why my carpet guy said no way unless her stuff was all in the garage so he had a clean slate to work with and no liability for damaged furniture. But her carpet looks nice and she's happy with it. I'm still glad to no longer be a landlord. It was the right decision for me.

[debthaven]

So seven months and 3 price drops later, that studio still hasn't sold. The building is a wreck, the management is not getting back to us (all the owners), and the PITA owners sued them AND the other owners. They refuse to put any money into the building so they're trying to pre-empt any work. They sued because the meeting was held in another suburb, and legally it needed to be held in the same suburb as the building. You'd think maybe the agency would know that?! Supposedly "their lawyers are on it" but it seems clear they are just waiting for the end of their one-year contract in Jan.

I'm not interested in getting involved in that, legally speaking. I can't take that on, I prefer to wait it out. Our problem is cash. We have another studio we can sell but that one is completely paid off, and it is totally problem-free. It too is rented for 3 years, so we would rather not sell it now. DH wants us to "tough it out" and just hold on. I am torn and constantly go back and forth.

I spoke to the agent for the studio we'd rather NOT sell in early Nov. She thinks we can get a good price for it, even rented. But the other agency said the same thing of course. She also said once we hit Dec nothing happens, so we need to either put it up for sale ASAP or wait till Jan. So I guess we're going to wait till Jan.

The difference is, we would be the only studio for sale if we sell the one we DON'T want to sell, whereas there are several studios for sale in the place we DO want to sell. 

We have never taken more than 3 weeks to sell one of our rentals before so this is new for us.

[Bonny]

Sorry, debthaven that's a tough situation to be in. Is the "For Sale" unit rented?

[debthaven]

Yes Bonny. 20 months left on the lease.

In both cases, they would only attract investors rather than people starting out, which is part of the problem. It limits the potential buyers.

[Bonny]

No bites on the condo yet. Rental market seems dead right now. I think there's been a lot of sitting on the fence with people waiting for the outcome of the election to decide whether to buy or continue renting. I think we'll get someone but not until January.

We got an e-mail from our tenant in the AZ house on Monday. He'll be leaving at the end of his term to buy a smaller place (probably a condo). He was a good tenant for the most part and we'll miss him. DH says he doesn't want to sell the house so we'll put up for rent again. Looks like I'll be spending the first part of February in AZ doing "the turn". Worse places to be.

[Bonny]

Nov 14, 2016 17:28:02 GMT -5 debthaven said:

Yes Bonny. 20 months left on the lease.

In both cases, they would only attract investors rather than people starting out, which is part of the problem. It limits the potential buyers.

Remind me, why are you selling? It sounds like you should wait to put it on the market when there's less than 6 months left. Or do the French equivalent of "Cash for Keys" whereby you settle with the tenant for an earlier exit.