The Landlord Thread

[tskeeter]

Jan 15, 2015 17:00:57 GMT -5 alwaysbeoptimizing said:

Jan 15, 2015 16:49:35 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Raise the rent and keep the lawn service.  Then you don't have to hassle with a tenant who doesn't maintain the yard to the neighbor's standards, the city's standards, the HOA's standards, or your standards.  And you won't have to spend a small fortune to clean up the unkempt and over grown landscaping and replacing the stuff the tenant let die while they were responsible for the landscaping when the tenant moves out. 

I might do that.  It would be my preference.  the guy just had a new baby and is in a high pressure career in finance.

At the same time, he's a "yard guy" and has been aerating and overseeding the yard on his own accord (with my permission) because he has a passion for a nice yard.

Sounds like yard work is his mental therapy.  In that case ....

[tskeeter]

Jan 15, 2015 17:00:50 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Jan 15, 2015 16:57:10 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Unless the new law requires all of the smoke detectors in the building to be wired together, the smoke detector should be no big deal.  A couple of screws to install one of the battery operated ones.  Put in one of the expensive, lithuim, 10 year batteries, and forget it for the next decade. replace it every month when the tenant takes it out to power one of their gadgets.

Fixed.

Tskeeter tests Tazer batteries on tenant to remind tenant that stealing the landlord's expensive, fancy battery isn't nice.

[The Captain]

Jan 15, 2015 17:07:49 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

Captain, yes, thanks! I hope you didn't mind though ... I probably should have PM'd you first. :-)

Thanks for the advice on the smoke detectors ... I'll look into it in the next few weeks. 

No worries, YM is probably a better home for it anyway!

[Bonny]

Jan 15, 2015 17:22:09 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Jan 15, 2015 17:07:49 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

Captain, yes, thanks! I hope you didn't mind though ... I probably should have PM'd you first. :-)

Thanks for the advice on the smoke detectors ... I'll look into it in the next few weeks. 

No worries, YM is probably a better home for it anyway!

I'm just not sure why it would be O-T?

It doesn't matter to me either way. I just thought most of the LL threads were on YM.

[Bonny]

Soooo I got an e-mail from the AZ tenants and they got an offer accepted on a house. They will be out before 1/31 and we'll do the walk-through on the 31st.

DH is on his way home tonight. Real estate agent mailed me some rental comps. But thinks we can get $650k if we sell. I have no idea why he's saying that. Monday he mailed me a listing of a house built by the same architect as ours and they've lowered their price by 30K.

DH and I will have a lot to talk about over the weekend!

[Deleted]

Bonny I would try to sell. And it's not because the house was built by the same architect that it's as nice as yours. Maybe they put it up for sale in the winter / fall?

I looked at the smoke alarms on amazon but I think I'd rather go to a big-box store or two and see what they have. With the new law, I'm guessing they are going to have some good deals and I wouldn't mind replacing ours at the same time. (They had a multi-pack on amazon but only for the cheapest model, not for the model with the lithium battery.)

Question: Our tenant is leaving at the end of Jan. The place needs a paint job and a new mini-kitchen unit. We had a painter we know well over last week for an estimate for something in our house. We know him, trust him. He does good work and he is very reasonably priced. But, he is going away today for 6 weeks (he is foreign and goes home for 6 weeks every other winter to see his family). DH and I have basically decided to wait for him to get back (he has promised to do that first.) Yes this means we will lose one month's rent but we have never lost a cent on that apt since we bought it rented in Feb 2011 and I know we'd pay the equivalent of that month's rent to the other painter who is significantly more expensive, so it would be a wash.

Does it make any sense to show the apartment before it is repainted / reno'd? Or should we wait? We still haven't decided if we want to rent it ourselves or give it to a property manager (I'm tending towards the property manager).

As I've said, the building is not in good shape, but will be reno'd this year. I'm thinking that since the building is neglected, it might be better to wait till the apt is redone, but I'm hesitating. We'll probably know more after we see the apt at the end of the month when the tenant leaves. I know he has taken very good care of it. And it's got a tile floor, so it won't need reflooring.

[Bonny]

Jan 16, 2015 2:58:47 GMT -5 @debthaven2 said:

Question: Our tenant is leaving at the end of Jan. The place needs a paint job and a new mini-kitchen unit. We had a painter we know well over last week for an estimate for something in our house. We know him, trust him. He does good work and he is very reasonably priced. But, he is going away today for 6 weeks (he is foreign and goes home for 6 weeks every other winter to see his family). DH and I have basically decided to wait for him to get back (he has promised to do that first.) Yes this means we will lose one month's rent but we have never lost a cent on that apt since we bought it rented in Feb 2011 and I know we'd pay the equivalent of that month's rent to the other painter who is significantly more expensive, so it would be a wash.

Does it make any sense to show the apartment before it is repainted / reno'd? Or should we wait? We still haven't decided if we want to rent it ourselves or give it to a property manager (I'm tending towards the property manager).

As I've said, the building is not in good shape, but will be reno'd this year. I'm thinking that since the building is neglected, it might be better to wait till the apt is redone, but I'm hesitating. We'll probably know more after we see the apt at the end of the month when the tenant leaves. I know he has taken very good care of it. And it's got a tile floor, so it won't need reflooring.

As you know I do most of my own painting. I show while I'm painting. I think it kills two birds with one stone. Also I get to actually meet the people and hear what people are looking for. I think the prospective tenants like the fact the LL is involved and cares...or they think I'm a cheap b*tch. They'd be right on both accounts!

[Wisconsin Beth]

Do they ever ask for a different color?  MOre sand than white or something along those lines? 

[Bonny]

Jan 16, 2015 14:41:02 GMT -5 Wisconsin Beth said:

Do they ever ask for a different color?  MOre sand than white or something along those lines? 

Most of the time it was "Can you repaint that pink wall?". LOL, my mother's condo was very um colorful with a hot pink hallway, blue tones in the kitchen, purple guest room, faux painted bathrooms and what I called the pajama pink striped living room wall.

When I first put it into service I calmed it down by repainting the hot pink and purple walls. Those really were over the top. Last turnover I repainted the pink wall in the Master bedroom. Next turn over I'm probably going to have to paint of the pajama striped living room wall. I actually like it but after 5 tenants the faux painting is starting to get beat up. I'll probably also repaint the two bathrooms for the same reason.

ETA: I sometimes get asked if they can change the color of a white wall. I tell them that they can but need to be prepared to return it to the original color. 1 out of 5 actually follow through.

[The Home 6]

This seems like a good place to ask this question:

How do you (nicely, I really do like these people) raise the rent on your tenants by $100 per month? It'd be going up from 900 to 1000, if that makes any difference, and they haven't had a rent increase in the 5 or 6 years that we've been renting to them. What do you say? How do you word it?

[Deleted]

You tell them, as you are well aware, we are entitled to raise the rent by XX every year. But we haven't raised it because you are such wonderful tenants, despite the fact that we are losing money every month. 

However, at this point, our increased financial obligations give us no choice but to raise your rent by $150 per month.

The $150 is not a typo. 

I do not know the laws in the US (I'm in France) but here you can raise the rent by an index-linked amount every year on the anniversary of the lease. It tends to be about 1.5%-2% per year. 

So I can't help you with the laws, I can only suggest phrasing. 

Good luck! :-)

ETA: I know you're an accounting major, so remember you need to compound that 1.5%-2% increase (or whatever it is) every year, for 5-6 years, and NOT just increase their current rent by 1.5%-2% ONCE after this 5-6 year period. 

ETA: And really, don't be shy about it ... with long-term tenants with 3 small kids, face it, that place will need a decent amount of work when they finally go.

[The Home 6]

Thank you, debthaven! We certainly do have increased financial obligations...a cross country move qualifies!

[Bonny]

Jan 15, 2015 17:39:47 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Soooo I got an e-mail from the AZ tenants and they got an offer accepted on a house. They will be out before 1/31 and we'll do the walk-through on the 31st.

DH is on his way home tonight. Real estate agent mailed me some rental comps. But thinks we can get $650k if we sell. I have no idea why he's saying that. Monday he mailed me a listing of a house built by the same architect as ours and they've lowered their price by 30K.

DH and I will have a lot to talk about over the weekend!

This weird quoting myself but it's probably the best way to communicate an update.

Heard back from the agent (actually twice) over the weekend. He thinks we can get $650k because there is nothing for sale in that price range in our immediate area. He also suggested that we list it both for sale and lease and take the house off the sales market in 30 days if we don't get any offers.

He contacted me this am to advise me that he has been contacted by some old clients and he wants to show him our house. We've already discussed a commission structure so we're good with a cyber handshake. Gave him the tenant's # and advised him to contact them directly with the warning to his buyers that the tenants are packing and that we intend to do some painting.

I'm skeptical that anything will come of it but of the three agents that I interviewed he's the only one who is attempting to show to one of his clients.

[Works4me]

Bonny - sending good thoughts, prayers and lots of positive ju-ju for the resolution of the AZ property. After all you have been through in the last few years (is it only two?) you are due for some!

[Bonny]

Jan 20, 2015 0:53:48 GMT -5 Works4me said:

Bonny - sending good thoughts, prayers and lots of positive ju-ju for the resolution of the AZ property. After all you have been through in the last few years (is it only two?) you are due for some!

Thanks for the good wishes, Sarah!

I feel blessed that whichever way it goes will be fine and is meant to be. We are very lucky that we have the options that we do.

[Deleted]

Today the tenant in the "old" studio left. DH did the walkthrough. The studio is generally in good shape but it needs painting and a new mini-kitchen unit, and perhaps a new toilet as well.  

The building, however, is not in good shape, which we already knew. There was supposedly a lawsuit about the planned renovations, so they were held up. The owner of most of the apts in the building (the one who sold us that studio) supposedly won and says the building will be reno'd this year.

I'm not sure how honest the building owner is, but I do know he moved to the south of France years ago, he's in his 70s, and he wants to sell everything he owns in that building, so it is definitely in his interest to have the building reno'd ASAP. I spoke to him a few weeks ago, he told me he sold a few of the apts in 2011 (when we bought), but then decided to take the rest of them off the market until the building reno is done. That whole riverfront area has been in the process of being renovated for miles in both directions. I knew when we bought it that the building reno would take longer than he claimed, because things always do, so I'm not worried about it. Our mortgage is only 305e per month.

So at this point, we are waiting for our painter / handyman to come back from vacation in a month. We know we will lose two months' rent, but we've had a perfect run with that tenant since we bought it in Feb 2011, so if the studio is empty for 2 months for the first time in 4 years until it's reno'd and re-rented, we're OK with that. 

DH (who is still very traumatized from just 6 months of handling the wonky studio lol) said he is tempted to just sell it. But he agrees it makes much more sense to wait till the building is reno'd and then see. Luckily the mortgage payments are low.

Ironically, the tenant is moving to the suburb where we just bought the "new" studio, to be closer to his job.

I know Bonny feels we should do the renovations ourselves, but with both of us working FT, getting older and being sick for weeks these days, it's not going to happen, and we're OK with that. 

ETA: This is the studio / mortgage that is in my tagline. 

ETA2: I posted that it was free to rent on my FB. I don't have a lot of FB friends (by choice), but you never know. I also emailed my 3 adult kids about it, since it's in the next suburb from us. If nothing pans out in the next few weeks through word-of-mouth, I'll probably give it to an agency when the painter starts working on it in late Feb / very early March, but I know I will have to choose the agency very carefully.

[Deleted]

DH also brought up the idea of renting this studio furnished ... I have to look into that.

That option is usually used here for short-term rentals (it's near a business district so it could work) but then it's like a hotel, you have to be available to give the people the keys when they arrive, and take them back when they leave. I have ZERO desire or availability to do, since we both work FT. I'm guessing DH thinks this is a good idea because he's not thinking it through (he's not always very practical).

DH thinks it would be worth trying on a longer-term basis, like week to week, or month to month, but I'm not sure. When we first got together decades ago, he rented his place out to a businessman who was sent to Paris for 3 or 4 months for a project. This man had a hotel and food allowance, but he preferred to stay in DH's 1BR apt, cook for himself, and bank the difference. I'm not sure that even exists anymore, a "hotel and food allowance" paid up front, without actually having to produce any bills from the hotel or any restaurants.

Has anybody ever had any experience with this? 

One advantage would be that the standard lease here is 3 years, and we think we may not find a renter who wants to sign a 3Y lease with the building in its current state. I think we could solve that problem by offering a (non-standard) 1Y lease with an option to extend.

Or, by doing the studio up very nicely, charging a bit less rent, and doing a standard 3Y lease. That's what I'd do. The lease here is binding for the OWNER, but not the RENTER. The owner CANNOT break the lease. The renter CAN, as long as he or she gives 3 months' notice.  

Any thoughts?  

I keep telling myself, "this is the last stretch" LOL. 

[Bonny]

Debt,

Not sure why you stated that I thought you should do the reno yourself. While I do a lot of the painting and light repairs on my properties it's not even something DH would do.

What works for me doesn't work for everyone.

I wish you good luck with the renting of your unit.

As to the guy who did the short term arrangement, it's possible that he has a "per diem" arrangement with his employer. DH has a friend that was able to do that. He'd stay with us and take us out to a very nice dinner and the employer would reimburse him. It was cheaper for the employer, our friend enjoyed being with friends instead of an empty hotel room and we got an excellent dinner out of it.

Pursuant to the IRS rules, I do something similar if I'm staying with friends or family for business reasons (usually needing to do a visit to one of the properties when they are occupied). We're allowed a "Meals, incidentals and expenses" per diem as well as lodging amount. After researching it on the old tax board and discussing it with my CPA, we're all in agreement that it's a much cheaper solution all around than me staying in a hotel room and buying dinner every night that I'm away from home.

I would definitely research whether a short term stay is allowed within the zoning parameters. Remember you found out you could have run afoul of the rules with the wonky unit. Also in the U.S. nearly every county will have some kind of "Bed tax" for rentals < 30 days. The zoning and bed tax have been big issues for Air B&B.

Finally, if you research the matter and think you're in the clear I would seriously consider hiring professional vacation rental management. It's expensive percentage wise but even cheap hearted me pays to have our cabin professionally managed. It's way more work (and too far away) for me to manage.

[Bonny]

LOL, you can say that again. I drove 9 hours today to get the cabin (my hotel room en route to the AZ house). Oh man I hate those last 2+ hours driving through the insanity known as Los Angeles and the Inland Empire. I don't know how people do that every day.

[Bonny]

Got to the AZ house yesterday. Quite the rainstorm on the way in; it was coming down so hard I had to figure out what was the least dangerous option, continue driving or pull over to the side of the road!

But there's nothing quite like the smell of the desert after a rain. Truly!

House looked better than I thought. Dishwasher isn't working and I need to figure out what's going on with it. And the paint looks good but I have to take a hard look at it during the daytime to figure out how much painting needs to be done.

[Deleted]

Happy for you Boskone! You apparently have nerves of steel, and / or you're a lot younger than we are LOL. 

We wrote out a check for the full security deposit for the tenant that left last week. That probably doesn't happen very often LOL. He left the place is MUCH better shape than he rented it in. (We inherited him, we didn't rent to him ourselves.)

DH reiterated that he wants to sell that apt because he feels we can't deal with all 4 places. But he again agreed that it's stupid to do so before the building is reno'd. 

So we go around and around, which drives me completely crazy. 

The bottom line is at this point, 4 places probably IS too many for us. But it would be incredibly stupid to sell that place now, even once it's reno'd, because we'd get a much better price once the building is reno'd too. 

I still have time but unless one of our kids' friends' wants to rent it, which doesn't seem likely, I'm going to get an PM for it. DH can set his own schedule. Despite him claiming he wants to deal with it, he's clearly overwhelmed by the idea. I can't set my own schedule, so getting a PM seems the way to go, even though we've done without one for the last 4 years since we bought it with that great sitting tenant. 

At this point, I just want to hang on to all 4 places for another 18 months, until DS3 finishes HS. Then I'd be more than happy to sell one.

[Deleted]

I like the idea of a one-year lease, but a standard lease here is 3 years. It should be reno'd by the end of the year, but I'm not holding my breath lol. 

[Bob Ross]

Here's my landlording experiences for the day:

1) Walked to mailbox and collected large checks.
2) Logged on here and told you all what losers you are.
3) Put up ads for my highway-offramp hotel seminar.
4) Had wet dream about Kiyosaki.

[Deleted]

This is the second month in a row that we have gotten our rent from the new studio (the one we purchased in Dec) in a timely fashion, with a paper from the agency detailing the accounts. 

I know this is (or should be) par for the course, but given all the years of aggro with the former estate agent (from the trashed / reno'd / wonky place we sold in July, and even the one before it that we sold in 2011) this seems AMAZING to us lol!  

[Bonny]

alwaysbeoptimizing,

Listed it this am for sale and lease. Debuting on Sunday with an open house. Thought it best to let me finish my work and clear out. I think I might creep out some prospective buyers with the air mattress/sleeping bag arrangement on the floor.

My agent thought that was pretty funny. Could give the impression that I lost everything but the clothes on my back!

[Bonny]

Feb 9, 2015 16:33:18 GMT -5 alwaysbeoptimizing said:

Yeah, agreed. and since it will likely be sold to owner-occupants, I would let them have the dream. don't make it dreary with your sleeping stuff.

I would move your stuff out to the car/etc during showings/open houses. but you know all this stuff.

Yeah, I'm headed home on Sunday morning so all my cr*p will be out of there. The agent is holding an open house in the afternoon.

[Bonny]

Went on a tour of the "competition" yesterday am.

I told my agent that I wanted to raise my listing price by $100,000.

[DVM gone riding]

Jan 15, 2015 17:19:18 GMT -5 tskeeter said:

Jan 15, 2015 17:00:50 GMT -5 The Captain said:

Fixed.

Tskeeter tests Tazer batteries on tenant to remind tenant that stealing the landlord's expensive, fancy battery isn't nice.

My state law requires working detectors in all bed rooms and one in main area. But they are responsible for maintaining them. I check them at move out and yes I have added both light bulbs and battery charges to the security deposit deduction!

I had one tenant in addition to the above issues break a toliet seat when he was on the middle of moveout!

[Bonny]

Looks like we are still LLs for the AZ house.

We listed for sale/lease on Sunday. I got home Monday evening. Tuesday we had our first proposal for a lease with option to purchase. We didn't want to go that route for a number of reasons; countered back full price on the rent with a lease end date of 01/15/16. That's an ideal time for me to "turn' the property and put back on the market. DH isn't really happy but he likes the $350 mth increase.

[Deleted]

That sounds like a happy compromise Bonny, and it gives you more time to think about selling or keeping it.

Our painter who has been away since mid-Jan should be back next week. He will repaint / reno the empty studio as soon as he gets back. He even called us from his vacation to confirm. Once he starts, I will choose an agency to either just find a renter or manage it.