All Forum Posts by: Alan Pederson

Stop backing up. Stick to your guns. If you want to raise the rent, you're the owner and you can charge whatever you want. If he doesn't like it or the terms of the lease he is free to move.

I'm surprised you waited this long to inform your tenant about a new lease or the price going up. I usually tell my tenants a month or two prior to their lease being up that I have a new lease ready and any price change so both of us will know what is going on. If they don't like the terms and I want to keep them as tenants I might make a small change to the lease.

I love this post. It's hard to believe people act like this and have no problem parking their truck in someone else's driveway. Years ago, I owned a house and had renters living next door. They would park their truck and trailer in front of my house where I could barely get into my own driveway. There would be no cars in their driveway or in front of their house? I asked them nicely a couple of times to please not park in front of my house because when I have friends over they have no place to park and the mailman has left me notes telling me he won't deliver my mail if the mailbox is blocked. They complied for a short time than started parking in front of my house again. I told a friend of mine what was going on and he had a great solution. He owned several cars so we parked them in front of my house and in front of their house for a few weeks. When I went over to talk to them again I told them I would have the cars moved if they stopped parking in front of my house. They agreed.

I later found out that the guy didn't know how to back up with a trailer attached to his truck. He would drive thru the neighbors driveway, then thru his own yard, and then exit his own driveway so he could back up into his own driveway. This would take him 30+ minutes of backing up and going forward multiple times until he would finally get it right. It was pretty funny to watch.

One night the police came out because the neighbors across the street were having **** fights in the back yard and someone reported them. A couple of months later there was a drive by shooting. Someone drove by and shot up one of my neighbors houses. He thinks it was his ex girlfriend but could never prove it. I realized I probably needed to move. 

I feel your pain. When we bought a house last year we were expecting to spend $3-5k in repairs. When it was all said and done, we ended up spending $15k. We have good cash flow ($567 a month) but this extra $10k we spent will take time to make up. The bright side is that we shouldn't have any repairs to do for a long time. We paid $135k for the house and after repairs we're up to $150k now. This house would easily sell for $160-165k so it is still under market value.

What still needs to be done with the house you have? If the repair costs added to the price you paid for the house still adds up to a decent deal, I say keep it and ride it out.

I've let people see the house during reno. You just have to explain that it isn't done yet and they can come look at it to see the layout not the finished product. The last house we bought we did this way and the new renters came by every few days to check on the progress. I think they were nervous that I wouldn't get everything done in time. They were very happy with the finished product.

I don't use any checklist, I just know what things cost from replacing things in the past. Flooring: just depends on if it's the whole house or just a few rooms. Whole house I would figure at least $3k, carpet for each bedroom is around $500 installed. I painted the entire inside of a 1300 sf and it took 10 gallons of paint. Ceiling fans are $100-200 each, cabinets are about the same depending on where you buy them. Retiling a shower $1,000 if you do the work yourself. I figure in $3,000 for make ready for a house that is in pretty good shape. It's surprising how much it costs to just do a bunch of small things.

I need to add a few things. When I sold my house I made $40k. I used that money to pay off all of our debts. My new wife was shocked that I spent $30k just a few weeks after getting married to her. She had about $6k in debt and our honeymoon cost us about the same. The other debt was mine and the remainder just went into our joint savings. I told her I was all in and put my money where my mouth was. We have been living debt free (except for mortgages) ever since. About 6-7 years ago we decided to refinance the house because interest rates were really low. She was hesitant to have my name put on the paperwork because it was HER house. She had 22 years left on a 30 year note and we refinanced to a 15 year note. I told her when we got married I didn't even hesitate about selling my house  (it was bigger and nicer than hers) or putting that money into OUR bank account and paying off OUR debt. We have spent over $20,000 in repairs and upgrades to our house since we got married that never would have happened if she was still single. Why would you hesitate now? It wasn't like she had tons of equity in the house. She signed the paperwork but still brings this up from time to time. I just laugh and tell her if it's YOUR house than go mow YOUR yard.

@Paul Haskell I might be able to help you a little. I got married (my third marriage) almost 13 years ago. My new wife had two girls from her previous marriage. We had a long conversation about bills and finances. I sold my house and moved into hers. She continued to pay all of the bills and I just put my paycheck in the bank. We had separate checking accounts and a joint savings account and they were all linked so both of us could see each others account information. The house wasn't paid for but it was in her name. Some months she was a little short $$ wise and I would pay the electric or whatever. I am really conservative with money and just piled money in the bank. About a year in, the stress of handling everything was getting to much for her so I took over paying all the bills. She pays the house payment, water, and groceries. I pay the utilities, car insurance, cable, phones, etc... If your house is paid off I would suggest that you have the new wife simply contribute to your joint savings account the same amount she was paying for rent before ya'll got married and then use that money to eventually buy rental property. That's worked good for us. I continue to put $1,000 in savings every month. My wife has her own checking so she's happy, I have my own checking so I'm happy, and we have a joint account for saving and investing. When we can, we each put extra into savings. I made a deal with her early on that as long as I can put $1,000 into savings each month, she could spent every penny we had and I would never say a word. She's never done that but I have never questioned her spending and we have never had an argument about money the entire time we've been married. 

Have you thought about taking out the window?

I'm probably not the best person to ask. 1st house we've had for 3 years and no vacancy, 2nd house in 2 years it's been vacant one month (changed tenants). 3rd house we just bought last year and only vacant first month we bought it so we could do repairs.

They seem very involved with their property, a little to involved. We own the house right next door to us and rent it out. I never go over there and harass them. I just did an inspection of the property and this is probably the first time I've been in the house in at least 6 months. When we bought our first rental I would drive by every week or so to check on it. It always looked fine from the outside. I might go by there now every 3-4 months, maybe less.

The deposit thing is kind of strange. I had an apartment one time keep half my deposit because they said they always bring in someone to clean after a tenant moves out. I called BS on this one. I told them if I knew they were going to do this I wouldn't have spent an entire day cleaning everything like I did. A cleaning fee and a deposit are two different things. The place was spotless and sterile when I moved out. I don't expect my tenants to leave a house perfect. I would expect to have to come in and clean and vacuum after they leave. If there are any carpet stains or damage I would charge them for that but anything else would just be normal wear and tear as far am I'm concerned and I would give them back their deposit by mail according to the terms of my lease with them.