All Forum Posts by: Alan Pederson

I've used Seconds and Surplus but I'm not sure you have a store up there. They have standard sizes and you can order custom sizes and colors that are not much more expensive than the cabinets in stock.

How often do you inspect the property? I would make it a point to inspect this property about every 3 months after this situation, if not more often.

First, I would say you need to fix the problem before it gets worse. Second, why are you just now hearing about these problems? When did they notice the problem? Was it a pre-existing problem that has just gotten worse in the past year? The lease I have in place (and I'm sure you're says the same thing) states that the tenants need to report any problems immediately so they don't cause further damage to the property. If this is a new problem that they knew about and didn't inform you I would have a long talk with them. I would  explain to them that by them letting this problem go, they have caused the problem to get worse and the repairs will now be more expensive. I would inform them that you will be charging them X amount to cover part of the repair.

I have a tenant that doesn't want to bother me with stuff. Every time I go over there to do something she tells me "well as long as you're here" and then tells me the stuff that's needs attention. It's never anything big but I keep telling her that I live close by and have no problem coming by to fix things. I would rather hear about a problem asap instead of hearing about something after it causes lots of damage.

It also looks like there is soil built up on the front of the house because I don't see a couple of inches of foundation between the lawn and the first row of bricks. This allows easy access to termites and ants if not corrected.

I was looking for the same thing when I started buying property 3 years ago. My brother-in-law spent most of his career doing commercial real estate and when I mentioned to him that we wanted to do residential he spent hours telling us all the horror stories he dealt with years ago. He said we would be crazy to do home rentals. He has never offered to help or has given me one ounce of advice since we started buying homes. I think he hoped we would fail so he could say I told you so.

My wife's former father-in-law owns several single family homes and has done rentals for over 30 years. He was pretty helpful when I asked him questions but told me to hire a property manager because I didn't know what I was doing.  I was kind of bummed out after he said that.

My handyman was actually more positive and inspirational. He said I know you're a smart guy and you do really good work. You may struggle a little at first but I know you'll figure things out and do just fine.

We've done really good so far and done it almost 100% on our own. I would say the same thing to you that my handyman said. You're going to make mistakes, we all do. Find a good deal, move forward, and make it work. If you run into a problem Google search for a solution or come on here and ask. There are many helpful people on here that can probably answer your question or point you in the right direction.

I require my would be tenant to pay a holding fee equal to the deposit amount once I have decided that they have qualified for the house. They are then required to pay the first months rent when they sign the lease. This is done at least a few days (if not sooner) prior to them moving in. If they don't have the money, there is no agreement because they haven't signed a lease and I can pursue renting it out to someone else. I don't return the holding fee if they're the ones that didn't follow our agreement. This is the form I use.

Receipt and Holding Deposit Agreement

This will acknowledge receipt of the sum of $_________ by _____________________ ("Landlord") from _____________________ ("Applicant") as a holding deposit to hold vacant the rental property at _____________________, until _____________________ at _____________________. The property will be rented to Applicant on a _____________________ basis at a rent of $_________ per month, if Applicant signs Landlord's written _____________________ and pays Landlord the first month's rent and a $_________ security deposit on or before that date, in which event the holding deposit will be applied to the first month's rent.

This Agreement depends upon Landlord receiving a satisfactory report of Applicant's references and credit history. Landlord and Applicant agree that if Applicant fails to sign the Agreement and pay the remaining rent and security deposit, Landlord may retain of this holding deposit a sum equal to the prorated daily rent of $ ______ per day plus a $_______ charge to compensate Landlord for the inconvenience

1. I have a tenant who is about to renew their lease for another year (they are coming by this weekend to sign new lease). They have not signed the lease yet and have not given notice to move out. My wife questioned me about what is going on. I told her, if they were going to give notice they would have done it already. I looked at the lease and there was no mention of having to give ANY notice at the end of a lease. I was shocked that I didn't notice this sooner. I retyped the leases on all the 3 rent houses and will cross my fingers that this doesn't bite me in the rear before I have all of them signed to their new leases this year.

2. I was informed by a tenant at 7pm on the day before Thanksgiving that their plumbing was backing up into the shower. They couldn't run any water or use the toilets. I called my regular plumber and he was hunting and wouldn't be able to get to it until Monday. I was out of state visiting family. I called tenants back and told them what was going on. They insisted that I do something that night. I eventually caved and called someone. I got charged $300 for them to try to run the line but was told there was an obstruction. They wanted $2,500 to come back and fix it on Thanksgiving. I didn't do it. I told tenants that the most I would do was to pay $75 a night towards their motel room if they didn't want to stay there till Monday. They were able to get it partially unclogged and stayed. Plumber charged me $1,500 on Monday to replace root clogged pipe in front yard. I had found a high pressure clean out device sitting right on top of the main cleanout drain cap when we bought the house a few months earlier but I just ignored it. The owners obviously had problems but didn't disclose it to us and I ignored it as well.

3. Had 2 different applicants (they barely spoke English) tell me they didn't have a SS number and they wanted me to rent to them because they made plenty of money. I told them I have a process and I'm not changing it. I dodged a bullet I think.

4. I had a couple of people offer me cash in advance for the entire lease. I told them the same thing in #3 and never heard back from them. Dodged another bullet from what I've read on here.

The most important thing is that I told my wife we would have lessons to learn on this journey and some might be costly. Most lessons don't come without a cost. So far I think we have been pretty lucky and blessed to have such good tenants. I would rather have a house sit vacant for a few months then to have a bad tenant. That is the best advice I got from a church friend that has rentals as well.

To me cash for keys would be an offer I might make just prior to eviction. I would have a talk with them and tell them you expect rent to paid on-time and all late fees paid. Explain to them that if you have to go thru the eviction process that you will both lose. By having an  eviction on their record, it will make it very hard for them to rent another place once they're out.

I provide a fridge with my rentals but just like anything else that might break, I get to decide when and how it gets fixed. I would never pay $400 to fix a fridge. I buy nice used ones for that price.

I hear stories all the time from my handyman about DIYers and contractors that do poor work just to save a buck. We bought a house last year that needed tons of work. I had to tear out everything the previous owner did and re-do it. We thought we were going to spend $3-5k and instead spent $15k. Not all landlords are cheapskates or cut corners. The houses I own are in good areas and we spend good money to keep them looking nice. We tell our tenants that we expect them to keep them looking nice as well.

Those TV shows do make it look easy to make big money flipping houses when in reality that probably doesn't happen. My wife knows almost nothing about construction and even she calls them out when they say they can completely remodel a kitchen with new cabinets and counters for only a few thousand dollars. She knows the cost to tile a bathroom or replace a counter because she's with me when I buy the stuff. She is amazed at how much things cost. I work with guys that want to flip houses but they have no construction experience. I've told them the real cost of materials, time, and labor involved that you don't see on TV.