All Forum Posts by: Uwe K.

My rentals are mostly low end.
My rule of thumb is: as inexpensive as possible without sacrificing too much quality (i.e. not cheap, just inexpensive). So for example I would never do granite, I would generally not put ceiling fans, but I would also not refinish hardwood floors. The latter has multiple reasons. My tenants overwhelmingly like carpet. Cheaper to put than refinishing the floors. Sometimes the floors would need to be repaired for addl. cost. They WILL be able to destroy the wood floor almost as fast as the carpet, I am absolutely convinced about that :)

Otherwise, I choose basic stuff, and from there I pay more in two cases:
a) It's not significantly more to provide a fancier grade product, but it adds bling (faucet with sprayer, for example)
b) I know I get the durability that withstands the tenants and the higher cost has a certain payback. E.g. if I put a $20 plastic faucet in and have to come out twice a year and replace it, that's wasted money if if they have a lifetime warranty on them.

On the low end, people are happy with the basic stuff. If it's functional and clean, the size and location fits, most won't care or even notice if you go overboard. They still use it as if it's not theirs, if you know what I mean.

I recently also went over to not supplying appliances, based on a tip from a city inspector. I have not had one complaint from any tenant and rarely one from prospective. Some have that stove and fridge sitting somewhere, others just go and buy a used one and have no issue with it.

What others said: always have a lease agreement in writing in future. Maybe there is a sample form available that reflects your state's law. Also, become familiar with your state's law, especially about what's happening in your particular case with no written agreement.

Having mentioned "written agreement", I don't fully agree with some previous comments about not having any recourse. BUT, to get anything in your favor may be extremely difficult, also depending your state statutes.
A lease agreement does not have to be in writing to be effective (with some exceptions), so you offer the premises, the tenant accepts the offer by paying the rent, voila, valid legal contract.

Problem here are the terms. In Wisconsin, if there is no written lease, the statutes rule the rental world, and they cover quite a bit of standard stuff. So by them paying and you accepting the money, you probably have a rental contract. That going on for a year establishes some ongoing relationship, and if they paid always on a particular day, say the first, it could be argued that this is the established due date for the rent and the type of lease, say a month-to-month base don the payment frequency.
My statutes then also give a minimum time frame for cancellation. e.g. 28 days for MTM, unless agreed otherwise.

I heard/read of some tenants who argued successfully in court that they were NOT late paying rent on the 10th, as it was established that in the past they usually paid on the tenth and it was accepted by the landlord. Therefore the 10th was the established rent due date, despite other written agreements.
This should also work the other way around.

So check your statutes, maybe consult an attorney (who will likely eat up anything you in in court...), and see what the rule book says if there is not written agreement. One year tenancy should be enough to argue something in front of the judge.

And then you could always gamble a bit: On one side, if it fails, you loose $100 or so filing fee and your time (if you go yourself to court). Compare that - after research - to your winning chances and the level of collectability (is that a a word?) of the tenant. Then use simple math or gut feel to make the decision.

Other than that: I never had the problem so far with using the deposit for öast month's rent. But in order to prevent this more, I typically ask for a deposit of 1 month plus $200. I often see big question marks int heir faces, as everybody expects the standard 1 month and cannot understand that it technically is unrelated.
I explain that if they use it for last month's rent, they will likely loose the addl. $200, as I will charge late fees. Also, if I have to evict - and in most cases my tenants are not collectable - I get the month rent, plus court fees, plus some extra for the holes in the wall.

To your question 3:
Short answer: yes.
You have to get the judgement. That shows up in the court records, all public. Then they might not pay. Then you have go to court again based on the first judgement, and they have to answer questions about their finances and work, I think, and then you get the permission to garnish wages, and then you have to start that somehow. I've never done that, my only chance I had, that b.... filed for bankruptcy a month after she moved out. So maybe someone else can chime in.
Credit report: you cannot report yourself, the court doesn't do it, either. You can sell the debt to a collection agency, which can do it, and some organizations where you can be a member can do it, I think.

Two things:
1. That's not a roommate, it's a letterbox company...
2. If he showed up max. 10 times per year, did he
a) Not pay rent for two out of the 12 months, or
b) pay 2 months in advance twice?

Anyhow, good to hear some nice stories sometimes, also for people looking to get into and who always get scared away by the nightmare stories, the only ones that seem to surface.

They already put the report in for the "Revenue Protection Department".
According to the gas man, they have this happen and see this daily, multiple times. His quote "I don't know if the police does something for you..."
My hunch is they put in on her bill, which will go to collection eventually, and that's it.

I certainly don't want criminals. It's a misdemeanor in my state. But I just checked the statutes to make sure, the proper is now - because they are in a 12 months lease - the 5-day notice for material violation of the statute (plus lease, I guess) with the right to cure. If they have a violation again within 12 months, I can do a 14-day termination with no right to cure.

At least I don't have to deal with a dead/electrocuted body in the backyard...

That's funny. Sometimes I wish I would have to worry about this.
For my clientele, you are already on top of the list if you actually have a current employer and your main income is not SSI, disability, and all the related, ehm, government handouts. :-)
Actually, when they are 35 years old, they already had at least 10 years disability income, that's quite stable, isn't it?

Anybody had this happen yet in a rental?
Just today discovered in one of my duplexes that the upstairs meter had been tampered with . In fact, it was removed from the box, and the connection was shorted with TV cable wire! At least they took two parallel to get some more juice through. You have to see the positive side... There were burn marks noticeable and the meter box was pried open.
Tenant admitted she had someone do it for her, still had the meter, but it had been tampered with, as well. Service was off already, and utility company fixed it right away.

So far they are paying the rent (no utilities, though, I suppose), but I was wondering what your process is.
Should I give a 5-day cure or quit regarding a lease violation? Can't think of anything official to do else.
They are certainly damaging my property, although the gas man banged it back together and said the tenant will be billed for the meter. No financial damage for me.
Secondly they are kind of endangering the property and life. Kids stick their fingers everywhere, and an open meter box is interesting. Fire hazard and burning down the building is optional.

Great deal. How did you get the seller to knock off almost $100k? Desperate seller or good arguments on your side or hopelessly overpriced or all of the above or...?

No experience in coin-op laundry issues.
But legally I think you should be on the safe side.
If you buy a business, you buy all the obligations with it. But a property? Probably not. If you buy a car, you are not getting the previous driver's insurance with it.
Send them a notice that they pick it up by whenever, otherwise you will be charging rent for the space used. Make up some fancy calculation based on square footage if you feel like it :)
Not sure how the abandoned property thing would work out. I.e. what happens if they come to get it 2 months after you sold or scrapped them?

Let me also add: When I bought mine, the decision price-wise was somewhat easy. I accidentally found an open box at Lowes (I had researched them way before, already), they offered it for $500 ($900 list), I got $300 tax credit that time plus $100 rebate. So at that end price I wasn't too concerned if it would have a reasonable payback :)

Not 100% sure about the second shower. For resale, absolutely yes.
Rental, it probably depends on the neighborhood and what people/tenants expect. With a second shower you can market as 2 full baths, which may be a hit for that family with two kids and all need to get ready in the morning.

Water heater:
Several years back I put one in my house. I love it and can live with some drawbacks. Others didn't like it as much at first, mostly because of the following issue:
Tankless heaters need a minimum flow to be activated. The bigger the unit (e.g. 2 bath require more than the smallest one), the higher the required flow.
That makes a hot water trickle impossible. And our 1940's galvanized pipes, esp. hot water, were, well, almost solid :) So the kitchen sink and dishwasher would not really get hot water anymore until those pipes were replaced.

If it was a pure rental, I would probably forgo the tankless version unless you have a higher agenda of creating more space. This is mostly due to the "unknown" factor by tenants and the upcoming potential complaints about it.

We had tenants in our house for a while, they, however, did not complain about it.

I don't see any higher liability issues. One thing you may have to consider is the gas pipe size and venting. Because they may have significant higher BTUs, I needed to get 3/4" gas pipe to the unit, for example.
Also, it requires sufficient air supply for intake, a closet will not be enough. So you may need a fresh air intake from outside. Plus you may have to vent to the outside, unless - and don't quote me on this - you have a chimney liner.