All Forum Posts by: Andrea M.

I buy the electric baseboard heaters from Lowes/Home Depot, if you check the website it will specify how many sq ft per the size of the actual baseboard unit and the thermostat is sold separately.

As a mother and investor , I don't believe in a specific age for wear and tear since younger children may do something like write/draw on the walls and a teenager may punch a hole in a wall out of anger. It depends on the parenting.

But for those reason is why landlords should do inspections and insert a clause in your lease agreement stating such whether it's quarterly or twice a year. Inspections gives you the landlord a chance to see how the tenant lives whether clean or dirty/sloppy.

Regarding making a decision on selecting a tenant with the scenario you provided, for me it would boil down to who is best qualified based on your rental criteria (credit score, background, income guidelines)

Not sure if auction.com lists the price the property sold for but you can try that website or even google the address. Something from the public records may come up in the search results.

@Travis Geary I haven't had any problems with filing for partial payments or notifying the judge of partial payments or any credits in which I may have accepted after the paperwork has been filed.

Here is a link in which you can read to better understand how/what you would need to do regarding your landlord situation.

http://leg1.state.va.us/cgi-bin/legp504.exe?000+cod+TOC55000000013000020000000

If the link doesn't work , just copy & paste

The section you may want to focus on to answer your question

Landlord's acceptance of rent with reservation

you can also look up (google) the landlord tenant act for the county in which the property is located.

@Travis Geary I wouldn't offer cash for keys since the VA eviction process, getting a court date and paperwork is really easy. I do it myself all the time, cost in my area if $58.00 for one tenant and $70 for two tenants, may include a small surcharge if you use a debit/credit card and I get the paperwork online, complete and print it.

I probably wouldn't start the eviction based on $9.11. My understanding of VA Law is if a tenant is late 2 or more times within calendar year , a landlord can proceed with eviction ( this was said by a judge while I was waiting for my case to be called) I have been to Newport News, VA Court numerous times and my experience is VA is landlord friendly.

If you want this tenant out, personally I would wait until next month as soon as she is late based on your lease/ rental agreement, send her a pay or quit, when she doesn't pay, complete and file your paperwork. When you do appear for your court date, make sure and bring her entire file with you as some judges may request to see the rental agreement.

If you stay on top of the paperwork, you can possibly get a court date within approximately 30 days of filing. Example: You file in March, court date is not until April and tenant doesn't pay March or April rent, once you appear for your court date, you can ask the judge to amend your filing to include April.

When your case is called, make sure you tell the judge the tenant has been consistently late..Good luck and keep us posted

I would invoice net 30 days

Most of our properties would be considered low end. We paid all cash, rehabbed and all are currently rented all SFH. The rents range from $750 - $900 ( 2,3 & 4) per month free and clear since we have no mortgage.

How I make it work, it to screen the tenants, verify the information, inspections (vary from quarterly to twice a year) and I stay on top of my paperwork and have a pretty good rapport with my tenants. However my rapport with the tenants will not prevent an eviction but if they fall on hard times they will call and speak with me about it and based on their payment history with me is how I determine how I will handle the issue that they are having.

I send them a letter referencing the section of the lease in which they are in default/breach and detailing the damages. The second page (invoice) will detail the breakdown of the damages with the cost with a time frame to pay (ie 30 days ) or deducted from security deposit.

I agree with putting less down and speak with a local credit union. Also be careful with too many credit inquiries.

Welcome! Quite a bit of information/resources on BP