All Forum Posts by: Beth L.

@Justin Fox, I agree with @Thomas S.. However, I like to ask the "interview" questions up front, either in an email or over the phone. This helps me to determine if they meet the criteria before I even waste my time in showing them the unit. For example, I specify required income, no pets policy, etc. in the ad, but inevitably, people still ask to see the unit even though they know they don't qualify, or they just didn't read the ad. I can find out up front that they have pets or not enough income and tell them that they don't qualify.

This pre-screening should still work if you are holding an open house, if you are in contact with them beforehand. You can also talk with them as you show them around at the open house. Take good notes, and if they hand in an application, you have some details to go with it.

Best wishes on getting it rented!

@Tomas Calvino I find that I get a lot of people calling, but 98% of them either don't qualify after talking with them, don't show up to the appt/open house, or never hand the application back in after they said they are really interested.

I would take the time to talk to each family at the open house and take detailed notes. If you don't get to talk to them, make a point to call and ask them your questions after you have received their application.

The discussions we have as we walk through the house and watching them get in and out of their vehicle is priceless. It tells a lot about the type of people they are. Sometimes that is more of a determining factor in renting to them than what the application says.  

@Michael Bertsch Yes, inspections and sweeping can be costly. Plus if it is an older home, there may be other issues that creep in and cause costly bills. Is there an alternate source of heat? Perhaps it is better to cap off the chimney at the top, or inside the fireplace and just make it decorative. I have four units just like this and have a decorative fireplace is not an issue, at least in my area.

It is quite standard in rentals to not offer a working fireplace for cost and liability issues. 

@Chad Huffer I don't think that #6 would apply, since it will still be used as a residential property.

Perhaps his use of "commercial transaction" is not the same as "commercial property" or "zoned commercial". For example, when we make a purchase using an LLC, then it is considered a commercial transaction and we must get commercial loans from the bank. It doesn't have to be a commercial property to necessitate a commercial loan.

Sorry, though, I am not familiar with the disclosure/disclaimer you are asking about. Hopefully the attorney can provide you with clarification.

I've never heard of charging sales tax along with rent. We don't do it here in Maryland. However, short term rentals are considered hospitality and they usually have different tax laws than long term residential rentals. And I'm sure that varies by area. I have a vacation villa in Florida. I had to register with the county and state and charge tourist tax and sales tax.

Have you tried to search online for landlord tenant laws in your county and state?

If you are reporting the income on your personal income tax return, isn't it whatever tax bracket you're in?

Not sure if there is one. I use tenantbackgroundcheck.com. They suggest having them sign up for a free gmail account in order to process, or you can do that for them. I had one tenant, an older guy, who doesn't have a computer or email address. I had to use one of mine to process and pretend to be him. Of course, he was on the phone with me the whole time. It was a pain, but it worked.

@Kirsten Ostby We have an older duplex and each side has a fireplace. These didn't have dampers in place so we just took some type of thick plastic material and taped it into the top inside of the fireplace, then painted the inside all black.

Another newer duplex we own has nice fireplaces with motorized vent fans installed. We didn't want to do anything to these fireplaces that couldn't easily be undone in case we sell the units later or something. So we used the High Heat type paint for grills and such and painted the interior black, and just closed the damper and told the tenants that the fireplaces cannot be used.

Another option is that you can have them capped off at the top of the chimney. A roofer or other contractor can do this. They use metal sheeting and screw it into the brick.

I just ask them for their new address. They give it to me.

Hi @Kimberly Derodes we had a similar situation. One of our tenants fell on wood stairs in their unit on two separate occasions so we needed to get something for them. They wore socks often and for that reason they slipped. I purchased these and they have been great for them, and since then I have ordered another set for a unit that we just remodeled. While the stairs look great uncarpeted, for liability I think this is a great idea. It is recommended to attached these with double-sided carpet tape.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00W4D15U0?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00