All Forum Posts by: Richard F.

Aloha,

Due to the Lahaina firestorm, you, on the mainland, will be seeing further significant increases in costs and probably more companies pulling out of certain regions.

Aloha,

Laws certainly vary from one locale to another, but there are many cultures that have different views on death. If there was a "notorious" death, I would always disclose. Natural deaths, usually not, unless someone from a different culture specifically asks about it. This does assume proper, sanitary, cleanup of the scene. 

Aloha,

You need to follow the terms of the agreement you have with your report providers, or you risk losing the service...or worse. We obtain credit reports direct from Equifax, but are prohibited from sharing those in any manner with the applicant or anyone outside of the transaction, essentially. We always provide an adverse action letter with the contact info for Equifax and for the source of court records we pull.

Aloha,

As others have stated, you should have already initiated the eviction process. "Talking" about late payments is a complete waste of time and source of ongoing aggravation. Follow the terms of your Rental Agreement and/or local law and send the initial "late" notice immediately when payment is not received on time.

The deeper question, however, is about what your initial screening criteria and process was. I am assuming you placed the Tenant...so if she now claims she was working for a fraudulent company, how did that escape detection by you in the first place? Tighten up your process to prevent this happening again.

Aloha,

Typically, the recurring payment period (monthly, weekly, annually) defines the term of verbal or undocumented agreements. You need to check local law for the timeframe required to give notice for that term.

Aloha,

As you stated, it could well be the Tenant views your efforts as a scam, particularly if they had no previous knowledge that you are the Owner. You should have provided your PM with explicit instructions to provide a notice to Tenants of a change in Management, with an effective date, and at least the basic contact info for whoever will be taking over.

Once that notice has been sent, they you would follow up a few days or a week later with your own introduction, and additional details on how, where, and to whom rent will need to be paid, and how to handle maintenance requests. Keep in mind, you cannot change any of the existing Rental Agreement terms except these payment/contact details, until IT has completed the stated term.

Aloha,

We typically complete the form during walk through with the Tenant after they have signed the Rental Agreement, and before turning over keys. Only rarely do we not do so, usually when there is a significant timing conflict. We still have photos from the vacant, ready-to-rent unit on completion of turnover preps; and we require return of the form within 7 days. Usually I will pre-complete the form, and they just note if there are any additions necessary on their inspection.

Realistically, once personal property/furniture has been moved in, there can already be "new" damages. To be clear, this is separate from any functional issues discovered during move in and shortly thereafter. We advise new Tenants to make a separate list, over a week to ten day "settling in" period, of any functional items that might have been missed, which they should email. We will then send out a a handyperson to address multiple items at one time if necessary, rather than getting multiple calls over several days for different items. This very rarely happens, although with newly acquired properties that the Owner has supposedly prepped, it is very common.

Aloha,

If the current furnace is old enough that you are concerned,you certainly should be getting an annual inspection to determine it's true condition. A cracked heat ex-changer can be deadly, and can be difficult to identify. Also, there is a lot to say about the efficiency of newer units and the reduced operating cost for whoever is paying the bill...

It is always less costly to take preventative action on your schedule, than remediation at the peak of the season.

Aloha,

Based on that age, you are due for a lot of work...waste and sewer lines, possibly supply lines ("some plumbing"is worrisome); potentially electrical panels and wiring if there has been ongoing water intrusion causing heavy corrosion of conduits and panels; roof; internal structure (termites, wood rot) exterior paint/siding; along with routine service call items. You will likely be much better off if you can establish a core maintenance team that is qualified to handle these projects on your schedule. Depending on available labor in the market, you may have no choice but to work with contractors, in which case you really need to take time to find the right fit. You MUST source people that are excellent at troubleshooting issues, project management, and that understand the importance of quality repairs. They need to know when to inform you of unexpected discoveries during their planned work.

Aloha,

Totally dependent on local rental market and grade of property. Glass tops are costly to replace when they get cracked, and, personally, I hate trying to keep them clean! For an average rental, there is nothing wrong with a basic, self cleaning, coil element range. If current unit is slide in, I will check to see how easy it is to convert to free-standing range. Usually it is very simple, and the free standing is usually cheaper and more readily available. Just be sure of your measurements.