All Forum Posts by: Ben Freiman

Wow what a great post/question. Sooo many people have strong opinions and think they are the best/invincible at REI. Definitely take what anyone says with a grain of salt and do your own research and try to do what’s best for you. We are ALL in different markets and different points in our investing career.

Thank you for the feedback. I should have mentioned that my contractors will be performing the work, but that is a good point to make about them being hurt or doing shoddy work. 

I like @Dorothy Butala "If there are certain items they want, like a better ceiling fan than what I was going to provide, I will allow them to pay the difference to go with the upgraded fan". That is a really good policy because I have the feeling my tenant's have way better taste than me and want to live like millionaires when they are clearly not! haha! 

I feel like we are on the same page. I was just curious to hear others points of view. 

Hello BP. I have a good problem with my new tenants in my SFH. They are a family of 5 and make good money, just don't have the best credit. Signed a 2 year lease with interests to stay longer, but didn't want to lock in long term yet since we did not know each other well. Their last house they rented for 7 years!! (Verified by prior landlord and also were excellent tenants).

When signing the lease they were interested in making improvements to the home, in order to make it their own. I am acceptable to this, because as they make improvements it will help my resale/re-rent value, and being in the SFH business I like my tenants to make it their home so they are happy and want to stay longer. NOTE: In the lease it states ALL improvements must be approved in writing by landlord.

Examples of improvements: Seal/Pave the driveway, Paint wood trim white (classy), new ceiling fans, etc.... 

My question to the BP community who have tenants, what is your policy on tenant improvements? Do you subtract from the rent the amount of the materials/supplies, do you also subtract labor costs too, do you subtract 50% of the cost??? I have my own views, but I would like to hear from others on what your policy is on "landlord approved" improvements. Thank you. 

So I live in Columbus OH and our water/sewer is invoiced on a quarterly basis and the price for a 2000 sq ft home is about $100 per month or $300 per quarter. My question is, do most people have the tenant pay for water/sewer on their own or is this typically an owner cost? I have a SFH at about 1500 sq ft.

I would like to have the tenant pay for it, but I do realize a $200-$300 bill could surprise some people. Options seem to be (1) me including a lease option where the rent would increase approx $80 per month if owner covers utility, (2) tenant sucks it up and pays  or (3) owner pays and comes out of income spread. 

My thoughts are to give the tenant the full "home ownership" experience and let them pay for all utilities. Any thoughts from the community? Thank you.  

What about a SIMPLE IRA from an old employer? Can that be rolled over into a SD IRA?