All Forum Posts by: Bob H.

I should have asked: Is the wall cold?

If so, my guess is that there is no insulation in the wall, and there should be. I'd be more confident in this guess if the wall got damp when the weather turned cold.

Please tell us more:

Is this wall in a basement or above grade? What is the exterior surface and the interior surface? 

What has the weather been like since the problem started?

Is there plumbing in or above the wall?

Is the wall insulated? 

Is there heavy furniture against the wall, which could inhibit air circulation against a cold wall?

The owner of a vacation rental should be able to get mail there at least once. For a newly acquired property, there's no problem. For a property with a forwarding address on file, this check still works. 

Also, I wouldn't send a postcard. With a postcard, everybody at the Postal Service along the way can read the code.

No P.O. box addresses or alternate addresses allowed. You have to mail to the property address, which you could look up in the tax records to check the owner's name. The owner must be able to receive your mail at the address being listed for rental. 

@Michael Kugler, you need the registration number so people who see one copy of your form can't forge it and use it for property they don't own.

Let's say you mail a form without that unique number to Owner A. Owner A's evil cousin happens to be visiting and photocopies the form. Now Evil Cousin sees a nice house at Location B and applies to list it. You mail another generic form to Location B. The resident there ignores your mail. Evil Cousin knows you'll be sending the form, though, so he sends in his copy to validate the fake listing.

@Michael Kugler, I agree that looking up the property in a county website is not adequate. How about this? You send a form by U.S. Mail to the property address and require that it be signed and returned to you by U.S. Mail. The form would contain a registration number that only you know.

A typical person who hijacks a property name and address could not get that postal mail. A dishonest neighbor might be able to get the mail if the mailbox is not locked, but that's a small percentage of the potential risk.

Using snail mail no doubt will slow down the initial listing of a property, but you could say the owner might have more business if your site is able to point out that all the listings are verified.

How about going over the wallpaper with heavy-duty, solid-color, lightly textured wallpaper similar to what you see in nice hotels?

If your interest in metal is more related to durability or fire safety than the appearance of smooth metal, consider the stone-covered steel roofing from Gerard.

The tenants should complain to the city, not to you. It is nice of you to help, and of course you have an interest in keeping them happy, but somehow they should understand that just owning the property does not make you responsible for dealing with neighbors. It might be helpful to give them the numbers of the right people to call.

For those of us in Texas and other drought-stricken areas, what about adding a lawn sprinkler system? It's impossible to have decent grass without one, but does any investor think it's worth the expense?