All Forum Posts by: Bob H.

Always collect a security deposit when a lease is signed, and make it clear in the lease that the deposit may be applied to unpaid rent. In this case, the unpaid rent would start the day that the tenant was supposed to pay the first month's rent.

Also, your clause "should tenant vacate the premises" doesn't seem to apply to a person who has not moved in. An early termination clause could specify a penalty to be paid by the vacating tenant even if a new tenant is found before the first tenant's deposit runs out. You should be entitled to some compensation for the trouble of finding a replacement tenant.

It wouldn't hurt to try selling it to your landlord. Otherwise, there's craigslist. Aside from that, if the new place has space for an extra refrigerator (a garage, maybe) keep yours and use whichever one is better at the new place.

I suggest that you read your contract with the property management company to see how its obligations are defined. It seems strange that the company has an emergency number if the response was the same as it would have been for a non-emergency.

For payments, I have used cozy.co for years. Accounts there are being migrated to apartments.com, which works the same way. For free payments, which I use, you need to train tenants to start the payment process five business days before the due date. Tenants or you also can pay for "express" payments, which are faster.

More recently I have learned of a faster service called Zrent, offered by Paramount Bank and I think some other banks. At Paramount it's free if you have an account at the bank. I probably will try this service when I have new tenants.

As for web hosting, there are free platforms such as AwardSpace that you can use if you know how to build a website. Consider, though, that tenants are not likely to find your own website. TurboTenant is a good place for marketing, because it syndicates listings free to several sites, including realtor.com. Zillow also is good for advertising but no longer is free.

I've been phasing out investments in Texas for the last few years, for just this reason.

Protesting your assessment is a cottage industry in Texas, and that can help, but the real problem is the attitude of most local officials. They look at increases in the property tax base as a reason to increase their spending by an equivalent amount. (Schools are the worst offenders; high schools have giant football stadiums that are used for a handful of home games each year.) The local officials don't care that a normal homeowner does not automatically have a higher income to pay the higher property taxes that come with appreciation. Texas is headed for California's situation in the late '70s, when owners were priced out of their homes by taxes. That led to the tax revolt of Proposition 13.

In some jurisdictions, as a sop to taxpayers, the local officials reduce their tax rates by a small amount each year, but never enough to offset the big increase in tax collections created by higher assessments. They also dole out various exemptions, none of which help investors, as essentially a bribe to avoid opposition to their spending.

No. 3. Take the baseboard off the wall, lay the flooring and then put the baseboard back. Don't try to put the flooring inside the baseboard.

Years ago, I heard good reports about OdoBan. In that case it was used for urine smell in the home of a disabled elderly person. I suppose it would help with pet urine as well.

Property taxes in the Austin area are very high and keep increasing. School districts say they don't have enough money but build giant football stadiums, and politicians have worn out the "no state income tax" excuse.

Carefully look into the tax consequences. Disclaimer, disclaimer, disclaimer, I'm not a tax lawyer, etc. But my understanding is that, if the home has appreciated in value -- maybe by a lot -- your grandmother will have to pay a lot of that increase to the government in capital gains tax, leaving her with less than the value of the home. On the other hand, if she dies, whoever inherits the home will get a stepped-up basis and not owe capital gains tax on the appreciation during her lifetime. That's the case unless the new Democratic Congress changes the law. 

I'd be surprised if a hand pump sprayer saved you any time. It sounds exhausting. You probably still need to brush a lot of the surface to get the paint into the cracks.

I will pass along a tip, though. Last summer I painted a rail fence that had 1- by 2-inch wire mesh stapled to it. With even a thick roller cover, it was hard to get the paint past the mesh. I got a roller cover at Lowe's that worked well, though. It was made of foam rubber sliced into many disks. The foam would separate enough to get around a lot of the unevenness of the surface, and it held up well.