All Forum Posts by: Luke H.

@Matt M. "...and seeing the kind of trash they post."

Thank you sir the laugh!

Hi all,
1st, Thanks to everyone for replying with comments and suggestions. Lots of great information.

2nd, I have been using Zillow and sometimes a listing agent.  I stopped using Craigslist and yard signs due to scammers, thieves, squatters, low quality leads, and surprise visitors. These issues also made me tighten up my screening process. Zillow isn't perfect, but it sure has lots of good/bad leads coming through.

3rd, I plan to start with FB market place, apartments.com, and Zumper (1st time I've heard of this one) and then go to Zillow.

4th, If you want to know what my results are when I'm done please vote on this thread and I'll put your @ Name in the results reply.
Thanks!

Hi everyone hope all is well.  I just tried to list a property on Zillow and it is no longer free.   What are some alternatives to Zillow that are free of charge?
craigslist.

Thanks!

I've asked for a Residential Lease Guaranty from parents. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. I'd rather play it safe, than take the risk.

Thanks to all that responded.

Hope everyone is well.

House for rent on market for 4 months, recent price reduction.
I have 3 applicants, employed, mid 20s, combined monthly income is $200 short of (3 x rule). 2 of them have excellent credit, 1 has no credit yet. All 3 are moving out of parents home for 1st time. 

How would you handle this and why? 

Thanks for your feedback.

@Steve Kuss , I only mentioned the water heater because people are replying with, "If they are good tenants, then do this or do that." My point is that 'good' is debatable and this is a business. So a process and some scripted answers is what I was looking for and I did get with some replies. 
You are taking this post personal, proven by the fact that you called me a name without knowing me at all. Ad hominem, I'd heard the word before, but finally took the time to look it up.
I'm not telling you what I did with the RENT money. That's my business. Again, its called rent money, not mortgage money.
It's a business, and I'm doing my best to be the best business person I can. By the way, changing a 40 gallon water heater in pouring rain, getting sick, and recovering so tenants can have hot water humbled me.

@Joe Splitrock makes an appearance. Thanks for your perspective.  6k posts and 12k votes, wow. 

@Account Closed - I've never pulled up carpet that didn't have stains underneath and that to me is damage.  These tenants had pets. I do the water proof vinyl planks unless the cost for carpets out weighs it. The carpet guy I use usually can't be beat. 

@Arta Montero - I'm very happy they stayed 7 years.

@Steve Kuss - I get your point, but they paid rent for 7 years. The rent is for use and enjoyment of the home. I forego my use of the place to rent it to them. I paid the mortgage, even if they were late.

@Henry Stoltzfus - In the end don't both of them get slaughtered?

@Will Gaston I agree 100%. Thanks!

@Adam Hurst Yes, I have a MoveIn/MoveOut checklist. I give tenant 7 days to complete it. I do a walk through on day 1 , I video record and encourage them to do the same. On this walk through I detail everything they should know and do i.e. change the air filter every 3 months, etc..

At this point, I have to pull out my old hard drive and original folder for this property...

UPDATE:
1st, great to see that people are still replying to this post. It shows that we all have different ways of looking at this topic and how we would handle it. Thank you to all for your input. 

@Adah N. , @Chris Mcdonald I didn't give all of you a run down of the entire 7yrs. Were they 'good tenants', well that's debatable. I had to re-grout the entire restroom tile once because it got moldy. After that, I hired a cleaning person on my dime for them.  Another time the water heater broke down and they wouldn't stop calling. It just so happened that it was raining for 3 days straight, and I changed it in the pouring rain because they insisted they needed hot water and couldn't wait for it to stop raining. I got sick from that. Oh, did I mention that they decided to have a pet even though they signed a 'No pet' lease. Or every-time they asked me for extra days to pay the rent and I didn't charge them late fees or file eviction.  I could go on and on...The point is I'm not determining this situation based on FEELINGS. 

@Roxanne Whitaker - I do require renters insurance, but I don't strictly enforce. When I enforce that, the houses have a much higher turnover rate and stay vacant much longer.

@Jim K. - Small wins accumulate. Handy men assemble!

@Curt Smith - YES!!! This is a business, land-lording isn't easy. Gonna PM you

@Joe S. - The deposit was $1000.00 and I do count my blessings, thanks.

@Daniel Graham- I'm usually the Grinch , but not this weekend! Even though I'm gonna have to deal with this house and I have another one vacant I got my health and 100 votes on this forum!

Overall, an investigation into what constitutes 'normal wear and tear' is the most prudent course of action. I'd like to see case law on this. Anyone have the resources?

Good Saturday!
Thank you to everyone for your responses! There are so many details to the last 7 years here, but wanted to keep it brief.  Special thanks to @Erik W. and @Nathan Gesneras that is the direction I plan to take, I've been doing this for sometime, but always open to learning and your responses get me to the next level.

I have given people back their full deposit, usually the house returns in a 'used', but 'good', 'very clean' condition. Very few of those indeed. 

Cheers to land-lording during this tough time of Covid!