All Forum Posts by: Robert P.

Ended up adding dirt sloping away from the house, as well as putting tarp down and crushed stone. Worked well until I sold the house. Have not had the house for ~18 months now. Glad I didn’t get the trenching/pump.

@Shakia Morrison depending on where you are referring to as “by the beach”, those areas can be pretty bad. Feel free to PM if you aren’t familiar with the area and want my opinion! (Born and raised in NB!)

John Lally, CPA in Fairhaven MA!

@Zach Midwood I am a local investor/business owner in New Bedford, MA. Happy to chat and share my experiences if you'd like to. I only have one home, but definitely willing to share tips/tricks I have picked up over the years.

Hi @Account Closed - I have a guy that can surely do all of that and pretty reasonably priced! If you PM me, I can give you his information. Or vice versa so he can contact you.

I respond the same to everyone. This can be done via phone or email. I choose email to keep it these questions and these questions only. (Sometimes people can ramble about literally everything and I don't have time for that)

@Mike D. I just sent you a PM!

Cozy is what I have been using for nearly two years without a single issue. I would highly recommend it. Easy for tenants to sign up and easy process going forward.

@Mathew Cubell, If this is the first time and you are still building a landlord/tenant relationship with them, I would speak to them and see what they have to say. I would not immediately start eviction. 

You need to make sure they understand that this is not tolerated. Given it is the first time and there is a bit of a transition, I would let it slide this time (as long as they pay me immediately after/during conversation). If this EVER happens again, start eviction immediately to establish the fact that you do not tolerate this whatsoever. Life happens, but they already blew their "get out of jail card" within the first couple of months.

@Francois Martin Happy to help!

I certainly do background checks. What I do is take all of the applications I have and go through them one by one. If someone meets all of my requirements and has great past landlord/work/person references, I then move on to the background check.

I go through TransUnion SmartMove and pay for it myself (it's around $30 I believe). I do not charge any application fee (I am pretty sure it is illegal in MA, although I see many landlords still charging). The background check is worth it because this looks at past evictions (I also have a website linked directly to my county's court systems), criminal history, and their credit score and all the bills/loans they have. 

For pets, I would prefer no pets, but I certainly allow them. In fact, all of my tenants so far have had an animal. This is something I am very strict on however. I prefer dogs over cats (Cat urine is a pain to get rid of). I do not allow more than one pet and I mostly prefer medium to large sized animals. Nobody wants multiple chihuahua's running around and barking all day. In my couple years being a landlord, I have found that all of the good tenants have a pet, so I had to break my original rule of no pets and just make sure I am placing the right people in the apartments.