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All Forum Posts by: Brandi Scharrer

Brandi Scharrer has started 8 posts and replied 43 times.

We're looking to relocate to the Northwest Arkansas (Bella Vista area) and purchase a single family home. We'll live in it a bit but then transition it to a STR.

Looking for recommendations on a real estate agent and lender in the area. We'll be in the area in the next week and will be staying for 6 weeks while we hunt. Thanks in advance!

I downloaded and use the BP app on my phone (Android 10/Google Pixel 3) and it is a very rough experience. It always crashes and the experience overall isn't aligned with the site, for several reasons. Because of this I don't engage with the forums as much during the day because it is too hard and frustrating to navigate. Your mobile experience isn't bad but a progressive web app might be more ideal than a native app and improve your overall web/mobile experience. 

Originally posted by @Robert McAllister:

As a strong calculator user, I want to be able to jump into edit on any page, make one change, and then calculate, so that I can produce the results faster. Thanks!

Agreed! Getting to the calculators is a several click process and editing them is the same. If you want to change just 1 number you have to go through the entire form. 

Originally posted by @Julie McCoy:

@Brandi Scharrer For the quantity and quality of issues you've described, a $100 refund is a joke.  I've refunded guests more than that for less crucial issues on stays of three days, never mind three months.  $1000 is more like it, and they're still getting off easy.  

I learned a long time ago - and quickly - that home warranties are not worth the paper they're written on, at least not for an STR. These owners would do well to do the same - though since they've got a PM, there's probably too much separation for either party to care as much as they should.

Ultimately, it's true that the refund - if any - is up to the owners, nobody is going to force it (though if you've clearly documented these issues as they've unfolded with whichever platform you booked through, you might be able to kick up enough fuss to get something from them).  Regardless, an honest review is essential.

Thank you Julie for this! I was starting to wonder if I was being an annoying renter. But STR are a totally different ballgame with different expectations. It is a hospitality business. We were happier in the 3/1 $100k, 1000 sq foot home in Indiana 5 mos ago then this 5/4, $800k 3500 sq foot home in Vegas. All because of these issues, it has dampened the experience of this home.

I can suggest the $1000 but I'm not expecting anything. And TBH, I am also a bit fearful that fighting this would cause them to find an issue and not give us our deposit back.

Another pattern in this thread has been how useless home warranties are. I'll definitely keep that in mind for my own properties. Thanks!  

@Lynnette E. Totally understand things taking time to fix and we were trying to be patient. It was the compounding things that needed fixed that was surprising, especially at move-in. It wasn't like they broke while we stayed, they were broke on move-in. And the house was vacant prior so there was time to inspect and fix. In theory these should have been caught by the property management company, right? Would you expect a PM to know these things prior to a move-in?

Like the A/C. It was 98 degrees in the house, set at 72 when we arrived. It was 115 outside. We were responsible for paying for utilities.

No internet was surprising too. As a remote worker good internet is a deal breaker so we talked several times about this prior to us evening completing the booking. If the internet isn't fast enough we often offer to pay to upgrade as it is crucial for our jobs.

They didn't have a garage door opener and had to locate then buy a new one. Understand how these go missing.

Agreed on the 4th bath. We just alerted them it was broke and told them no rush to fix since we weren't using.  

The dishwasher has been waiting for a backorder part since September, after 4 visits from the repair people. It's a Miele and I guess only certain companies/people work on those. We kept checking in but there wasn't much for us to do as it was ordered and everyone was waiting. Still on backorder so they decided to replace it. We leave in 2 weeks and won't see it before we go, but thankfully for the next person it will be fixed.

I always try to look at a situation from both sides. I've been an owner/landlord, a long term and short term renter. As the short term renter I am frustrated. As the owner/PM I a trying to think how I would handle this if this happened at one of my properties. Since STR are really in the hospitality business I think I would have handled this differently.

Thanks for yours and everyone's input here. 

Originally posted by @Bill B.:

I think $100 for a nice dinner would be a nice gesture. if you got $300 you should party like the money fell out of the sky. 

If they are even considering offering you something make them specify an amount first. It sounds like they don’t really know what they’re doing and are new to this. They might accidentally offer you way more than they should. 

Ha! The property management company is asking but it is still up to the homeowners so I doubt they will offer up anything. We'll definitely skip this house next year.  

We'll definitely leave a review the question was whether or not a refund is due based on this. The property management company asked us what we thought was fair. 

@Bill B. @Theresa Harris, this is a short term fully furnished rental. So expectations are AirBnB/hospitality vs a long term rental. We roll in, unpack and don't deal with things like utilities or getting these things set up as we only stay 30-90 days max. Plus we are charged more for this type of short term stay vs a longer term tenant. Although some things seem minor when your window to stay at a property is short you except these things to work. We are set to leave anyway in 2 weeks so negotiating to stay/leave isn't an option. 

Also, our monthly rent was $5600 a month all inclusive. I can't believe for a short term rental and at that rate they wouldn't just buy a new dishwasher vs waiting for an imported part. Does any of the above change your original opinion/comment?

The Situation: We have been renting a full furnished home as a STR for the past 3 1/2 months. It's an expensive home and that we pay a steep monthly rent for. Since move-in we've had numerous issues with the home and some have lingered on for quite some time. I estimate I have had at least 12+ repair appointments, all things that did not work before we got here, not things that broke while here. The property management company and owners have been good about getting someone out to fix things BUT the repairs linger or don't get fully fixed. They are often working through their home warranty.

All things not working on move-in:

  • A/C unit for upstairs broke in 115 degree Vegas heat, fixed in 2-3 days
  • Could not change temperature of thermostat, it was pre-programmed and controlled remotely, months to fix
  • No internet, after we spoke numerous times about us working remotely from the home via the internet, added next day
  • No garage door opener, 2 weeks to get
  • No heat (yes we need heat in Vegas), took weeks to fix
  • Shower in 4th bath did not work, months to fix but wasn't urgent as we were not using it
  • No dishwasher, still not fixed

While everyone has tried it has been a huge inconvenience with all the repairs and the dishwasher has never worked and still doesn't. We work remotely from the home and I cook 1-2 times a day. I've never appreciated something like a dishwasher working as much as I do now. We are frustrated that we have been paying for a luxury home without basic working features. We've never been in this position before and as future landlords I want to learn from this as well. We are getting ready to move out and have asked for some type of refund or compensation since we were under the impression we were renting a fully functional house and the time to fix things has taken months. The homeowners don't necessarily agree with us asking for this as their position is they did everything they could and it is not their fault with parts, etc being on backorder through the home warranty company. I understand that briefly but there has to be a time period where you just replace it, right?


The Question:
As a landlord... 

  1. Would you give a refund in this situation? If so, what do you think is fair?
  2. Do you think this is a reasonable type of request?
  3. How long is acceptable to let repairs like this linger before you just have to replace them vs repair? Please keep in mind this is a furnished STR.

@Cassie Montalvo Were the 3 deals you did all in the same location and if yes was the lender local? That is one of my questions too, ours will be in different states so going to a local lender for all 3 would be an option. Since I am going to STR so I definitely won't have leases in place. I'd still love to see the property manager questionnaire tho. I'll dm you. Thanks for sharing!