All Forum Posts by: Tyson Bumgarner

@Marcia Maynard I left out some change in the numbers, it adds up to $735 with that into account. And no, this is off post housing. I have been talking to an attorney friend, and she has told me that the state doesn't make different rules for different people. So the PM saying that this is different because I'm military should have no affect on my claim.

And besides, when I went to our meeting at the old house, i didn't look like it had been cleaned at all. She claimed they had hired a cleaner, but what cleaner would leave trash in the house still? And the PM still had a contractor doing paint touch ups and stuff. I don't have any property yet, but that seems crazy to me to have the cleaners come before the contractors were done doing their work? I don't know, just seemed strange to me.

So here's what happened.

I went to my meeting with the PM. Before she said anything I asked her if she knew what RCW 59.18.280 was. She ask me to just tell her. I read it out loud. She then asks how we can resolve this. I told her I wanted the rest of my deposit back minus the $201 from the window my kid broke. She said ok, and said that she would have a money order check in the mail by Friday. 

It's Friday, so I sent here a text message asking about the check. She replied saying that it was her fault not her company, so she is going to cover it out of her own pocket (probably because she will get fired or something). But she also said that she heard that military are supposed to leave a rental property in a rentable condition. So she wants to go to the post housing office and ask them if she needs to reimburse me for the cleaning and carpet cleaning. 

Just for information's sake. The window was $201 and she already gave me my "deposit refund" of $261 dollars (this was what I was disputing int the first place). And I say (and the law) that she owes me the remainder of the $1200 deposit which is $735.

That's where I'm at now. I'm going to my JAG office on Monday. 

Also, her company is either MAKO4 or Trans Northwest. I paid rent to Trans Northwest, but the deposit bill came from MAKO4.

@Marcia Maynard You are a life saver. I'm not in anyway trying to screw over the owner of the property (I fully intend on becoming a landlord myself one day, and hope I am fare when dealing with others). But this PM was just plain bad. She would rarely respond to any messages we left, both on her phone and with her office. Lots of items we had issues with during our stay were never addressed. And like you just pointed out, they took way to long to refund any portion of our deposit (moved out Oct 1st, just got the check today).

I will have to bring this to her attention in our meeting tomorrow. Thanks again for helping everyone!

I guess I should add this into my question. 

When I moved out, I had still payed for the whole month of October in order to cover my lease. on the 9th or 10th I had told the PM that she could use her cleaners to finish up the house so they could get it rented. I was mad to believe by her language that she was just having some cleaners some and that they were going to try to get it rented and return some of my rent at a pro-rate. Well, come the 20th, I stopped by the house (i still had the garage opener. It was very had to get a hold of my PM to return it). The house was filled with contractors' stuff from doing repairs and all sorts of other things. 

So my question. Should I expect some sort of kickback from the owner for basically using my rent money as a free block of time to fix the house? I could have gone the other way and told them to stay out until the start of November, but I didn't. They have told me "well, it's still not rented" like that should be some bearing on whether I should be reimbursed for them fixing it on my dime.

What do you think?

So I moved out of a 3 bedroom rental at the beginning of October. I just now got my deposit check back. There are some charges on here that I'm not sure are my responsibility or the owners. I'm about to go discuss the charges tomorrow and don't want to complain about things they have the right to charge me for.

This is the list of things I'm not sure about.

-Installed door plate on master french door (door wasn't broke or anything. Just adding this for looks?)

-re-installed/repaired towel bars and tp holders in bathrooms (these weren't broken or removed. I don't know if the painters took them off or something)

-replaced master shower head, toilet seats, sink, and rebuilt toilet; re-caulked shower (I used my own rainfall type shower head from day one. the other stuff I just don't know if that's my fault or not)

-replaced batteries in smoke and CO alarms

-replaced furnace filter

-replaced back bedroom door knob ( it didn't match the others, and was like that the day I moved in)

Is it not normal to give an itemized list of prices for these various charges? I just got one big invoice from the contractor to the PM that says $730 due. My PM charged me $300 out of that $730 without explaining or showing me what I was actually paying for. So I do believe some of the above charges weren't charged to me, I was just trying to make sure before I go to the office tomorrow that if they were charges to me, if they were legit charges or not. 

Thanks for any input!

@Luis Lopez I understand just how you feel. I'm in the military, and as such I have been raised to believe that "I need the military" to survive. For the last 10 years everything I needed has been paid for. So the thought of dropping it all and getting out is very frightening. I think one of my problems is that I'm trying to find a way to get out with a backup plan that's not real estate, just in case real estate doesn't work. But this involves me staying in the military for more time as I try to learn new skills that I can get a job from. I need to do what@Guy Gimenez was talking about and just cut ties with my old job and use that as the motivation to succeed!

Very inspirational thread. I need to roll with some of this new motivation and make something happen! 

I wish I was taught more about money in school, besides how to fill how a check book. Trying to figure it out at 29 with three kids and a wife is a challenge to say the least. If I figure this stuff out, I will make damn sure my kids know it too.

Hey everyone! I'm in desperate need of some help. I see that I have over 1k to save/invest each paycheck(bi-monthly), but when the end of the month rolls by, I somehow have only saved $600-700 out of a possible $2,000-ish. 

The problem is I just don't have enough visibility of my finances. I don't see how my spending is taking away from my savings, so in the heat of the moment I tell my self that I have enough cash and to go ahead and buy whatever it is I'm looking at. 

Right now I just use the bank app on my phone, but I find I don't look at it enough for it to make a difference.

If I could find a way to be much more aware of my money I don't think I would spend as much. This terrible habit of mine is really slowing me down from my goal to buy my first duplex.

So what do you guys do to handle your money? What program? tips or tricks? Anything will help at this point.

Thanks! 

@Joe Villeneuve this NLD concept seems very interesting, but I'm wondering what you do put down as collateral? It would seem I need some other asset worth hundreds of thousands to put a lien on. Or the no collateral at all, it's that just like a hard money loan? where can i find more info on this? 

@Walt Payne Thanks for the advice! I have never made an offer before and in my mind I think that if I lowball someone that they will get upset and react poorly for some reason. 

But you're right. I'll keep plugging in some numbers and see what I can come up with. Assuming they didn't put $100,000 into renovations, they could still see a profit with whatever I can offer.

I swear I just heard on one of the BP podcast someone was saying that you need to do the spaghetti test; keep making offers and see what sticks.