All Forum Posts by: Carol Kohn

Thanks for the input everyone!

I settled for doing month to month lease with a 60 day notice clause. Thanks @Kyle Hipp for suggesting the idea. The tenant quickly took me up on the offer, which amused me since it was basically the same thing.

@Nathan Gesner  Thanks for the advice. I am a first time landlord so this will be a learning experience for me. 

I heeded your advice, relaxed, and waited until the tenant was 3 days late on rent on December 4th (per their existing lease: due on 1st, late after 11:59pm on the 3rd). I called and left a voicemail to inquire about if there was a problem in paying rent. I suspected that due to non-responsiveness that they were avoiding paying, so I went over to the property to provide a Pay or Quit notice. To my surprise, they were outside so I requested a conversation with them outside about why they did not pay rent. They indicated that they were unsure if they were staying or not and besides, they gave a security deposit. After explaining to the tenant that the security deposit is not a replacement for rent, they began yelling and decided that they needed to leave. I decided to proceed with the Pay or Quit notice and taped it to the outside of the front door (I cannot access inside of front door since I have no keys). They have until Dec 7th to move out.

I am worried about a few things:

1) Given the attitude of the tenants, I am worried they may try to damage the property in some way. Is there any way I can be proactive in preventing this?

2) Since I have no keys, do I have the right to have a locksmith change the locks by Dec 7th, as long as I provide the tenant with a key immediately? (TX property code states that a landlord can lockout a tenant without keys, with advance notice and landlord must be available 24/7 to provide a key (section 92.0081)). I was going have a locksmith out anyways since the previous owner did not provide me with a key, but now I am not sure if I can. And since I will be starting eviction proceedings on Dec 8th (if tenant has not moved out), I don't want to jeopardize the eviction by changing the locks. Any thoughts or am I stressing too much again?

@Nicholas Miller Thanks! Got it done. Those screenshots sure are helpful.

Thanks @Kyle J. and @Joe Calderon!

I have an inherited tenant with an existing lease through August 2016. I have personally introduce myself to the tenant, explained the new payment procedure (electronic only), provided and my contact info. The tenant seemed nice enough and was glad to have my info along with electronic payments (they previously had to drive 60 miles round trip to drop off payment). 

Since taking over the property on Nov 13, I have heard the following from the tenant:

1. Called the tenant to verify whether they were able to register for the tenant portal/electronic payments. And, conveniently the call was dropped and they couldn't call me back. They texted me a few times but then stopped responding.

2. Now, they have no internet despite promising that they would email me some forms two weeks ago.

3. Rent is now due in three days and they still have not registered for electronic payments.

My question is... can I go over to the rental unit to speak to them face to face without the 48 hour notice? I do not plan to go in but instead have them register for the tenant portal on my iPad and fill out some required forms outside.

@Nicholas Miller can you explain how you "purchased" an additional google voice number? I cannot seem to find a way to purchase an additional number to add with my current google voice number.

I have an inherited tenant whose lease expired 2 weeks before I closed on property. The previous owners indicated that this is a great tenant who takes care of the property and always pays rent on time. The problem is, the tenant does not want to sign a new lease and wants to only do month to month (he works in the oil industry and is not sure how secure his job will be in the future). I have told him that I can offer a 6 month lease, or if he is willing to sign a 1 year lease, I will add a 60 day break lease option. I am worried that the tenant may move out and I would hate to lose a good tenant... especially since this is a duplex in a family oriented area where tenants only tend to move during the summer. Should I consider a month to month lease? Am I being too strict?

This is my very first investment property and I am also new to land lording so any advice on this is appreciated!

@Sanchit Wadhwa Welcome to BP. I too moved from CA (Silicon Valley) last year and just bought my first property (a duplex). Housing and living costs are definitely much cheaper out here!

There is a listing of books on BP that may be of interest to you: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/BestRealEstateBooks.pdf

A few books that have personally helped me with my strategy of buy and hold:

1. Rich Dad/Poor Dad - this book revolutionized my thinking about finances and real estate. It's what got me interested in real estate and the need to educate myself in REI.

2. Building Wealth One House at a Time

Also, I have found it super helpful to attend/watch as many webinars as possible on BP.

@Sherry Patterson  Will there be an agenda for the meeting?

Thanks everyone for the input.

I just met with the tenants today to get their contact info and was glad that I had the BP community for research into that first meeting! Especially the info about the locks. I read somewhere that it was a good practice to change the locks, but it sounds like with existing tenants, there is no need to.

One of the tenants just went month to month and wants to sign a new lease, so I will be able to transition them fairly easily. I think I will go ahead and rely on the original checklist for this tenant since it was very detailed.  I worry that if I have them fill out a new checklist, they will list damage that the tenant caused while living there. Is that a valid worry?