All Forum Posts by: Carolyn Keller

P.m. was a rip off, they wound up dumping my.property bc they didnt have time. Leaving me with okay tenants, but no support. I have smart locks and a house alarm. Plus my local network of contractors. Never hire a pm again they took entire first months rent, charged me 10% monthly then let tenants move in 2 weeks early without my approval..

Yes it says that towards the top of the ad

Hi! Have several ads up to find new tenants. I am out if state. How can I make potential tenants feel at ease when reading listing, to legitimacy of offering so they feel secure in dealing with me, putting deposits, etc.

Yes sooo agree my p.m./agent experience was God awful. Caused so many problems, stress.

I have a house alarm, that offers smart locks. Also have for thermostat. Log onto app, control everything from there. Alarm contract is 3 yrs, but I write off on taxes, and ask alarm co for certificate, I get a about 20% off landlord insurance through AAA.

No property manager, trying to Skype when potential tenants walk through for showings. 

Anyone do this? Or have self guided tours?

Have house alarm and lock I control remotely..fyi..

Okay, got it. No deposit increase for new baby. thanks. no harm in asking

Normally i wouldn't consider this, but recently one of the kids balls fell into the pipes causing a sewage backup into the house, permanently damaging my original hardwood floors. House was winterized prior to their move in. 

So now two kids in my house, seems relevant to ask for more deposit under the circumstances. But your right i dont want to anger them, but also dont want them to roll all over me, and ruin my house.

Hi:

Pretty sure my excellent tenants have a new baby, in addition to their toddler.

Want to possibly ask for more of security deposit with this new baby as we all know kids and the damage they cause to rentals. 

Has anyone else done this? and do you put the names of the children on the lease as minors or just mention two children in a general way?

Thank you!

Tenants of going on three years. Excellent overall, pay early or on time. Never an issue. Recently tenant contacted me, pipe backed up, sewage into house, damaging original wood floors beyond repair.  Tenant said he was trying to fish around in pipe also, and found another toy. 

My house is historic and terra cotta pipe still in places. So used home warranty, part of line broken underneath. Had to jackhammer into foundation, dig down repair Terran Cotta pipe, put back together. Nightmare and probably very inconvenient for tenants and baby. 

While fix underway plumber also stated blockage was caused by a kids ball in the line. Now before tenants moved in the house was winterized and vacant for three years. I had a management co and right before moving in my then manager flushed the lines. and there was no problem until now, two years later. 

Now another part of pipe also "sunken" under kitchen area, and flooded, camera wont pass. or see beyond foundation of house. 

First invoice total for me is $2480.00 then second invoice hasn't been executed yet, for sunken area, so not known if further tenants kids items might be in there or not.

Question is: The reality is they are excellent tenants and i don't want to burn any "relationship".  But i also don't want to have them think they can mess with my plumbing and i will just take care of it. 

also this is a single family standalone home, both tenants work and they have two small kids, one is an infant. 

I know they should be paying for the first repair where is definite they caused it. 

Should i be sending an invoice for half for most of the repair? or how would you assign a dollar value to the cause of the issue vs the cost of accessing the issue and then re-cementing, etc?

Also, should i be waiting for the second repair for sunken pipes to be done then send invoice. 

Any advice appreciated! :-)

Thanks!

When i had a property manager, they allowed tenant to move furniture in due to work schedules etc, and they wound up sleeping there. I was calling my PM at 3 am when alarm was going off, he never went over to check or contact them so i called local police. I will never make that mistake again, or have a PM again, it was very stressful!

I think you are both right, get fair market value for renewal, and they continue the extras. There is a section of current lease that specifies a fine for not maintaining property.

If they terminate the landscaping, will deal with it then. They haven't complained about the extra costs at all, best to keep it as is.  Does feel like the correct path.