All Forum Posts by: Chris DeTreville

hmmm. If it hadn't been sitting on the market so long I'd say a $150 reduction is unreasonable. But 150 days is a long time. If $800 doesn't cover the owners expenses, maybe they just don't want to commit to losing money for 2 years guaranteed...hoping that they can get it rented soon and cover their costs. But again, they've already lost about 5 months to vacancy. I've seen owners refuse to accept lower offers after the house has sat unrented for months for that very reason...but I've also seen owners cut their losses and accept lower bids to stop the bleeding.

Lanita Woods how much was the original rent and what was your offer? That may help answer some questions.

I had a "nice" lady call me and ask me what we looked for in the application...I told her...credit, income, rental history, background...and she got hysterical. She told me "you are the reason people go homeless"

I started to explain to her how business and really life in general worked, but then I realized it would do no good, and just said "ok" and she hung up. She's still out there somewhere, blaming other people for her mistakes so beware.

We get "bad" google reviews like this a good bit. Most are disgruntled ex-tenants who didn't hold up their end of the bargain. Here is an excerpt from one we recently got....

" Beware when you sign a lease with them...there is no getting out your lease early. If you decide to still leave early you are responsible for the rent for the remaining lease term and you lose your deposit."

uh...kinda the point of a contract, yea?

http://www.11alive.com/news/article/241310/40/Judge-allows-pit-bull-biting-case-against-dog-owners-landlords-to-go-to-trial

http://bostonherald.com//news_opinion/local_coverage/2009/10/court_landlord_can_be_sued_pit_bull_attack

http://www.opposingviews.com/i/society/animal-rights/maryland-appeals-court-holds-landlords-owners-pit-bulls-liable-attacks

My ex-wife didn't like the site either. One day right out of the blue she sent me a john deere letter. She gave me a bunch of crap about me not listening to her or something...I don't know...I wasn't really paying attention.

No.

If you are risking your life by getting in a dogs "personal space" as one poster put it...then you should probably re-evaluate your choice to own the pet.

Also, if a yorkie attacks a child it may leave a scar, when a pit attacks it can easily mean death. Quite a difference. A 65 year old lady was killed by her sons pit just this week in South Carolina. She was babysitting her grandchildren, and the pit (who the owner claims was the sweetest dog, never any problems etc) attacked her and killed her. Out of the blue. She had been around the dog many times before.

Oh yea, and as a landlord you can be sued...so no, no,no.

Marc Bodinger no I don't have any numbers to show how successful it is...it depends on the time of year and stuff...we have a lot of stuff close to USC so I'd say those turnover at a fairly high rate with very little vacancy if we have a few weeks to show it occupied. But in my opinion I've seen enough rentals turn over without having to sacrifice a month of vacancy to make showing it occupied well worth the hassle.

Adam Miller I believe this one is the only one that is active, though I may be wrong. http://www.ccrei.org/

And I have been thinking about it, but haven't been to a meeting or joined yet.

Well, prospective tenants probably feel more comfortable looking at a vacant unit. You don't have to worry about a mess and stuff like that, and prospective tenants tend to spend more time in an empty unit. They are reluctant to open someones closet full of clothes, and hey, that closet might be a selling point.

An upside to showing an occupied unit is it helps people visualize furniture arrangements and stuff like that. I've found that this helps particularly with smaller units. Someone may walk into a small vacant bedroom and determine that their furniture won't fit, but if they walk into that same bedroom when someones stuff is in there...it shows them what is possible with the room. Of course, if the tenant is a slob, it works against you. If the property is desirable enough people generally can look past the filth. If I can get them to apply I sometimes offer to show it to them once the tenant is out, before they sign the documents.

But in my opinion you should try and get it re-rented as fast as possible. If it were my personal rental I would go ahead and show it and not worry about anything else. To me, its a success if I have a renter lined up and moving in as soon as the old one moves out.