All Forum Posts by: Chris G.

Update the city said we can hire a design engineer or property designer to go out and make a list of all the requirements that would be needed prior to change of use. Is this something the owner usually pays for or would the prospect pay for this service. 

We've been trying to rent this unique commercial building for months now, finally have a prospect but the previous use was small engine repair and the new proposed use is auto part retail. Out front of the building just has a gravel driveway and parking area with 3-4 parking bumpers. The city requires the whole front (around 350 sq yds) to be asphalt with actual painted parking spots. My goal was to have the prospect fill out a change of use application so an inspector can come out and give a list of things that need to be changed or added and from there we would discuss with the prospect who pays for what or how we can split the upgrades required. After we have a list we can require the prospect to pay the security deposit and sign the lease before we pay a bunch for paving the front and any other requirements which makes sense to me, that way we don't pay a bunch and then he decides not to rent it anymore.

Well according to the city for whatever reason the parking lot has to be paved before they can even go out an inspect the property, to me this makes no sense. We're being required to pay $10,000+ just so the city can accept the application and come out and make a list of what other requirements they need for the change of use and the prospect moving in. For example if they inspect the building and come up with a list of requirements that will cost $10,000+ that the prospect would have to pay he's likely to back out and not move forward which makes sense. Just not sure what to do here, you'd think they could spend 15 minutes to go inspect and give you a better idea of what's needed. 

Been trying to get new metal roofing, gutter system, and outside building lights on commercial property for a long time now. Due to county permits, the property being in a historic district, and delays on specific materials required by the historic board this job has been ongoing for the past 3-4 months. The property consists of 5 commercial stores, 2 are vacant the other three occupied. This job requires the stores to be closed since the contractor will rope off the sidewalk out front for safety and will take 2-3 days for everything. The tenants did not want this to occur during the weekends since that's when they get the most business, I spoke with he contractor and we agreed it would be done during the week. I let the tenants know that the job would be starting today both over email and phone.

The contractor was working this morning before one of the tenants showed up and started yelling at them to leave and getting upset that they couldn't access their business. Because the contractor didn't want to start anything they left the job and called me. I went over there and confronted the tenant and they did the same thing too me, yelling and getting upset in front of their customers saying they only want the job completed during "so and so" days and hours. They aren't a bad tenant and always pay on time but are upset we're making them be closed for 2-3 days. I told the tenant that's too bad we'll continue the job tomorrow and Friday. I'm not sure what to do though, if the tenant shows up again do we try to ignore them and block them from going under the roped off area to their shop? Or if they try interfering do we call the authorities? The contractor has a tight schedule so they can't keep changing the days to complete the job. I'm just not sure what authority we have from not allowing the tenant in their shop during this work which we're allowed to be doing. We also don't want to give a rent reduction only because the other two tenants have no issues with being closed it's just this one. 

We use a majority of the main listing websites. Some of them however don't like the "Room for Rent" in the title I've found. Normally I'll put the full unit size for example 3 bedroom 3 bath apartment but in the description I'll explain that the rate is per room and how many rooms are available. 

@Nathan Grabau this makes sense. Location is in Florida. We don’t require renters insurance but highly recommend it. 
Since the tenants left this extended the repair since we needed someone home for a vendor to go in. 

Power went out in apartment Wednesday night, had electrician go out first thing Thursday and found the main breaker needed to be replaced. Because this needed to have him meet the utility company there to install it was not completed until Friday. Tenants ended up staying at their friends but was their choice to do that. Now wanting compensation for “finding other showers to use, laundry, food, lodging” I feel compensation is not required since we took care of the issue as fast as we could. Also if the tenants had renters insurance that might of helped in this situation which I’ve recommended they have. I just want to know other thoughts on if you’d go about this the same way. 

We have a few condos in a complex that are older style units (20-30 years old), the rent varies in the complex we see some people remodeling the entire inside of 2b2b and getting $1600-1800 in rent while others that haven't made really any renovations or upgrades are renting for around $1-1.2k for 2b2b. The particular units we have don't have much remodeling or additions from the original inside. Still includes carpet in some areas, older wooden cabinets in kitchen, older appliances, bathrooms have older vanity's and countertops. What would be the best new additions to add after the tenant leaves to increase the rent? I was thinking replace the carpet or even parts of the tile with laminate/ vinyl flooring, possibly upgrading some of the old kitchen appliances, and maybe modernize the bathroom or kitchen cabinets/ countertops. Any ideas on upgrades to make the unit more modern and less old/ cheap looking to help increase the rent. 

Recently I've changed the lease we've been using to make the tenant more responsible for "plumbing issues" it includes tenant being responsible for unclogging toilets, toilet flapper valve, and drain lines when foreign objects are found in them. Does this seem fair? For the previous leases that doesn't have this requirement and a tenant needs to have the toilet unclogged would charging them half for the plumber to go out seem reasonable since they could technically do it themselves.

The main reason for this change is recently a lot of tenants have had requests for unclogging toilets and drains and the plumber cost is high for these small jobs, I think the tenants could be held responsible or do it themselves in most cases. 

I would file for eviction and get that process going, this will show the tenant you're not messing around and they'll either pay and you can stop the eviction or just go forward with the eviction and get a new tenant. Maybe there was a good reason why but I wouldn't collect a security deposit over a set amount of months, because if they wreck the place and get evicted you won't have a full security to cover the rent or damage. If they keep making excuses they likely aren't planning to pay. 

Thanks for all the replies which have helped. The current update is I’ve sent over all the information including how much would be due at the lease signing and a lease for the buyer to review beforehand so they know what they’d be getting into. I also let them know they’d have to fill out an application prior to selling. However the current tenant has told me they’ll be moving out 3/31 but the buyer won’t be able to buy the business/ sign the new lease until 4/15 since the current tenant is going m-m would they be charged for April as well since the store belongings technically aren’t moved out (since the buyer would be getting everything currently in the store) and there’s no new tenant? Or would I just consider it vacant during that two week time and not charge the anyone?