All Forum Posts by: Chris G.

I manage a large house that sits on around 25 acres of land with a private lake. On the other side of the lake there is a small cottage. Before renting the owner mentioned he'd be coming and using that cottage when he fixes issues on the large home which would be around everything 3-4 months. In the tenants lease it states that the small cottage does not come with the rent. I verbally mentioned this to the tenants when moving in too, since the owner would prefer to do all the small repairs and maintenance to save money. However today the owners sister didn't give me a 24 hour notice but instead gave me a 2-3 hour notice that she was going to the property to look at the small cottage. The tenants texted me complaining that they didn't feel comfortable with the owner/sister there even though it's a different house. They also stated the owner would be staying the night and would use utilities which the the tenants pay for. Not sure if anyone has any insight to this as far as if this is right or legality goes. The owners are from a different country so I don't think they think anything is wrong or weird about this but the tenants do. 

So I use a service where when the tenants fills out an application and pays it runs a full background check the main things I look at is credit and criminal history. I have a prospect who lives in a different country but is moving here for college, he's filled out an application but due to the phone number, address, and no social security number it's unable to do a screening. He's provided his counties "social security document" as well as the documents of getting a scholarship with the college. This is student living so rent is on the cheaper side which he's proven he can afford, what would be some good options in this case? Move forward with the info he's gave me or?

I'm in the process of getting a new 3b 2 b house to manage, however there are a lot of issues that need to be taken care of to rent it, which the owners told me before I even viewed it. The outside needs 3-4 large trees cut down as they are rotten and leaning over the home, front and back deck/porch need to be replaced due to the wood being rotten and steps broken, house needs to be cleaned and pressure washed, front and back yard needs to be fixed as everything is overgrown it looks like a jungle, as well as a few minor things. If they wanted me to take care of all these issues with the vendors I use what kind of % does anyone add to something like this since I won't be doing all of this for free. I have a feeling it will take around 1-2 months to accomplish all of this and a very short time to rent it. Does anyone have idea of what percentages they should be charged for this before the management and finding a tenant starts? I'm just looking at my options. 

@Austin F. thanks for the reply, it was actually two different vendors. The first that said it was the coil is our normal vendor. Once I let the owner know the quote price he reached out and said he had gotten an install warranty with a different vendor back in 2019 so if we'd be moving forward to go with the one that would cover it under warranty since it would cost less. Hope that makes more sense. 

Early March I sent a tech out to see why the a/c wasn't working and draining fast they said it was the evaporator coil that needed to be replaced. Due to the A/C unit having a warranty for being replaced in 2019 I had to go with a different vendor we normally don't use (the one that installed and gave warranty) the part was suppose to arrive April 4 since it was backed up from the factory. I called yesterday to see if the part was delivered and they never ordered it..... they ended up sending out a tech for free without even letting me know and then mentioned the tech said it's not the evaporator coil its that the line set needs to be replaced so now its one so called problem to an even larger problem. As soon as he put 6lb of refrigerant in it was gone minutes later. They explained that the line set runs to 3 other condensers at this condo complex and that it would be a big job and I need permission from the hoa. Now I wouldn't say I'm a tech but to anyone who may know does this sound correct? I've read that sometimes the hoa has to pay for this? This has been an ongoing issue trying to get the a/c back on for the tenants I would appreciate any feedback. 

@Jonathan R McLaughlin Yes I have a feeling they purchased this house for good deal since they knew who the seller was and never inspected it very well. While these tenants are paying a lot they don't seem like the type to go to the city or lawyer since all they have been doing is complaining. Yes adding tarps was just temporary as it's been raining a few days a week here and wanted to do something in the meantime to help. In most cases then yeah the tenants would stop paying until the issues gets resolved or something similar but the tenants actually paid 3 months upfront so that's kind of on them. All the messages are on text or email so I have been doing that thankfully. 

@Drew Sygit Thanks for the feedback, you're probably right about using tar or some cheap way of solving it himself. 2/3 of the companies sent me pictures and a 4 page long document stating the issues along with pictures and then a detailed list of what would be needed. The main reason they would have to replace the entire roof was due to it being double layered already. They noted that because the leaks are randomly happening throughout the house sooner or later more will likely come. 

@Edgar Z Whelan We just got his property a few months back and current tenants have been there about 3 weeks paying 2700 a month. Emergency situations I usually can take care of fast and have before without talking to owner before hand because it needed to be taken care of right away but in this case I can't just hire a roofing company in an emergency situation since there is a large deposit. Yes the owner has made it clear to me he will be fixing it himself. I have all the print outs of all three quotes which break down costs and labor and price differences between the different materials he could choose. The owner is new to hiring property management company and I don't think he knows the importance of these issues. 

Thanks for the feedback. While I agree the entire roof doesn't need to be replaced all 3 of the roofing companies said they can't repair due to it being a double layer and wouldn't warranty any repair unless the entire roof was redone. By me having someone attach a couple of tarps on for the meantime that should keep the tenants less upset but without getting the owners permission or to pay there's not much more repairs or fixing I can do. 

@Thomas Veazey Very true. Seems like out of the 25 owners I have I'm always having to deal with the same 3-4.