All Forum Posts by: Christopher Scott

"...pet fees monitored and collected, move in inspections, move out inspections, move out damages charged to tenant, advanced notice on capital repair items, 30 day move out notices communicated, pre-leasing of property, tenant stay incentives, gutters cleaned, annual rent rate analysis, turns completed in 30 days, background checks on all occupants over 18, prior landlord references, co-signers on leases, direct deposit funds..."

If you didn't know about this stuff and/or weren't interested in doing any of this, why were you in the landlording business to begin with? Some of this stuff is automatic (pet fees, are they paid separately from rent?) or easy to put on a recurring schedule with a reputable handyman or contractor (gutters cleaned) or something most landlords want to do (move in/out inspections). After reading some of the other comments I agree, sounds like a sales pitch.

Given the current interest rate environment my wife and I decided to refinance our primary home. I'm always on the look-out to decrease my monthly payments and at 2.5%, how could I say no?

As anyone who's done this before knows, as soon as you submit an application and have a background check run, your lenders start getting nervous. They don't want you, their loyal customer who has been paying on time for years, to go somewhere else. In the past I have typically avoided these phone calls and deleted the emails because I've often already checked with my current lender to see if they have a better rate and have frequently found that the lenders for my rental properties really can't lower my rate at all on a non-owner occupied unit.

This week I picked up the phone from a unknown number (what I thought was a mistake) and it was the lender for my very first rental property, a condo I bought 10 years ago. I've been with them ever since and have never had a missed or late payment. When I realized who it was after he introduced himself and noted we were on a recorded line I have to admit, I was kind of rude (turned out to be my real mistake). After my 30 seconds of laying out why I didn't want his call and how he couldn't help me he politely said "well, maybe we can do something, let's take a look." 10 minutes later I had a loan modification with an adjustment down on my interest rate by 1.5%! 

This isn't a refinance, I'm not changing any loan terms other than the interest rate. Still 20-years left on my 30-year mortgage, no points, no appraisal, just a $400 fee which I will recoup in less than 4 months.

So I guess the point is, if you haven't contacted your lender in a while to see about rates, take a look, they may be interested in modifying (not refinancing) your mortgage to keep you there, especially if you are a reliable customer. And, be nice to the guy on the other end of the line, he may just save you $1200/year in 10 minutes.

Outside of checking the laws and local market rents I'd take a bit of a step back and recognize that $100 is a 10% increase in rent which may represent a significant increase for someone, enough to make them leave. If your goal is to free up the unit, clean it up and rent for higher, then go for it, nothing to loose. You either make $100 more per month or free it up. If loosing the tenant at this time would put you in a bind I'd suggest a more gradual increase, you could even lay it out like $30 now, $30 in 4 months...which may make your tenant more inclined to stick it out.

I live in California, but the market out here is getting so expense we're considering other places and Colorado Springs keeps popping up. Anyone live there and willing to provide some advice on what neighborhoods are worth investing in, which ones should be avoided (if any), and any unique things about Colorado Springs (or Colorado for that matter) I should consider? I understand snow may be an issue at times of the year. No so much for us here in San Diego.

Thanks

We've had issues with damage from dogs in the past and hadn't been allowing them recently. Our current tenant was a great fit but had a dog and offered to pay approximately 5% more rent each month in order to allow them to have the dog. Now the dog is in poor health and they are contemplating putting it down. The renter asked for an adjustment down of the rent given that a dog will no longer be living there. Thoughts? The increase rent was ostensibly for potential damage caused by the dog which may have still occurred however their argument is that the dog can't cause any further damage and therefore the damage will be limited.

@Cathy Horner I always go take a look myself first and attempt DIY if I think I can do it. 90% of the time it takes me less than 30 minutes. If I can't do it I have a list of contractors (plumber, electrician, paint/drywall...) That I call. I've been burned by unlicensed handymen in the past, even those referred from a friend.