All Forum Posts by: Amie D.

BTW, that fixed minimum price is 95% of a current FHA appraisal.

My name it Mike Kalis and I have interests in and manage about 3,000 homes and started from my basement.  During that time I have seen issues with wear and tear come up and I certainly don't have the final answer, as we have a few of these coming up this month as we speak, but I thought I would share some experiences I've had;

Paint / flooring / cleaning - What should paint look like 5 years later?  What is reasonable for flooring to look like 5 years after the fact?  Generally, the tenant thinks they cared a ton and it's great.  Generally, the owner thinks it was the cleanest home on the planet prior to the tenant wrecking it, so what gives? 

Getting pictures up front helps.  Getting a move in checklist upfront helps.  Having a team document the condition helps... but still, people will disagree.  It took me many years until I learned THE SECRET!!  

The Secret - We side with the owner 99.9% of the time now.  Because the owner takes away the home if we don't.  So even if we disagree, we will always withhold the security deposit and give to the owner.  

The Secret #2 - Most property managers don't understand secret #1.

The Secret #3 -  By withholding the security deposit, we are able to charge more for repairs because it isn't your money.  The tenant is repainting and recarpeting your home for you.

Sooooo... why don't most property managers understand the secret?  Because the tenant is louder, has less money, writes awful reviews more often and threatens crazy stuff.  This gets into most property manager's heads and they forget who hired them, the owner.  

So when you hire a property manager, you need to interview them on how tough they are.  Ask these questions;

1)  How many times have you gone to court to evict a tenant, won and then collected all the funds owed through garnishments payroll, taxes, assets?  How many times didn't you collect?

2)  How many tenants's have asked to have a restraining order placed on you due to your diligence in collecting?  (hehe... yeah... I got a pile of those... street cred for being out of Detroit)

3)  How many tenants have gone to court and beaten you over security deposits?  (Never) 

4)  How many times have you settled with a tenant?  (the answer should be an unequivocal ZERO!)

If a manager is not on your side, why hire them?  We explain to tenants that we do not represent them.  If they want a Realtor or legal guy, go get one... we represent the owner, they pay us.  

Tenants should be charged for the walls that were painted without any written approval from you or the property management company. As per directions of the lease

In my experience, in a court of law, the judge is going to laugh and side with the tenant about paying for paint if the paint is 5+ years old.....even if they painted it a color you didn't approve. If its been 5+ years since paint, you were going to have to repaint in anyway....so it makes no difference about what color it is right now. Now granted, the color may be harder to cover and may take more time and cost, but the judge wont let you charge the whole cost to the tenant...a portion at best.

Same with holes in the walls....if we are talking nails, tacks, etc and the tenant has been there a few years, that's considered reasonable....to expect nothing is not reasonable........ if the tenant attempted to FIX the issue without your approval and made it worse, then you can ding them for the extra work.

There is a big difference on what you emotionally THINK/FEEL you should be able to hold the tenant liable for and what will actually hold up if they take you to court.

My eviction lawyer often tells his clients to go ahead and try and charge for that stuff.......many tenants wont put up a big enough fight to take it to court....but if they do, you will lose so be prepared to pay it out