All Forum Posts by: Colleen F.

Michael,

In the beginning it may seem awkward to charge for some of these things but you should it is business. Our leases have a specific lost key amount mentioned. Even though you change the locks on turnover , that lock is usable somewhere. For pest elimination it costs you to bomb etc. Our state requires you itemize damage and send a letter to their address of record ( the leased address if they left no forwarding). The law is you need to do this in 20 days or they get their whole deposit back. Check the laws in your state. Non- returned keys, Pet fumigation, and any carpet damage charge. Rekeying I don't think you can. Door damage, it depends who tried to break in, if it was random and there is a police report I wouldn't charge. No police report/ family dispute charge. (actually you may have enough charges without even listing this item)

that's good to know. We specifically exclude storage in our lease so they aren't supposed to store in the basement. I am thinking of allowing some limited storage but I don't want to wind up with a bunch of junk when they move out. No laundry at this point.

How did you decide on the cat watching keys?

We were in a neighborhood in NJ where some people went from well to city water (sewer blasting made many wells go dry) Other houses had to stay with well due to few blocks difference. It did not seem to result in a price difference in sales. Marketability maybe- but losing the septic had the biggest impact on marketability. It sounds like you have to do it but me if it was a good well and they have sewer well I would leave it. You know your area though and if you have to do it make sure to investigate hook up fees too.

If the pressure tanks are adequate size plus the previously mentioned low flow fixtures it will probably be better then it ever was. We have a 6 unit on well and the inspector said the large pressure tank is probably what's contributing to the well being sufficient but if we add washers we should consider a new well.

Also think about something like a specific no pools/hot tubs in the lease (may not even come up but you could get someone filling one of those 2 footer pools for their kids and not even thinking about water).

I have had well water in several properties in several states, we never tested it monthly only on purchase and in some there were no filtration units. Test it to your local standards for quality and flow. The DEM will tell you the regulations on flow at least in RI they do.

In a recent purchase of a multifamily we were also advised to run a check for VOCs which is supposedly becoming required. If it passes and the flow rate is adequate to the number of occupants you anticipate in the house I would not borrow tomorrow's trouble by digging a well. Also the pressure tank size I guess matters.

One PA house had a spring maybe 12 ft below grade and that required I believe a UV filter. All our other well properties had wells of at least 80 feet and did not require filtration. To me 24 feet seems shallow but I would just insure the water is not subject to contamination from other sources (not to close to septic etc) and has adequate flow. the only well we had go dry was when then town decided to blast for sewers. Get a couple of estimates if you need to go deeper. They can vary some especially for if filtration systems Tenants will want to know the water quality especially if it isn't common in the area to have a well.

If its in a bathroom and there is no fan in the bathroom, it has to open and frankly you want it to open for ventilation (assuming there are no other windows in the bathroom). Replace it should solve the issue. And if you do it yourself check out the different home improvement places. We found it cheaper to get certain windows from one and others from another source. Let us know how you make out.

I am not in Texas but are you are saying the tenant is required to pay $100.00 of the service call for things that were working when they moved in? I am curious about this, so if your water heater stops working the tenant pays $100.00 of the service call ?

She asked and gave a specific reason which seems plausible I would be inclined to trust her. She could just hand her set of keys to someone else and it would result in the same security risk. Maybe she has a high travel job or lifestyle. I would clearly let her know that this is an exception and leaving things unlocked will result in you asking for the keys back.

Do you leave the basement open or is it also key locked? There is nothing in our basement but I have considered adding a key code for security. I would not want visitors to enter it accidentally but we do need to provide circuit breaker access for the tenant. You allow unsecured basement storage? have you ever had a problem with that?

Yes , just wondering what people thought was too much not done. For example I would not have shown it before the exterior painting or kitchen rehab. But I have this vision of going through rooms saying yes that will be fixed... The property manager is coming by tomorrow so I will get his take on whether it is done enough to list.

We have electric heat in our rental. Invariably in January the students say the electric bill is really high this month. I don't know why.... I have to explain your regular electric bill is so much for your computers , lights , tv. In winter you its cold outside you have this thing called heat to make you warm so take your regular electric bill and add heat to it....they never get it but I keep trying....