All Forum Posts by: Constantia Petrou

Hello all,

I have a single family home class A rental on the coast in the bay area and I am facing difficulty finding long term tenants during the pandemic. 95% of people who contact me want to ride the work from home period of 6 to 12 months in a bigger place by the beach (which is my property). I can use the house for myself if it's just for a year and have my own escape. I am looking for people to rent for minimum of 2 years and have been able to find them in the past. Not so now with covid. Have any of you experienced this short term tenant market? Any suggestions of how I can improve my odds of attracting long term tenants? The house is renovated and we do accept pets too. The neighborhood is very quiet and safe and family friendly and again we found multi-year tenants on the past. Greatly appreciate your sharing any of your experience with the current covid rental market and finding long term tenants in this environment. Thank you

Some great ideas on improving my ad which I will adopt, thank you! I like to manage my own properties because it is how I make sure I get quality tenants and I also enjoy the good relationships I build with my tenants. I do not process anyone without a complete application. The tire kickers I am referring to are the ones who waste my time to show them the property when not serious. The step of showing the property is where the tire kicker problem is. I want to minimize showings only to people who are serious and weed out those who just want to browse and collect information from me. My application process step is very tight and have no issues at that step. Thank you all again

Hi everyone,

My rental property is a SFH (class A) in a great neighborhood and in the coastal region of the Bay Area known for outdoor spaces, nature and great quality of life. It is now on the market to rent and because of the Corona Virus situation I have experienced a ton of tire kickers who are sick of the quarantine and just think that they want to live in a more spacious environment and away from crowds, and who in most cases cannot afford my house. Have others experienced an increase in the number of tire kickers and how do you manage them? (I have a prescreen email I send out to everybody who contacts me with basic credit score and income requirements and a lot of them disappear after that). Can you do anything with the ad to discourage tire kickers? Thanks

Hello,

The time has come for me to exit one of my investments and I would love to have the community's feedback on realtors who worked best for you when selling an investment. What did you find most critical to your success in working with a realtor to maximize your return and manage the exit process? Many thanks!

PS. I am in the SF bay area

@Arlen ChouThanks for the suggestion. I looked into it and it looks like a good product. I will consider it!

@Smita Rahatadkar Would be very interested in this question as well. I m on the West Coast as well and the dreadful Chicago winters would appear to be a challenge in terms of property management and maintenance as well as vacancy rates

@Arlen Chou Hi Arlen. What alternatives are you referring to?  I considered fixing and refinishing the existing fiberglass tub but got conflicting information from refinishing companies as to the durability of the refinished product and the ability to refinish a second time. Tenants do not take the best care. If you can share the alternatives you are referring to I'd greatly appreciate it

Hello everyone,

I need to make some upgrades to one of my rental's bathrooms. According to my research the work I am looking to do (replace the tub and surround with a one piece caulk free tile free tub-surround product and replace the vanity) should not take more than a week. However, it seems that general contractors want to stretch it out over more than a month (since they are busy with the CA building boom and would probably just fit my job in between other bigger ones). I am looking for someone who can dedicate the short time necessary, finish the job quickly and move on. Do you know of any services providers other than general contractors who could do this. Also, I am in the San Francisco Bay Area and if anyone in the community can provide referral to professionals they worked with as landlords, I'd appreciate it. It's important that the pros understand the time constraints of a landlord and working on a rental and that they are willing to accommodate (since it is quite different doing work in your own home)

Thank you!

@Michael Heisterkamp Thanks Michael. I of course have a SD and the lease states that it can be used to repair damage to the property caused by the tenant. The walls turning dark grey from filth is not normal wear and tear but would CA law interpret it as such? I understand you are not an attorney but I am interested to hear landlord experience in CA about this issue. Thanks again!

Hello,

I am in California and my tenant is moving out after almost 4 years of renting from me. The lower part of the walls in the kitchen, living room and hallway have essentially turned dark grey from filth and debris is stuck on them. Other tenants who have moved out in the past have not left the property in this condition- so this tenant has not been taking the best care of the house cleanliness-wise. When the tenant moved-in, he received the property, professionally clean and freshly painted. My lease clearly states that they have to return the property thoroughly and professionally cleaned, the same way in which they received it. I will ask them to wash the walls before they move out but I doubt all the filth will come off. Can I charge them for at least a portion of repainting the walls and how much?

Thanks for your feedback!