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All Forum Posts by: Corey Conklin

Corey Conklin has started 6 posts and replied 126 times.

Post: Rental property Turnover/Repairs

Corey Conklin
Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 126
  • Votes 208
Quote from @Richard F.:
Quote from @Corey Conklin:


It seems like your PM is wanting to make a bunch of repairs that may not be necessary to get the place rented.
"Getting the place rented" is one thing. Attracting a Quality Tenant is quite another. If you have low standards for Rental Preps, you will miss out on the top 10% of the rental pool for your price range.

 I completely agree with you but this property could be a low budget property in a low budget neighborhood. If that's the case it may not make sense to put all of that cap ex money into it all at once like I had suggested. Get it up to par for the neighborhood and get it rented. Then come up with a cap ex plan to get it to be at the top of the market. Unless you are made of money and can afford to do all of the repairs now, but that's hardly ever the case.

Post: Rental property Turnover/Repairs

Corey Conklin
Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 126
  • Votes 208
Quote from @Eileen L.:

Hello, just trying to get advice on how to go about this turnover.

I purchased an out-of-state property last Aug, and tenant just moved out this May. I have not been to the property yet, but have been told by the PM that they did not leave it in a good condition. I replaced the fridge this past Sep, and I'm being told it's so bad, it needs to be replaced again. I've listed the estimate the PM gave me, but I'm now thinking of flying out there to see the house and condition before signing off on any work. It seems some of these things are small fixes. Any feedback or advice is appreciated. Thank you in advance!

From PM:

"Your last tenant left the property in really dirty/needs work condition!. Note that your tenant ended their lease with a balance of $2,492.35 before their account was closed out!

Your tenant had a security deposit of $900.00 which was applied to your account to help with the turnover repair costs,

Below are the majority of the items that will need to be addressed to make the house ready for marketing and your next tenant.

Scope of Work Needed,

Interior:

- Repair all walls and ceilings as needed $350.00
- Full paint out (Ceilings,walls, doors and trim) $1,750.00
- Install smoke alarms and Co2s for all required areas $225.00
- Replace 10 blinds $450.00
- Replace all interior door knobs(6) $210.00
- Replace kitchen ceiling light $85.00
- Prep and paint kitchen cabinets(Inside and Out) $750.00
- Install vinyl flooring under kitchen sink base $85.00
- Install new stove and fridge(White) $1,575.00
- Firestop kitchen and bathroom $125.00
- Reglaze tub $385.00
- Silicone fixtures and install tub stopper $100.00
- Final Cleaning $275.00
Basement:
- Remove/replace all outlets, switches, gfci's and covers $250.00

- Prep and paint all walls throughout $850.00

Exterior:

- Remove all trash throughout $200.00

- Power Wash house $250.00

- Repair gutter at right side of house $100.00

- Clean fence line $450.00

- Prep and paint back porch $275.00

- Repair front/back storm doors $100.00

- Install trim around front door and paint $200.00

- Install new downspout extensions for all downspouts $150.00

- Install new drain for sump pump to front yard $225.00

- Install new dryer vent $100.00

- Seal foundation at left and right side $400.00

Total Make Ready Estimate: $9,915.00

Tenant's Security Deposit:: $900.00

Owner out of pocket costs: $9015.00

Please note that these costs are projections and added expenses could increase once work begins if additional concerns are discovered. I'll keep you posted if the budget increases more than 10%.

*At this time only the rekey has been ordered to secure the property. I do require your authorization and funding of $9015 prior to being able to start these turnover repairs which will take 10-14 days."

There seems to be some repairs here that need to be made to get the property ready to rent but there are a lot of repairs here that I wouldn't consider "make ready" items. I think some documentation from the PM is warranted to understand why some of these need to be done right now to get the property ready to rent such as:

- Why are they replacing every interior door knob? are they all not functioning?
- Why are they painting all of the kitchen cabinets? will this increase what your will get in rent? or were they damaged beyond reasonable use from the previous tenant?
- Are the outlets in the basement not working? Seems unnecessary to remove and replace all of the outlets if they are working properly.
- Other than basic clean up and making sure everything is working proper there seems to be a lot of exterior work that could be done over time and not right now. Do you REALLY need to clean the fence line or power wash the house? Or can this work be spread out over the next year or 2. A lot of this work I can say with 99% accuracy wasn't the tenant that did the damage. Did the tenant get on the roof and damage the gutters? or was that something that was already in that condition.

It seems like your PM is wanting to make a bunch of repairs that may not be necessary to get the place rented. A good PM should be able to help you work through some of these Cap Ex projects and not throw them all at you at once. All of these repairs may absolutely need to be done but they may not need to be done NOW. It's all a matter of what you get for return on your investment. If you invest the 10k will you see a $400-500 increase per month in rent to pay the 10k back in under 2 years? If not I would advise spreading these costs out instead of doing them all at once.

Post: Experience with TurboTenant?

Corey Conklin
Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 126
  • Votes 208

I've been using TurboTenant for 2 years now. It's a simple, straight forward platform. Upgraded to premium and that's been worth it too. Unlimited e-sign (I use it for my lease documents) and faster payments. Their technical support does well at responding to any issues. I've asked all of my tenants what their experience has been like and they all seem to like it.

Post: How to handle tenants who smoked in your rental

Corey Conklin
Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 126
  • Votes 208
Quote from @Patricia Steiner:

You don't have to prove a thing...send them a Notice To Quit (lease violation letter) which will give them - depending on the state - 3 to 7 days to not only stop the violation but cure it.  Don't listen to excuses or denials.  You smelled it, it exists, it is happening, and they can stop immediately or you can proceed with terminating their lease.  Remember, tenants will attempt to retain control but challenging you; by managing to the lease, it remains 'your ball, your court.'  

Send the Notice today but email/door posting - AND by USPS with proof of delivery required.  The air will get a lot cleaner very quickly if you do.  

Best.

 @Patricia Steiner Thankfully I didn't need to give them notice as they were on their way out. I was just curious how something like this would play out in court if they chose to dispute the smoke damage charges and how could I best state my case with something more concrete then just smell.

Post: How to handle tenants who smoked in your rental

Corey Conklin
Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 126
  • Votes 208

@Bjorn Ahlblad I had no idea that smoke test kits existed. This is exactly what I needed! Thank you for the help!

Post: How to handle tenants who smoked in your rental

Corey Conklin
Posted
  • Investor
  • Posts 126
  • Votes 208

I just had a tenant move out recently. While I was doing a showing to a few new prospective tenants while the old tenants were still living in the house, everyone (including myself) had smelled cigarette smoke in the house. I had confronted the tenant and she denied there was smoking in the house. Fast forward to them moving out and turning the property back over, there is a CLEAR smell of smoke in the house. I had multiple people walk in the house and could smell it.

My question is how do you prove smoke damage? They only lived in the house for 6 months so there wasn't enough to show damage to walls or any other fixtures. It wasn't something I could take a picture of like you would a broken blind or hole in the wall.

I had to spend a good bit of money on repainting the house, cleaning, etc. to remediate the smell. The issue is how do you document a smell? The old tenant won't admit to smoking and I'm trying to find ways moving forward to have more documentation on smoke damage. Any help is appreciated!