All Forum Posts by: C Rutherford

Yes, they will lie whenever its convenient.  Almost all of my communication with my tenants is via text, and they still will lie, lol.
I just had a tenant last week- after I repaired her stairs- claim they told me repeatedly about their deck stairs needing fixed last year and 'nothing was ever done about it'.   Of course I have all her correspondence right there on the phone. Scroll back to last year.   Nope, not a single message about it.  
Hard to argue around that.  Unless she sent the messages telepathically?  Got me.

I also had a tenant tell me once she made her rent payment when she didn't.
They use deposit slips and drop the rent off at the bank.   So, I called the bank.  They have video cameras.  No footage of tenant coming in and paying rent on the day she claimed she paid.  So that's that.  
So yes they don't always think it through before they throw something out there.

Small landlord here.   I just have 5 units and am doing other work to help pay the bills in addition to doing all the property management myself (upkeep, repairs, cleaning in between tenants, mowing, finding & interviewing tenants etc).    It can be a lot of work at times but its definitely not enough to live on because I don't put enough money back for the big stuff- things like say a new roof, new carpet, fence, painting building, HVAC repairs, etc.   I do all this alone and have no family support.   All of the tenants have to pay in order for me to keep afloat, so it can also be stressful.

The tenants have a number that they text I check, and I have found this works as I can have a written record of all correspondence from each and all our conversations (what they said and what I said back) are all right there to keep track.
Yes, they will lie or say they said things when they didn't.   This is just a reality.   But I prefer texting over phone calls also because its a step back and you can always think about how you will respond before sending.

My problem is that some tenants find this texting on their phone too easy, and like to have someone to gripe and complain to.  In this case I have an older woman who no doubt would gladly go back and forth all day long complaining about everything day after day, and into the evenings.   Of course blaming me, complaining about other people, talking about her medical issues and son and how they need a place without stairs and need to move, and on and on.

How are other landlords handling this?   I get the 'professional silence', and have been told imperiously by other landlords that I should just not respond and ignore rambling, and responses definitely encourage more.
However I find I have tenants that demand attention, if I don't answer they continue to get louder and angrier, and begin trying to come up with ways to force me to answer and get involved.   They may make unreasonable complaints about me and then I find myself patiently explaining the terms of the lease again and why things are the way they are.   And you get drawn in to long conversations with them.   I totally do not want this, I have other obligations and things I need to do.

Right now she is complaining about a new tenant I just signed, a single younger man who is in a studio apartment.   She has decided he is using her trash cans, even though there is no proof.    I tried just letting this go and got more texts, this time saying "If you aren't going to do anything I'm going down there and will handle this myself".   She also threatened to report me whatever that meant.
Of course if they start fighting one will likely end up moving out, which is another month more work for me renovating and cleaning and re-renting.   Groan.   Thanks for people's thoughts and advice.    Please be nice, unless you're there, you can't judge.

So I put years of work into renovating a couple run down buildings to provide apartments for people, did all the work myself and then was laid off my job.

Since then I've been pursuing this dream of being self employed before its all over. I have 5 units in total and can't afford any more.... but have found since with tenants its just been one crisis and drama to the next endlessly. 
They come and go like musical chairs. I just had one bolt mid lease leaving huge amounts of garbage I have no way to dispose of.

As I'm struggling to clean up and renovate hers, the guy in the apartment next door tells me he's moving to 'a better neighborhood' because someone broke into his car out front. He then proceeds to say the tenants upstairs have 'destroyed' that apartment and it will need to be gutted when they leave, hey says they are filthy and have brought in roaches. I paid for an exterminator I say. Well they're back.
Who can tell people how to live? They won't listen, and they won't clean and I'm not their maid.
I background checked extensively, this was a big surprise.   But they're the only ones staying and paying rent! And I had put so much work into their apartment, new carpet, painted, fixtures and on. Now its destroyed.

The amount of take home pay with the 5 units is practically Taco Bell wage after all the taxes insurance and expenses.
I know well I need to do more; I'm just getting by but can never get caught up.
I have big items backing up now like a garage roof tarped I can't afford to reshingle, a back fence falling apart at my own home, leaning trees that need taken out.... All waiting until I can start a second income, but where is the time?
Now I have to renovate two more apartments which will set me back two more months.
The family is merciless they tell me to 'go get a job' if I have money problems, friends act jealous.... and everyone on line hates landlords.   My family has no tolerance for my wanting to be self employed, to me going back to a full time job is giving up and they completely ignore that.   But I can't find anything else I can do on the side for income that is self employed, that works.

How do people deal with the discouragement? I have no choice but to go on but its just so discouraging doing all this alone.   And what are people doing for additional money, besides just going back on the wheel and working for someone else.   Because to me if I have to do that, I may as well give up on all this altogether as a failure and go back and sit in an office cube until death, lol.

Have been working on renovating an older (1940s) house for very long time to sell, about a year.   Only the floors are left, and money and time is getting pretty tight.   Very much need to be done and have this up for sale by end of month.
The kitchen floor is finished, but there are three other rooms left downstairs (dining room, front room, and side room) and a bedroom upstairs that still need completed.  All is done, but the floors.

I pulled up the old carpet and it was in pretty bad shape, but there are wood floors underneath.   They're sound- not exceptional, kind of shabby but real wood floors.   Recarpeting all this will cost a lot, so I'm looking at another option.

My question is, what about painting the wood floors?    I'm wondering about doing this, maybe a high gloss grey or brown instead of all the additional time work and money of renting lugging in a drum sander and refinishing.    Its there that much more home resale value, in sanded/stained wood floors, as opposed to freshly painted.   As far as it being an older house, I know painting floors was common back in the day.  It also would be easier since there are gouges and irregularities in the wood floor.    These could be filled and get a smoother floor appearance.

Resale value:   Painted vs stained wood floors?     How big a difference?