All Forum Posts by: C Rutherford

One thing I didn't understand about the professor.
First, he did lie about paying rent to live in his brother's house on the application.   His brother said he lived there for free.   That wasn't so good.
Secondly-  He put down that he had $2000 in the bank, and makes about $4500 in Social Security and retirement a month.  He showed me his SSI benefit letter and some other documents which verified his income.
But why would a man who is living for free at his brother's house, and making that much a month only have $2000 in savings?   Where is all his money going if he lives rent free.
And why would someone his age and with a doctorate no less, not have a house of his own.   This is a small apartment in a not-so-great neighborhood.  He's got no history really on his application.
I'm not really understanding that.  Also his shirt was stained and he looked kind of unkempt.   Heh, I don't know.

By contrast for example, the woman with the cats who put down her lower income says she has $5000 saved.     This looks to make more sense.

I have real concerns though about the animals.
The apartment is carpeted in both rooms which would be very expensive to replace, and I don't have a lot of extra income with my business.
I'm trying to do more for money but right now vacancies are very time consuming.

The professor comes with a large labrador/boxer dog.   The home health worker comes with two cats.    I'm trying to decide which is worse as far as potential damages to a one bedroom apartment - 1 large dog, or two cats.

My inclination is that two cats would be better.  However, unhelpfully, someone came to look at the apartment yesterday and remarked that they could "Smell cats" in the apartment- and this was after the previous tenant with one cat had vacated, and I had both used baking soda and rug shampooed the carpets.
I can't smell anything, but I can imagine how bad it will be after a tenant with two cats!  

Then again a large dog I think would be worse, as its heavier and would be constantly tracking dirt in from outside.
I'm under a lot of financial pressure to rent the apartment, especially because I have another potential vacancy coming up.   Obviously these people could get apartments elsewhere.   I don't know if I should hold out and keep showing.

I may try going to the old lady's house the woman with the cats rented a room from, and asking if I could see it.   She might agree.   She said on the phone "I'm 78, retiring and throwing things out" and no longer wanted to lease.    But then she added that the tenant was "a very nice girl".    Okay then.

 

Having a terribly hard time choosing between two tenants, for a vacant apartment in a duplex that must be rented as soon as possible.  I wondered which of these other people would choose.  First:

Here's the Apartment:
--------------------------------------
1 BR upstairs loft unit, in a duplex. Its one long room, and a bedroom off on the side and bathroom.    Outside deck stairs.
Neighborhood: Blue collar.    Not the best but clean... there have been some car break ins and stolen bikes over the years, but no house break-ins.   Neighbor is a good guy, but he has bars on his side windows and he has a rotweiller.   A bit of a red neck but keeps a very clean yard.   That kind of neighborhood, lol.
Some say its the wrong side of town, some local residents proudly defend it.
Public golf course a few blocks away.
Apartment rents for $635 + utilities.


The Downstairs Tenant
----------------------------------------
The already existing downstairs tenant:  Keeps to herself, pays rent ontime every month and keeps apartment immaculately clean.   However, she smokes pot-- and sometimes you can smell that upstairs.     She also plays her stereo occasionally kind of loud.    She may turn it down if asked.    Or she may get mad and turn it up..... depending on how the person asks, lol. Has family members coming over a lot. But, no damage, no problems.

Here are your Choices:
-------------------------------------------
PROSPECT 1:  A retired professor.  Makes around $4000 a month in SSI & benefits.  Has a large, 9 year old dog he swears is well behaved.   Sent picture, looks like a nervous dog, but cute.   He likes to golf.
Coming from a small town where he lived in a house owned by his brother, nice house in a nice neighborhood, but the house was sold.   I talked to said brother. Found out he lied about paying rent--- brother said he lived there for free but he was selling the house.  
Anyway, he wants to move into bigger city for next phase in life.
Apparently has no idea about the city he's moving to, or the neighborhood, but looked at apartment and likes it.


Concerns:
He may not like the pot smell or stereo.
Being retired, he'll be home all the time. He may find the neighborhood is not for him, not knowing the town well.
What if his car gets broken into?
Also, would the dog work in such an apartment. He says it will, but I just don't know.
No rental history
Lied about paying rent

PROSPECT 2:  Home healthcare worker.    She's had a job 6 years, and its only 6 minutes away from the apartment.
So she knows the neighborhood.
She quoted $1300 a month as her income.   Not enough of course.    But-- I talked to her employer and got a great reference. Employer says she can get plenty more work if she needs to.   I told her employer the rent and she says she can manage it.
Tenant applicant also says she has about $5000 in savings and says she saved up so she could pay rent.
She has two cats, but claims to be a great pet owner and keeps everything clean.
She has a rental reference:  Has rented a room and bathroom from a senior citizen for a number of years,
Talked to old landlord, she says renter was a 'good person' and paid her rent, but the senior wants to retire from leasing.

Concerns: She'll move in, then say she can't pay the rent

WHICH IS THE BEST GAMBLE?
Which prospect would you rent to.
You're not allowed to say neither, lol

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?