All Forum Posts by: Craig Janet

I post all of my rentals on Zillow. If you pay the extra $29 for the premium listing it gives you some great data to analyze your property. For example it gives you a total amount of rentals in your market over the past 14 days. In my market the supply of rentals is increasing. This tells me that demand is low. I know this for a fact because I'm having trouble renting out my homes even after numerous price drops (I never had any problems before). 

It also gives you a chart of the average rental price over the past year. In my market the average rental prices has decreased all most 20% from last year. So you can look at this data and see if it matches what your PM is telling you.

So technically you don't even have a issue (Yet). Their rent is paid and according to you they are great tenants. Have they paid December rent? The guy spent one night in jail. Unless he did something illegal in your home it's none of your business. He's innocent until proven guilty. Do you know what the charge is? DWI, domestic violence, unpaid tickets, murder?  

The best move you have is to wait until he's late on the rent, then proceed with an eviction. He may surprise you and pay the rent (he has to live somewhere). If not proceed with the eviction, most people move out on their own. 

Sale price-Materials-Labor= Net Gain

Then they spilt it 50/50. I know it doesn't seem "fair" that the ex will profit from this, but it's her investment too. Your boyfriend should have had an agreement with her prior to doing all the work. 

I do all the repairs myself and I would say an average $1000 plus one or two months rents. This is why it always surprises me when everyone is quick to recommend getting rid of an PITA tenant that complains about minor things. Turnovers are very costly and time consuming they should be avoided whenever possible. 

Valves usually don't fail after a few months. If it was on there incorrectly it would have been leaking or would have failed immediately when the water pressure was turned on. If it worked fine for months then all of sudden something happened and it flooded your home, I would look hard at the tenant. They could have yanked on it used a faulty hose, washing machine failure etc. 

Why did he bring a dumpster before you agreed to terms? This sounds like a trick to lock you in. If you back out the deal he will try to say you owe him for the dumpster.

Ask him how did he come up with his estimate. Did he not add the materials and labor for each aspect of the project. I don't think you need a detail of every nail but a kitchen for example should be broken down to cabinets, countertops, sink, faucet, hardware, appliances. I don't think that's asking to much.

I had a contractor give me an outrages quote. I asked for a breakdown and it was hilarious seeing him try to back into that number. $1000 to reset a toilet, $800 for window trim, etc.

It's just like a car salesman that doesn't want you to see a breakdown of all the fees, they just want you to worry about the monthly note. Odd's are you will see something on that breakdown that doesn't look right. 

Someone on here posted that they couldn't evict a tenant but instead sued them for the rent owed in small claims court. Since the eviction courts were either backed up or not working at all, this is a way to maybe scare your tenant a little. Getting served a court order by a Marshall may let them know you mean business. I never tried this personally but thought it was an interesting tactic. 

I have bought multiple properties using a realtor and I'm still not sure what value they bring. When I see a property I'm interested in on Zillow, I call my realtor. He meets me at the house, i give him an offer to submit, we settle on a price, then my lawyer/loan officer takes care of the closing. Then show up to lawyers office sign papers, I get the keys and the realtor gets a check. So basically all he did was open the door and submit and offer for a nice commission. I could have easily done this myself but it's not allowed.