All Forum Posts by: Andrew Cross

I purchased a SFH several years back just after the market drop which has appreciated to about 2-3x the initial purchase price according to current comps. I currently have a tenant that has taken decent care of the property and I've not had major issues with but is considering moving soon. I'd like to purchase a multi-unit rentals closer to where I currently live when I can find the right deal. The current rental does not currently have a mortgage on it.

I'm trying to decide what makes the most financial sense, should I hold onto the property with the heightened rental demand and use it as a hedge against inflation or go ahead and sell with the currently high real estate prices before interest rates spike too much and drive down prices/demand, and hold onto the funds until I find a property that meets more of my criteria.  Thanks for any thoughts/suggestions you have!

I first want to say, I certainly appreciate all the responses!  I love having such a great community to bounce ideas off of!

Missouri does not have any statutes on late fees charged or any imposed grace periods on rent, this is one of the things I talked over with a local lawyer as I was writing up the lease.  Most of my lease ideas came from Mike Butler's book "Landlording on Autopilot", which talks a lot about training your tenants and sticking to your lease and doesn't mention a grace period at all that I can recall.  I hadn't really considered it, but may think about it in the future.  

The late fees were explained and outlined in the both the lease and during orientation and nothing was said about the due date being an issue.  A couple of people have mentioned waiving fees and I did do that the first month it was late and explained the policy again.  It's been paid on time twice (including the grace period I built into the first month due to way the subsidies work), once on the 11th, once on the 5th, and this last time on the 3rd.

Again, just want to thank everyone for their comments!

We just bought our first rental earlier this year and I'm have some issues with the tenant.  Not too serious, she and her kids keep the house clean and haven't caused any damage, but her payments are almost always late.  

In the lease, and during orientation I explained that rent was due on or before the 1st, the second, it's late.  We have a 5% of total rent tacked on for day 2 and $5 a day thereafter.  She has a local assistance program she's a part of that pays about 90% of the rent and she's responsible for the other 10% (around $80).  

She came to me last month telling me she can't make the payments on the 1st and would like her due date moved to the 3rd since that's the day her disability check card is refilled.  I've talked with her in previous months about this and explained if she'd hold back the $80 for rent or pay it a head of time it would take care of her issue, I know this probably shouldn't factor in, but the cable tv bill is $75 a month, which I'm pretty certain is currently being taken care of.   It certainly seems like just a lack of planning and budgeting to me, but I might be way off. 

I'm pretty sure I know how to handle it, but would like to see what other people here have done or would do in a similar situation.  Thanks!

Thank-you everyone for the all the information.  

I should have updated this with what I ultimately did earlier.  I went ahead and setup fiber at the house, which ended up being a big selling point as it's essentially a free utility for my tenants.  I created a new email address just for the unit since I couldn't attach it to my own email (I already have a google fiber account for my primary residence and you can't attach your email to multiple locations).  Once I found a suitable tenant, I just transferred responsibility to the tenant's gmail account, google was very helpful in doing so.  

My primary concern was if the tenant downloaded some illegal music or something else I could be fined for or the fiber equipment could be damaged, under this arrangement, I am not in charge of the account used to login to manage the google fiber connection or the equipment that's used at the residence.

Hope that helps anyone interested in doing so themselves.

Thanks Colin, I completely agree with you about taking the word of a previous landlord over a potential tenant.  I just wasn't sure if it was typically okay to release the answers to some of those questions to a tenant that was denied.  I wouldn't want to get the other landlord into any issues with that tenant, but the applicant is asking me why they were denied.  Anyway, I certainly appreciate the feedback!

I currently have an applicant that I'm pretty certain I'm going to have to deny based on a previous landlord's reference.  The applicant is denying the claims from the landlord.  I've already told the applicant that if they can have the previous landlord call me with any corrections/clarifications I'd be glad to listen to them, otherwise I'm going to have to move on to the next applicant.  Is it advisable or not to send them the questions/responses that disqualified them in the first place, it was my understanding you needed to do that for a denial based on a credit check, but wasn't sure about a reference check.  Also, I use the questions Mike Butler uses in the Landlording on Autopilot book (paid late, any complaints, any damages, would you rent to them again).  Thank-you in advance!

Thank you very much for the feedback.  I spoke with a google rep last night and was told I can either pay the construction up front, then let the tenant request the hardware to be able to connect to the internet from google, however if the tenant opts to go with the gigabit or +TV package, then construction cost is typically waived (which means my construction fee I'm willing to pay would be a waste).  Think I may offer to pay either the construction fee for free internet or maybe 2 months worth of the premium package if they opt to go that route.  Would still be interested to see how other landlords/property managers handle this.

Hello, I'm preparing to be a new landlord in the KC Metro. The property we are currently purchasing has the option of having google fiber hooked up for it. Have any other SFH landlords hooked up google fiber for their homes. I don't mind paying the construction fee, but who is responsible for Google's equipment and what is downloaded while on the network?