All Forum Posts by: Dana R.

In my rental, patches of my carpet are clearly worn while most of the rest carpet is still okay. If it was vacant, I'd probably need to replace the whole carpet.

But, if somebody came in now and saw it with the current tenant living there, they probably wouldn't notice a thing with the tenant's furniture and rugs covering up those patches.

Let's say a prospective tenant checks the place while the current tenant is still living there, doesn't see any problems with the carpet and likes it enough to sign a lease.

What happens when the new tenant moves when its vacant and notices the problems with the carpet? Would I have to replace the carpet at that point?

Under this scenario, it seems like it would be better to reduce my asking price for the rental while its still occupied so I can rent it out before it becomes vacant so I wouldn't need to pay to replace the carpet.

Are there any situations or conditions where a landlord should replace the carpet when the tenant is already living there?

How much of a drop-off/harder would it to be rent in August vs May and June?

I have a upcoming lease that's going to expire in May, and the tenant wanted to renew it for another year.

But, now, the tenant has changed his mind and wants a 1 year and 6 month lease where it would end in November. Obviously, there's no way I'd agree to that and would rather find a new tenant this year than deal with having to find a tenant 1.5 years from now in November.

However, I'm wondering if I should counter in the middle where he signed a lease for a year and three months that would end in August next year. But, I'd need to know how difficult it would be to find a great renter at August.

I'm afraid that by August, most of the people who wanted to move would have already found a place. So, I'd be left with a much smaller pool of qualified tenants, where some of the people looking were still looking because they'd been rejected by other rentals.

What are the best months to list my place for rent? Are there certain months I want to avoid listing my place for rent?

I might have some flexibility with the length of the lease, and I was wondering when it should end so that it would be easiest/best to rent to the next renter?

Obviously, November and December are the absolutely worst because of the holidays. So, I'd probably want to avoid October too because if you can't rent it right away then you'll hit the dreaded November and December months.

Since my place is near the beach, I was thinking I'd want to avoid September since that's when all those beach vacation summer rentals come back on the market as winter 9 month rentals.

Its usually young professionals who rent the place. Although, I don't really rent to recent college graduates.

The kitchen is kind of dated so it doesn't really appeal to women and their families where the wife makes the decision so I don't know if the whole school thing would be a factor. But, it might just dovetail anyways since families usually move in the summer, right?

I'm thinking the summer months should be the best time to list a beach place, right? Or, should I list it in May, a month before summer, so people will rent it and move into it when summer begins?

Any particular summer month? Would August be too late to list it since summer is almost over? Or, would July be a bad choice because you'll lose a weekend to July 4th holiday weekend?

If I have the choice, is something like May or June the best months to list a beach place for rent?

If its really in SF, then there's something wrong if you're having that much trouble.

Just looking at the hard costs, do you think its accurate to say that it would be around a few hundred dollars to move for a tenant?

I'm trying to see how much I could raise rents without driving away a tenant. When I raise the rent, I want to explain that even with a rent increase, its still cheaper than moving out.

Also, I've been told here that a lot of times what it actually rents for is different than what's posted on Craigslist:

http://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/118384-raising-rent-vs-losing-tenant

They'll 'fish', where they ask for 10% more than market rate just to see if anybody bites.

I know what it would cost the landlord if a tenant moves. But, has anybody here ever calculated how much it would cost the tenant to move?

Let's say there are more or less two identical homes, and the tenant is already renting in the first home. If they're both priced the same, the tenant won't move because of the costs of moving makes renting the second home more expensive.

But, how much cheaper does the second home have to be before the tenant realizes that it'd be cheaper to move into the second home even with the additional moving costs?

Is it just the cost of renting a moving van and movers? Or, are there any financial considerations that a tenant has to look when determining if its really cheaper to move?

I have that same problem with carpeting, where most of it is still okay but there's a few areas or patches that need to be replaced. Its such a waste of money to replace all of it just cause there's a few areas that have to replaced.

But, what can you do?

If you replace just a few areas and kept the rest of the remaining carpeting, then it looks kind of chintzy where the carpeting doesn't match. It just looks so piecemeal, like you were doing it save money.

Or, you could cover those small patches with a rug or something but then it looks odd when you show the place why the rest of the place is practically empty but yet there's a random rug lying on the floor.

Even then, the tenant will complain and demand new carpeting when they move in and discover the problem areas.

As you can tell, I've been thinking long and hard on how to avoid buying all new carpeting.

I know families are a protected class so you can't discriminate against a family and not rent to them because they have kids.

Let's say you had two families that were identical in every way except the age of their children, and you were going to rent to one of those families. Which one would you choose?

I'm sure there was a good reason why landlords were wary of renting to families with kids because they were concerned about the wear and tear a kid would create.

But, is there a specific age for kids where they tend to create the most wear and tear on a place?

Almost two years ago, I had a tenant sign a two year lease for a condo that I had for rent. At that time, I was trying to rent it at below market prices to widen the pool of applicants so I could get a good tenant. It worked to a certain degree as I got a tenant who's a professional with really good credit. And, since the tenant was willing to sign a two year lease, the tenant got an even better price for rent as well as no rent increases in the second year.

With two month and a half months left on the lease, the tenant has contacted me and wants to renew the lease for another year but only if there's no increase in rent again for a new lease.

So, right now, I'm renting it for $2500 so he'll want to keep it only if the rent remains $2500. But, I saw an identical unit with the same floor plan in the same complex on Craigslist rent for $2750 so I figure the market rent is about $2750. Both of our kitchens are not that great, but I think my place is nicer and more updated than that comp so I could probably rent it for $2750.

But, I don't know if I should accept that offer or not.

I figure in the end it'll be a wash if I renew the tenant for another year. If I don't renew, I'll get higher rent when it gets rented but also lose money while it sits empty. When I look at the numbers, it really does seem like it'd even out in the end regardless of my decision. At the end of 1 year lease, I'd get $3000 more in rent if I get a new tenant. But, I'd also lose around that same amount while the place is empty- you're not going to rent it out immediately and the tenant won't move in right away once he decides that's the place he wants. Its in San Clemente, walking distance to the beach, but it'll still take awhile to find the right tenant.

The tenant isn't terrible, and keeps the place neat and hasn't sneaked in any pets. At the same time, I don't think the tenant isn't somebody who's going to stay there forever- he'll probably move out and buy his own house in a year or two. (The tenant's income is good but he also has a lot of student loans- would those student loans preclude him from buying a home anytime soon?)

My biggest stumbling block is the flooring, which will need to be addressed if the current tenant moves out. I've got a combo of tile and carpet, where the carpet was already on its last legs when the current moved in and the grout between the tiles are going to be a pain to clean.

It'll probably cost around $3000 for new carpet and to steamclean that grout. When I said it would be a wash if the tenant renewed or not, that wasn't factoring in the cost of new carpeting. If you take that into account, it seems like It'd be cheaper to keep him even at lower rent because I wouldn't have to pay for new carpeting. Or, am I just delaying the inevitable because I'll have to pay for new carpeting or flooring anyways when he leaves after a year?

What do you think- renew the tenant for another year even if it means below market rents or rent it to new tenant at higher prices while also not making money while it sits empty?

And, does anybody know why the tenant would be asking for a renewal now when there's still over 2 months left in the lease?