All Forum Posts by: Dena Puliatti

Glad you have a lawyer on retainer.  Always a good plan.  She's mad because she knows she's violating her lease.  Don't let yourself get run over on this one.  You notified her of pest control.  Just because she said "outside only" doesn't mean anything.  It's your property, and you gave notice.  As for CYA, plan a quarterly inspection where you notate the secret cat and and the cigarette smoke.  Then issue an eviction notice.  Most likely, your attorney would advise you to make this curable by professional smoker remediation to the home (at her cost) and re-homing the cat. You will need her receipts if you are going to keep her as a tenant.  She will most likely get mad and move out.  

My company does quarterly inspections to check for leaks, change the air filter, and check the smoke detectors.  We are also looking for lease violations like secret pets, smoking, extra "tenants," etc.  If there is a tenant issue, a notice is left with the tenant.

@Sam Booth I have no way to tell you what your rehab costs are going to be.  It depends on the house.  And yes, I would plan on painting all the walls between tenants.

Trim back any trees overhanging the structure.  Make sure that you have a plan in place to change the air filters every 3 months to keep your blower motor from burning out.  Also, do plan on a full wall paint between tenants.  If you want to attract a higher quality tenant, they are not going to be cool with splotchy walls.  Touch-up paint always looks like touch-up paint.  

I agree with @Drew Sygit. This is considered pre-paid rent, and it can not be disbursed to you for future months.  The property management company should hold it and disburse to you monthly.

Depends on what the standards say. Sometimes, they are a little higher.

Contact the Section 8 office and ask for a copy of current payment standards.

Make sure your advertisement is syndicated.  Also, you may consider a move-in special.  Something flashy like half off of first month's rent usually does the trick.  Also, as a lot of the BP people here will testify, the rental market is weird.  Sometimes, we will sign 5 leases in a week, and then none for another week and a half.  I've talked to lots of investors who are worried about seasons affecting rentability, but that is not usually the case.

The HOA may also specify types of rentals. I haven't found a condo complex that will allow short term rentals, even if they are in the city zone that can accept short terms (AKA AirBnB).

 If you did a contract that way, I would run it by a lawyer.  Too often, contracts made by people without a legal background don't hold any water.

In order to pay one of your tenants, they will need a business license and proof of insurance.  Otherwise, I wouldn't touch it.  Too much liability for him to "slip in your parking lot."