All Forum Posts by: Derek Harville

Quote from @Bill B.:

Let her sell it as she won’t have a taxable gain which you will have if she gives it to you and you sell. As you mentioned, it’s not really an asset. Imagine tomorrow the land owner doesn’t really want the trailer there any more because the land is worth more without it. So they double or triple the rent, then what’s e trailer worth? (Assuming it costs $5-10k to move and it’s worth less than that?)

 Exactly, I don't want to get stuck in this scenario. I'm unclear if we can sell the trailer without discussing with the land owner.

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

If she's renting the lot, shouldn't the owner of the lot be responsible for seer line repairs?

I'd start talking to her and looking for another place for her to live.  She can sell the home and not have to worry about upkeep.  Would her income cover rent for a new home?

I also forgot to mention that the landlords don't pay for repairs or upkeep on these properties. They have always rented them at well below market rate and the repairs were made by the tenants. This is why the other houses on the same street have been abandoned and dilapidated. Never repaired it kept up with and they don't bother to now the grass. Yet another reason I want to sell the trailer.

Quote from @Theresa Harris:

If she's renting the lot, shouldn't the owner of the lot be responsible for seer line repairs?

I'd start talking to her and looking for another place for her to live.  She can sell the home and not have to worry about upkeep.  Would her income cover rent for a new home?

I have a house for her to stay in. Next door to family. Income would cover rent for a short time. I'm mostly concerned with how I can sell the trailer if I don't own the lot. Do I have to disclose the sale to the property owner? I don't want the property owner to decide to sell the land and make us deal with trailer disposal or moving.

Hi all, 

My grandfather has passed away and my grandmother is left with handling finances for the first time in years. She's on a fixed monthly income and cannot afford home repairs. I have already spent around $4k in repairs for her. She would like to gift me the trailer to repay me for some of the money I have put out. I'm reluctant to accept as I see  the trailer as more of a liability. She's not in great health herself, but seems like she can still carry on a few more years if nothing bad happens. Found out today the sewer line is in need of repair.

This is an OLD single wide trailer. One window AC cools the entire trailer and struggles in the summer. Most larger windows are an odd (old) size and solid pane and do not open. Water heater is new. The electrical is outdated and dangerous, although still functioning. Due to it's age I'm not sure if it can actually be moved. She does not own the lot and pays like $150 per month lot rent. A subdivision of nice $400k homes was built across the street back around 2004. The owners of the lot/property seem to neglect her land and the adjacent homes/land they own on the same street. All that to say, I'm not sure when they will want to cash in and sell the lot due to the appreciation the subdivision has provided. My grandmother is the last tenant in a string of their abandoned properties.

I don't want to be stuck with trying to figure how to dispose or move the trailer. I don't want to rent it out as it seems like an electrical liability - and I'm not sure if renting it to others would be legally possible seems how we don't own the land. I don't want to keep putting money into repairs on something that will never generate a return. Best case scenario in my head is finding a buyer that would move it if possible. (When the time comes). Or someone even taking it for free? If my grandmother were to pass away without deeding the trailer to me, would it be on the land owners to deal with it? My grandparents have lived there since 2001.

Open to any advice others have to offer. Let me know if you need any more details. Thanks BP!

Quote from @Mike Dymski:

Have clauses in your lease specifying the number of occupants (1) and the maximum guest length of stay (14 days).  Then enforce the lease by posting notice to cure and following through with eviction...or add the occupants to the lease agreement...up to you.  I would do the former but talk with your resident prior to sending.  Maybe she is okay with the approach and can use it as leverage with the squatters.  In the end, these situations often end up in eviction if the owner follows through or the guests end up staying extended periods because they don't qualify and the owner does not want to evict.

What benefits can I get from adding the other people to the lease agreement? Can I add them myself, or do they need to sign and be aware that they have been added to the lease?
It sounds like if I follow through with the eviction that I would be also evicting my tenant of 10 years. I'm not interested in doing that she's paid timely for 10 years.

I also thought about selling her the house. Creating an owner-financed loan and trying to sell it to a bank or credit union. The payment would work out close to what she is paying now.

Nobody likes my idea of just charging more dollars for more bodies on the property? 

I'm looking for some solid advice. I rent a small 650 sqft  single family home to a long term renter of like 10 years or so. It's a two bedroom one bath. The floors were recently replaced with new LVP last year, new sink and countertop this year, new hvac this year. I do my best to keep up with the property. The tenant pays $700 per month in rent and I haven't increased that in some time due to her being on a single income. I told her I was increasing it to $750 this year, and I need to put some kind of clause or something that stops all the other people from living there.

The tenant's boyfriend, and two sons have also moved in and are living with her. One is living in the unfinished basement which is not fit for anyone to live in there. I believe there is probably mold down there. The house has a underground stream that runs under it and it is very difficult to keep the basement dry. Measures have been taken but it seems like its never 100% good enough.

I was thinking about adding some kind of verbiage to the lease agreement along the lines of, "any persons staying in this property for more than 90 days will result in an additional $150 fee per month added to the rent" or something like that. My thoughts are that when I add this to the rent this will become the renter's problem and she will work to evict her family from the house (assuming they don't pay her the $150). She has always had members of her family staying with her and the extra bedroom is always occupied by someone not listed on the lease. I don't mind when people come and go. But long term stays are adding to the extra wear and tear on the house and I have no additional compensation to keep up with cap ex, repairs, etc.

This is a long term tenant that's basically family at this point. I have no intention of evicting her. She has mentioned to me in the past that she wished I would evict her son from the property. I've never had to deal with eviction, and I don't know if I can evict someone not found on the lease that she willingly let stay there. These people have overstayed their welcome and it isn't clear who is responsible for getting them out of the house. I would hate to think it's my responsibility. I feel like there may be multiple options I can take to try to resolve this. Could anyone more experienced give me some advice? Thanks in advance!