All Forum Posts by: Elaine Chua

Just wondering if anyone had any success with rental investments in Madison or Milwaukee Wisconsin? We live in Minnesota and would love to invest in rental properties at WI. Which residential areas and suburbs would you recommend? We would love to hear from your thoughts and suggestions. Thank you.  

HI All, wondering if anyone could give me some advice on investing in a  rental property? We are interested to get a townhome as a rental investment but everyone I meet is telling me it is now the seller's market and the figures are not great for investment. I would be interested to know your opinion on this. I am aware it is difficult to time the market but I want to avoid buying at the peak as then it would make the rental investment less attractive.  

We are selling our home end of the month and wondering if it is legal or a common practice to request the title company to let us review the Seller Settlement Statement prior to closing date?

I am ok to pay $200 to keep both parties happy, its a small amount to pay. But I think they are expecting us to give them a brand new dryer which is what I am having issues with. As a landlord, I have been diligently repairing or replacing appliances (When reasonable) in the past for them, I believe this is one of the reasons why they ‘believe’ they can get a new dryer from us. 

Dear Landlords - Hoping to get your suggestions and advice on this...

We have recently sold our home to our tenants 2 months ago. The tenants have been renting this home for the past 3 years.  We've agreed to a 3 month closing timeframe as a favor since they needed more time to save for the downpayment before closing.

In the last month, they have came back to us with 2 requests which came across as trying to get free ‘deal' prior to closing in Sept. One request being the dryer. The start button on the dryer has fallen out and I was informed by tenants they can schedule a technician to fix it but might possibly cost 250-400$ to repair. I went online to check the replacement cost for the button and truly enough, it costs $195 just to purchase the start button. However, our appliance technician told us the damaged button is mainly caused by the use of fingernails to press the button which caused the plastic to tear apart over time. (I have never encountered a damaged button throughout the time i am using a dryer). 

So my question is, would this classified as 'Normal wear and tear' or damage caused by negligence - since why would somebody press the button if they have sharp or long fingernails?

We are feeling disappointed not so much about the money we have to spend repairing the dishwasher but rather the attitude of these tenants wanting more ‘favors’ after we have agreed to a longer closing period. 

Thank you

ET

I have inquiring when it is lawful to deduct the security deposit from a tenant?

Our tenant had decided to terminate her lease with 5 months left to fulfil. She gave us 30 days notice due to last minute work relocation. We have agreed to release her from the contract but have informed her that the security deposit will be deducted for Marketing Costs of finding new tenants and also any loss of rent until we have found a new tenant.  When she moved out, there was a huge mess made on the home, (Trash, carpet was left extremely dirty, messy toilets,  dirt and animal fur all over the place and strong smell of cats including evidence of cat claws on the carpet steps. The tenant had paid for the house and carpet cleaning however a 2nd round of cleaning is required due to heavy debris.

My question would be, is it legal for me to deduct her security deposit for the replacement of carpet? I fully understand there is normal wear and tear on carpet (this carpet has been used for more than 6 years), but due to the strong smells of cats and carpet stain, we have no choice but to replace it.  We would have been glad to continue using this carpet after cleaning under normal circumstances but not in this case. 

My 2nd question is, is there is a  limit we can charge on loss of rent? We currently have 1 month rent + pet deposit in our procession. 

Thanks