All Forum Posts by: Eric Thompson

The final decision we reached was to raise the rent to $825 with the current tenant. It will be done in two $75 steps, the first in August, and second in December.

She responded positively and was grateful for the tiered approach and the chance to adjust. 

I'm happy with the compromise. The duplex will be grossing about 15% more income next year than the previous year without any capital contribution or bad feelings with tenants.

I appreciate all the input from you folks. A lot of differing opinions and a lot of valuable insight. I will be discussing it with my brother in more depth.

You are all completely right about the property manager dynamic as well, they do what we tell them, not the other way around.

I should add, we have a property manager who runs the property and they aren't keen on incremental increases. That was one of my first thoughts as well.

My younger brother and I are co-owners of a duplex that we inherited with a very long term tenant in one unit (18 years).

The market rate for the unit is about $900, and she pays $675. She is a borderline hoarder and I'm sure the place is in need of some serious attention, but due to the fact that she is such a hoarder, there is no way carpet is getting replaced, or even paint.

My opinion is to give the tenant 60 days notice that the rent will be increased to $825, and if that's a deal breaker for her, go in and spruce the place up after she moves out and put it on the market at $900.

I'm waiting to get my brother's input on it now.

I bought it with an investment loan, so no worries on the lender. I'm actually looking forward to refinancing after I move in and getting a lower rate with an owner-occupant loan.

Thanks for the response, Eric Thomson without a 'p'! Haha. 

Upstairs has been there since June of last year.

I do plan to occupy and renovate both units at some point, in whichever order is most convenient.

I just had the most gigantic "duh" moment when I realized that the difference between delivering a 60 day notice to the downstairs tenant vs running out the lease on the upstairs tenant is a total of 60 days. Not that big of a deal! I think I will propose it to downstairs and see if he wants to get out, if not, no problem waiting an extra 60 days.

I recently purchased a duplex that is fully occupied, that I now intend to move into in the near future. I am having a bit of a hard time figuring out which tenant to keep and which to get rid of.

My initial plan was to build a garage on the property with a third unit atop that I would move into when it was inhabitable. Zoning is proving to make this not a possibility, so now I am planning to move into one of the units and build a standalone garage.

The duplex is an upper/lower split, both units in need of some heavy renovation but making good enough money as they stand now that the purchase was a good deal. The upper unit is on a year lease that is up at the end of June, the lower unit is month to month and has been there for several years now.

Currently, I rent an apartment, and moving into one of the units will still be a net positive because I'm losing less rental income from the loss of that unit than what I pay for my place now.

I feel like the most gentle approach would be to approach the lower unit tenant about my intentions and ask if he is interested in moving out, and if he isn't then giving the upper unit plenty of advance notice that their lease would not be renewed come the end of June.

The more immediate approach would be to give the bottom tenant (longer term, month to month) 60 days notice that his lease was going to be up and move in there as soon as he is out.

Any advice or suggestions?