All Forum Posts by: Filipe Pereira

I'm a hard pass on letting tenants do snow removal @Christopher Kolasa. What happens when they stay too late at their friends house and don't wake up at the property to clear the snow for other tenants? What happens when they go on vacation? What about if they get sick, do they have a backup? 

There's just too many variable that a tenant won't have planned for that a snow contractor should have planned for. 

None of this is even mentioning the potential liability issues here. Does the tenant carry insurance for a slip and fall claim? Who bears the responsibility for not having the driveway cleared (hint: it's you). 

Honesty is the best policy. I tell everyone because I want them to know the buck stops with me. It gives me complete ownership and responsibility when I need it, and it also holds me accountable to myself. 

Don't forget credit unions @Sean Wilson. I operate my property management company out of a local credit union here in Windsor Locks. They offer no cost savings / checking accounts and typically better rates for personal & auto loans. I also have accounts with Peoples United Bank (the one serving CT / MA) and they are OK to deal with but have gotten expensive since their merger with United Bank. 

At the bare minimum you should run a background check on this person and have them added to the lease. Raising the rent based on the number of occupants is a tough sell. If I were you, I would look into if that's some kind of protected FHA aspect. I don't think it expressly says that it is, but it just feels like it's in the grey area. Imagine taking a family of 3 vs a family of 4 solely because of the extra person in the family, assuming that the occupancy standards for the dwelling allowed for it. I dunno, just doesn't "feel" right.

My favorite lease item that comes up way more than it should is something to the tune of "your security deposit can never be used as your last month's rent". I feel like that's the #1 clause I am pointing to most often. 

Cozy makes my life way easier for rent collection. Google sheets and google forms are a very close second place for me as it's how we pre-screen all of our tenants.. https://www.biggerpockets.com/...

Run an income verification on just him @Kurt H. If he has sufficient income to qualify on his own, let both of them know she can be removed, but she will be forfeiting any claims to the security deposit. At the same time, make sure he understands that by agreeing to let her "leave" the lease, he now owns the responsibility of any damage she may have caused.

Keep it month to month for the time being and feel things out. 

Love it, @Shedrick Boyd! Your present is not your future and it will only be a life sentence if you let it be! 

Way to turn things around, I am proud of you!

Our competitive advantage is something that anyone could do if they put in the time - we communicate at a level that is not offered by most property managers. It sound so trivial, even as I am typing it, but the number one reason that people switch property management companies is because they can't get their PM on the phone when they need them, or their PM isn't responding to their tenant's needs in a reasonable time. 

We excel at communication - in all forms - and it comes off as us caring more about client's properties than their current PM does, and well, when your house is probably your biggest asset, that matters. 

@Matthew Horstmyer an estoppel agreement "is an agreement used in real estate to describe the current conditions of a lease agreement. It also describes the relationship between tenants and their landlord. Additionally, it includes any other important details about the rights of the current tenants living in a rental property." 

https://www.apartmentlist.com/...

Basically it makes the tenant sign a form before closing stating what their rent is and how much their security deposit is so that when you take over the property they don't try to argue that their rent was X, Y, or Z. 

 Yes, house hacking was financially awesome for me. Not having to worry about your mortgage payment every month really reduces the ongoing stress you carry each day. 

If all else is equal between the towns you are looking in in CT and NY, I would stay in CT. The state is more landlord friendly (for now) than NY.