All Forum Posts by: Filipe Pereira

Why do you think this? I'd be inclined to think the opposite - that rent will grow more on a SFR than a MFR (on a per unit basis). There's more potential tenants for single family rentals than there are for any apartment. In my experience, most people would prefer to rent a house over an apartment, if they can afford it.

So I'll chime in here, because this is my market (Bristol, CT) and I know the owner (David) personally. I won't speak on his behalf, but I will say that he's been around the yard long enough that he knows what he's doing. 

This wasn't a rookie mistake or a poor judgement call. I think David would agree that he sometimes plays in the grey area, and that means there's more risk...with a potentially higher reward. He's one of the three landlords in the area suing our Governor, and I can't fault him for it. 

Take a look at this screenshot of the original facebook post if you can, it's amazing how it's spreading like this. Over 5,000 likes and 3,000 shares! Wow. 

We use cozy for all of our rentals here in CT and MA @Matthew Guidry. We're very upfront with tenants and tell them we don't make a buck off of the screening fees (because we don't). They pay cozy directly, and we never see a dime of it. 

Tell the tenants that at $25 other landlords probably aren't doing credit and background checks, so they may want to question the quality of their neighbors... I don't know of anyone offering both for $25. Admittedly this is a tougher sell for a MHP than it is for a MFR.

It was strictly verbal, with no text communication @Ross Bernard? 

If so, it's his word against yours. He can put a contractor lien on the property, or you guys can settle. Depending on how much it is, he may not see it as worth his time, and just walk away. 

I would offer to let him fix it. If he digs his heels in and says no, then the bad review along with discussions of non payment come up. 

Hard to say what we would do since it's not really our thing to do non verbals in the first place. Good luck sir.

Offer to put as much money of the rent as possible in an escrow account managed by the landlord, as well as a full security deposit and clear credit report. Short of that, I'm not sure I have any ideas. Inconsistent income is a hard one to get over from a landlord position, so I would try to offer as many "guarantees" as possible to make them feel more comfortable. 

If that doesn't work, you may have to lower the quality of the areas you are looking in until someone accepts your application, unfortunately. 

Finding a tenant who will accept this sounds like the harder battle. 

You won't have to worry about a judge's opinion if you can't find a tenant. 

Lots of tenants want security and this doesn't feel secure. "Oh yeah, just sign a MTM lease but it's actually going to be a 1 year lease". Wut. 

I can appreciate what he's trying to do, but boy does it sound like an uphill battle. Power to him. As to writing it up, what you said sounds clear enough, but all it takes is the tenant to say "I was told we have a 1 year lease (and show proof of it) so a rent increase during the lease is illegal."

And they would be right. 

Hey @Dilman R., I run a property management company, and in the last month or two I've gotten 4-6 calls on the Torrington market. Previously, over the same time span I would get MAYBE 1 call.

This hints a few possibilities to me: 

1. Something is happening in the Torrington, CT market that is attracting new window shoppers to the area.

2. People are getting priced out of the regular Hartford county rental markets and price points that they've become so accustomed to that they are now looking in other (cheaper) parts of the state.

Personally, I think it's #2. Connecticut is experiencing a lot of appreciation across the board in the last 12-18 months and it's making folks look elsewhere. To my knowledge there is nothing happening that is all of a sudden noteworthy in Torrington. 

@James Mccard (https://www.biggerpockets.com/...) knows that area pretty well if I remember right. I can't seem to be able to tag him however.

 Welcome to bigger pockets man! Glad you found your way here. I'm not from your the Albany area, but I am from CT. There's a lot of great hiking spots between you and I, I spend a lot of time in the Berkshires, so if you ever want to do a hike and talk shop about real estate, let's do it! I'd love to do some backpacking through Europe one day, maybe I can take some pointers from you! 

Be well, and if you ever find yourself on this side of the Connecticut border, reach out! 

We do move out inspections without the tenant present. Regular inspections it doesn't matter. The reason we do move out inspections without the tenant present is to ensure our safety. Some tenants can get quite combative when you point out damage and they want to know right on the spot how much it will cost. And heave forbid if you don't catch something while they are there and later on bill them for it.

I have a move in / move out condition form that we use here in CT and MA, happy to share it with you (and anyone else reading this) if you think there's value in it. 

I vote pay the $3 @Fannie Ko. It's an irrelevant price for making a tenant be that less on edge with you. $30? No thanks. $3? Whatever...

No, it is not your responsibility to control what happens outside of the house. How could landlords possibly control that? Tenants should have renter's insurance for any damages, and beyond that it's in the hands of the judicial system.