All Forum Posts by: Michele Fischer

Take a deep breath, give thanks that you are out of the situation, and move on with your life.  Our move out costs have gotten more and more expensive.  It is frustrating, but it is just a cost of being a landlord.  People wonder why rent is so high and there is so little housing available.  It is unlikely that you will see any repayment, the sooner you internalize that and move on the better.  The collections claim is now viewable to other landlords when they apply for housing, and like others mention it may become important to clean up their credit, but for now you have done what you can and it is a waste of time and energy to keep spinning.

There's another recent thread about Christmas gifts, general concensus is don't do it, for various reasons.

I can support either side, but I think that just showing human compassion with words can go a long way and the gift part probably isn't necessary.

I think it's sad that gestures of good faith can be misinterpreted, but that is the age we live in, so better to be safe and blameless rather than giving and vulnerable.

Agree that vacancy is part of the deal.

In my mind your big tradeoff is whether you can effectively and efficiently do the paperword side of the landlording for one unit. You can clearly do the maintenance part, but do you know how to get credit checks and how to spot a good vs bad tenant... it's a lot of overhead on one unit.

I watch Craigslist to see how long our local PM's advertise units, that is a good indication of how long it might take.  We have our properties spread across two PM's.  One has a wait list and there are hardly any days of unpaid rent.  But high turnover.  One has very low turnover but is very picky in qualifying applicants and the units can sit empty for months.  I knew this going in and strategically chose the properties to send to each PM, you can interview them and others and watch the local market to find the stregths and weaknesses.

WIth a PM you lose a lot of control, but you also have more time to spend on other things, like buying more properties.  We self managed for several years, loved it, but loved getting out of it too.  The first was the hardest, because we were so naive even with a lot of studying.

We are in a similar situation, except we weren't notified of the fall timely.  I won't go into details since the case is still open.

Insurance is handling it.  It it goes to court and we lose we have to reimburse lawyer fees but otherwise insurance is handling everything.  

We have been interviewed and have provided a lot of documentation that we did maintenance and inspections in good faith and to code.

It's a big waiting game, wish we could get it behind us.  And we wonder why insurance rates are going up so much with such expensive frivolous lawsuits.

If you can't get a word in edgewise early on, that will not change with future discussions.

If they ask for upgrades as they walk through the property or talk about how they don't like the finishes or details.  Being overly enthusiastic can be a red flag too.  But the biggest is not even really looking at the place, it makes you wonder why they don't care more.

If they JUST started a new job or their first job and are already looking well before they see any of the funds.

Declaring emotional support animals.  Or worse, not mentioning pets when they have them.

Moving to the area and having no knowledge of the neighborhood.

I would do it as a non-refundable holding deposit that transfers to a refundable security deposit.  Honestly, you will probably absorb about half of that vacancy lost revenue, it is unlikley they will be willing to bear two months cost.  Sometimes we offer a discounted rent to get them to take the keys sooner, benefits everyone.  But often when we take a holding deposit they don't end up moving in, so be prepared for it.

If you have her paperwork and signature she is a tenant, otherwise she could be treated as an authorized occupant.  We are fairly indifferent.  A valid contract with two tenants gives you two people to pursue for rent and damages, but it also two people you have to communicate with and serve notices to, so sometimes it is just easier to not have the less qualified or less long term occupants as official tenants.

If you are indifferent to them leaving you could increase to market.

Normally what we do is always increase to the midpoint between current and market.  That keeps us making progress toward market but also tends to keep them as tenants since they can't find better shopping around.

So I would increase $95, about 15%.  I think it is important to not leave rent flat too long, but it is ultimately up to you how you want to operate your properties.

Generally C areas mean great cash flow but low appreciation.  The cash flow pays down the mortgage and provides the equity growth.

We got lucky and got both, but it is a fairly unicorn situation.  An area that has historically had little appreciation had a big slump.  We bought at the low end and managed for cash flow.  That was a solid move even if we sold for what we bought, but we have also seen incredible appreciation.  With inflation and worse landlord friendly courts costs have increased but increased rent has covered it.

Honestly, I would focus on strong cash flow or highly desirable neighborhoods, manage well, and enjoy the ride.

This is a clause in our lease so that everyone is clear who the primary tenant is, and the strongest applicant is the primary tenant:

In the event that Tenants decide they no longer want to live together, ___________ will be considered the primary Tenant to make decisions about modifying or terminating tenancy. Deposits will not be returned (full or partial) until all tenants move out.