All Forum Posts by: Gail K.

Angie...You would need to cover this with some type of clear coat polyurethane (even if using an oil based paint) to protect them. Two coats are good; three would be better. The "clear" (as opposed to the "satin") really leaves the floors looking great.

Gail

Many landlords in my neck of the woods will say they screen with their "gut"..which may explain why the eviction rate around here is so high. I suspect like tenants there are a fair number of local landlords who aren't on the internet and have no idea about online screening companies.

I did point out to one landlord that his "gut" screening techniques didn't work so well in his personal life since he was going through his fourth divorce and that perhaps he might consider this method wasn't the best when choosing tenants either.

Gail

The veteran bonus can only be used by veterans. The person checking us out never asks who is actually purchasing the appliance; my son or myself.

Buying new appliances every time a old one malfunctions is NOT hobby landlording. Don't be insulting. Buying used ones often means one gets to purchase another one on the 91st day, the day after the warranty expires....or enjoy running around the neighborhood hauling appliances purchased through craigslist.

Lowes and Home Depot both always have sales on washers and dryers, they deliver for free, haul the old ones off and the tenants think you're a great landlord for getting them a shiny new toy when you've purchased the on-sale, least expensive washer/dryer these stores carry.

Gail

On several of our older homes we've used black floor paint (latex based) then followed it with three coats of oil based Varnathane (which seems to dry faster than the oil based paint). With the high baseboards in these older houses painted a bright white it looks pretty stunning.

Tenants clean the floors with a simple Swiffer type mop.

Gail

Buy them a new washer (I use by 10% off coupons from ebay for Lowes appliances or take my Navy veteran son shopping with me there for his military discount plus pay for these with gift cards I've purchased through Cardpool or Raise) and take the cost of the appliance off your yearly taxes.

Gail

True story regarding rose bushes....I have a nurse friend and when we go up to Atlanta we trade ER/hospital horror stories (we both work in the medical field).

She tells me the story of a fellow who is out working in his rose garden, trips, falls forward right on a thick cane of a rose bush that pierces his orbital cavity (the space above one eye). He screams for his wife. She runs out and just about faints at the sight of him stuck on the rose bush. She calls 911. Paramedics come and are afraid to pull him off the cane as they don't know how far it's pierced into his skull. They cut the cane and haul him off to my friends ER. He's flown to our local trauma center where the Neurosurgeons take him into surgery to attempt to remove the cane. The man ends up dying because the cane has managed to pierce his brain.

A bizarre case. I tell my friend she wins the contest on medical horror stories hands down.

Remove the rose bushes. Stranger things can happen.

Gail

We build our own fences (privacy) but just recently I had a friend who wanted just a 3 foot high wood privacy type fence.

What he did...

Purchased 8 foot 4x4 posts which he cut in half and sunk 1 foot into the ground at six foot intervals. His stringers were 12 foot 2 by 4's (two in each section). He took the standard six foot fence boards, "dog eared" the bottom of each to match the top, then cut them in half to get his three foot fence boards. Said the most time consuming part was dog earing the boards.

Ended up being an inexpensive project because except for the stringers all the other wood was "halved" and thus went twice as far in the project.

Gail

We attach an Information box to our rental signs where flyers can be left. However, even if folks pick these up, they still call and ask the same questions (note; one caller screened himself out when he said he didn't want to get out of his car and walk the five feet over to the sign!).

I have an answering machine attached to my home phone and develop a message giving the basic information on the house up for rent (number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, rent and security deposit requirements).

Gail

The most irritating part of the process..

1. "No shows"

2. Folks who are late to the appointment. I give them 15 minutes. If they show up later and don't have a good excuse ("I got stopped by a train" for example) I don't rent to them. I've found that applicants that have poor time management for these appointments have poor time management for rent payments.

3. I make it CLEAR that we run a credit AND criminal check on every adult. It will cost each $30 for this. Even if one didn't run these checks, the mention of doing so is a good screen out.

4. Our local Marshal's office handles all the serving of dispossessory notices (i.e., evictions) in my county. They have a free website where one can go to search previous cases. It's an interesting read.

5. Folks who want to move in "right away" or are "living with mom" are often in these situations because a. they're about to be evicted from their current rental property or b. they've been evicted and are resting at moms because they have no other place to reside until they can find another sucker landlord to take them in.

6. Be aware that there are many services who will, for a fee, "clean up" (i.e., develop a fake) credit/income statement for those whose own credit or income statements would not pass muster. Run your own credit reports and view income statements carefully.

7. In my area, two power companies provide services. One is a smaller cooperative. I will sometimes hear applicants say they do not like to have service with this company because "they will cut your power off even if you are one day late in paying your bill". I find this is a very good screen out comment since, like this power company, I would simply be another creditor to this tenant.

8. While it is certainly tempting to get a rental unit filled with tenants, it is FAR better to have a unit sitting empty than having one filled with deadbeats while you are going through the eviction process with them. Keep that in mind if you are debating turning down applicants you may have questions about.

Gail

A dead possum under the house. Of course WAY on the other side of the one crawl space under the house. Thought it was a small dog at first. Once "poked" it quickly "shrunk" down to size although the smell was, well, enough to cause more than a few grey hairs.

Gail