All Forum Posts by: Doug Block

Thanks for all the feedback. I do want to do the upgrades, because I do want them to be as happy as can be. It will be a lot cheaper in the long run than having tenant turnover. Just wanted to gauge what others recommend or may have done in similar situations.

After going through an extremely messy situation with a previous renter in my condo, one that involved having to deal with the legal system for a proper eviction and leaving me with 8 months of no incoming rent, I finally found a good sitation. It's actually two handicapped persons, both in wheelchairs, very sweet ladies. And their rent payments are essentially guaranteed by their disibility payments. Their lease is up in May however.

They have asked me if I would be willing to modify the bathrooms of the apartment, basically making them "handicap friendly", such as installing a walk-in shower with railings and such.

First, I'm not quite sure how much all of this would cost, so thats my first bit of research to do. But I asked them how long they plan to stay, and their social worker basically told me that - due to their disability - they hate moving, hate change, and would stay for many years. They stayed at their last place of living for about 5 years until it had to be foreclosed.

If you were me, would you invest in these changes? Should I require them to sign a 2 or 3 year lease, with penalty of having to pay for these costs if they break the lease?

I'm currently going through the eviction process. I hired an agent, not a lawyer, to help on my behalf since I am out of state. All paperwork has been properly filed and the tenant was given their 5 day court order to file a response and pay the overdue rent to the court registry if they would like a hearing. They did file a response; however, they did not put any money in the court registry.

Florida law specifically states "Failure of the tenant to pay the rent into the court registry pursuant to court order shall be deemed an absolute waiver of the tenant's defenses. In such case, the landlord is entitled to an immediate default for possession without further notice or hearing thereon."

However, the judge set a court date and my agent filed a notice for me to appear by phone since I was not local. Now the judge is considering tossing the entire case because I was not present in person.

Do I not have any rights here to dispute this? The law states that if the tenant does not put up the overdue rent, there should be no hearing, yet the judge schedules one and now I'm at risk of starting all over again??

Anyone been in this situation? I'm speaking with a lawyer tomorrow, but curious about what possibilities there are out there.

I'm currently in the middle of an eviction process (case # has been filed and currently going through the 5 day summons period). I live out of state of the rental property and will be visiting it next week. I have send the tenants the notification as required by law for me to visit the condo. I'd like to inspect it with my property manager so we can get started timely with what needs to be done with the property to turn it over as quickly as possible once the eviction is finalized.

My concern is that the tenant will not willingly open the door and let me visit the condo since they are being evicted and probably quite upset. Do I have the right to enlist the help of a locksmith and enter the condo if they are not home or do not answer (the management office lost my copy of the key, long story)? Was even considering a call to the Sherrif's office for an escort just in case.

It's bad timing, I know, but this is the only time I will be down there for the rest of the year and need to visit the property. If they do not answer, I just want to make sure it is OK for me to enter, per my rights and per Florida Law. I believe it is, just want to confirm. Thanks.

Is it worth going through the small claims court just to put this on the old tenants permanent record? Will it do much hard to them in the future?

I know that sounds bad (retribution), but they royally screwed me over and for them to just leave and not pay and get away with it is not something I'm happy with.

As a landlord in the state of Florida, if my tenant has not paid rent now for 2 months (I know its a longer time than you should allow, however we were in communication about this and i allowed him to be late given his specific status...but not this late!), and I choose to evict him, can I also sue in small claims court for overdue rent that has not been paid? Or is that lost money?

Has anyone had any success with trying to acquire tax-defaulted properties? If so, could you help me understand the process involved? Do you become the property owner by simply paying all the back taxes owed?

I currently own a condo that I am interested in selling. However, it currently has a renter and the lease is good till early 2009; thus, that narrows down my prospective buyers to those looking for an investment rather than a home.

I'm to the point where I would be happy to just sell to recoup my initial investment - I'll take a break-even point and all the lessons I've learned and be happy. I've learned a ton and would do many things differently next time (probably #1 would be not to invest out of state).

Because of this, I'm willing to drop my price by nearly $22-$23 per sqft (or $25k off what comparable units are currently on the market for). But here's my problem: If I drop that much to just try and get a sale, I'd prefer not to use a realtor because commission charges arent factored in to that cost; thus, my exposure is limited and its harder to find buyers.

So I guess my question is, what would you think is a better route to take: drop price and try to sell without a realtor, or obtain a realtor but not be able to lower my price as much due to the extra fees I'd incurr?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Is there a good website that anyone recommends for looking at historical sale prices? I can go almost anywhere and see current listings of condos in my area, but I'd be more interested in knowing how much any have sold for recently in this current market. Any help is appreciated. Thanks!

I'm a motivated seller! I own a condo in Florida, have a wedding coming up now, and am looking to get out of it. Havent enlisted the help of a realtor yet, but I guess thats my next step. If you'd like to discuss, let me know.