All Forum Posts by: James H.

Hi guys thanks for reading this is my first property house-hack 3 family and I don’t want to overthink this so I need guidance here. This unit has been scrubbed because prior tenant was a smoker and dog lover.  I’m great with repairs but today I need to select paint theme for the units and colors are really hard for me. Id like to have one set of colors for all units and future properties to make life east. I have all the kitchen cabinets in white. Home came with grey, black swirled marble counter tops. The bathrooms have earth tone vanity marble and yellowish ugly tiles on floors. When I bought property the bathrooms were like this but I’ve painted kitchen cabinets because originals were really bad. I’m also installing white tile backsplashes. I’m in a better market where these upgrades make some sense. I need a color for my walls, living room, bedroom and bathroom. All ceilings have just gotten a fresh coat of Benjamin Moore flat ceiling paint. I also haven’t selected flooring color. 
walls that came with home were sand colored and don’t speak to the renters I’m trying to reach. I’m hoping to create more modern/warm look. 

I’ve got different marble in the kitchen and bathroom. I need to choose a wall color for bathroom bedroom and kitchen. What would you recommend? Beige walls will look odd with bright modernized kitchen and light greys look odd in bathroom with earth tone marble and floors. 

I can’t believe how stuck this is making me feel.. Can you tell me what colors would work? I’m not against using different color in bathroom vs kitchen or living spaces. 

@Nathan Gesner

Thank you very much for that concise advise. Everything you said is spot on. I'm going to follow that to the letter, thank you. For future reference I will be honest about being owner. Everything will be in writing and I'll run it like a business. Thank you again Nathan. 

@Eric James

Thank you for that advice, I heard about telling tenants you are property manager as opposed to landlord (for purpose of house hacking) from a well loved Bigger Pockets book. It has never felt right to do this however and I do regret it. Thanks!

I purchased a triplex in CT back in February of 2020 and I've been house hacking it. I inherited two sets of tenants, one couple up stairs in the 2 bed unit and one right beside me in the other single bed unit. All leases expired when I purchased properties, rent rolls looked solid so I wasn't too concerned. I put upstairs tenant on month to month lease due to concerns relating to COVID19 and the tenant next to me has not been in a lease since April of 2021 when his previous lease expired from former owner. (Had zero luck getting copy of that lease before purchase and I tried.)  So today the tenant moved in a 15 lb dog that's old and has health problems. All day while woking from home it's barking, wheezing and crying bitterly. I addressed the rogue visitor with tenant when I encountered him outside by chance. (I am the property manager btw, not the landlord... *cough so I was friendly and asked why was there a dog in his unit? I reminded him gently that per our conversation earlier in the year (when he asked what owners stance was on pets) I flatly told him the owners do not permit pets. 

I told him that I'm on his side and I wouldn't say anything to owners for a few days but after that he would need to find a place for poochie to call home. Otherwise it's my responsibility to tell owners of an unauthorized animal in his possession. He told me "well, do what you gotta do man" I asked him what he was going to do, he said "well I'll move" I replied and said that will be his only option if he attempts to keep the animal in his unit. I encouraged him to find another solution for the animal and that the owners would be very sad to see him have to leave. I asked him about his lease, "I'm not on one" he replied. I explained that means he is on a month to month lease by default and that likely he will be given the 30 days to quit possession should he choose to attempt to keep the animal at this property.

Rent is below market, he is paying only $600 for a $725 unit. I kept their rents low throughout COVID19 to create goodwill but back when I closed they were told rents would increase in 2021. He smokes a lot, sometimes inside his unit but he masks scent with incense that makes my entire property smell like a casino.  SO lets recap, he is not on a lease, I have no idea what his previous lease from previous owners said about pets. (I'll bet it was NO on that previous lease because otherwise this guy would have had a dog when I purchased the place, I have no doubt.)

I know I probably made a ton of mistakes here, please go easy on me this is my first property ever.  I don't want the dog here. What would you do?

Link to article:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news...

What possible motive would anyone have to write this kind of rubbish? It’s not investors reading this necessarily, the article was prominently positioned on the yahoo page and elsewhere. Are they trying to scare would be investors? And for what reason? I somehow doubt that yahoo has any of our best interest at heart.

@Matt Moreland

Thank you so much for the advice Matt!

@Greg M.

Wow thank you for this wisdom.. I’ve never done any of this before, if you go off books sold by BP like I’ve been doing-you may think allowing rent to ever be “late” is tantamount to failure as a landlord. I appreciate the dose of reality. You made an excellent point about getting anyone to care about the “late” rent. Those are great points about turnover cost. I would hope I would have at least an idea about what the new tenants will be like, but then again from what I’ve been told far, no screening can ever be perfect period. So it’s a 2 bed apartment that’s renting for $900 per month it has a washer and dryer. The local comps over the last 6 months support a price of $1,200 for that unit. That being said it’s just an “educated” guess. I could likely rent it for $1,100 without any problem. The second unit is a one bedroom, it’s updated like the 2 bedroom, it’s modern and efficient. He is paying $600 per month. My market comps support a price of $750 minimum. (He’s the guy who told us his pay date “changes” due to his social security.) 

His lease is up in May. Upstairs unit is month to month and there’s me, living in the other one bedroom.

Total current rents for the two units are $1500

I’m living in the third.

Mortgage, taxes, insurance are $1,750

I know these are not great numbers but I wanted to at least start somewhere.

My plan has been to not raise rents at all until the pandemic is more or less behind us, even then maybe one raise rents incrementally. Thoughts?

@Greg M.

Great thoughts Greg thanks!! Umm that's a great question! The difference for me is that I don't plan to rent to people who create their own rent due dates. Yes they have a grace period of 5 days in the current lease (previous landlord) but legally they cant be charged any late fees until the 10th of the month. Our state law does clearly state that Rent is legally due on the first and late on the second. My new lease will actually reflect current law and they will know about the grace period. The tenants are stable, this is true. However due to the fixed income they live on they can't tolerate any rent increase and I'll be unable to raise rents to even just below market value. Would you advise I keep them, renew the leases knowing they will not be able to tolerate paying market rent? 

Hi I purchased a triplex in a decent area with inherited tenants. I closed a few days ago and I went to the property to hand out a welcome packet. This included a welcome letter stating all the normal stuff, I informed them that rent is Due on the 1st and late on the second. I gave them all of the details they will need going forward. I included a brief form that I asked them to fill out and email back to me. They all did this promptly. One tenant wrote me to tell me that they are on disability and their check doesn't come until the 3rd of the month and that's when they can pay. The second tenant uses his social security and told me gets that check on the 3rd Tuesday of every month and that's when he can pay. 

Tenant's were inherited, all of them smoke but not in the units. Units are well kept and clean. One tenant is on a month to month lease and the other is finishing a one year lease in May. 

Both tenants pay virtually all of their own expenses and rent is low on both by perhaps $100-175 

I want them to pay on the 1st. What can I say? Can I get into trouble for demanding 1st of the month? I wan't to treat this like a business from the very start. 

What should I do?

Can anyone tell me which rental property management platforms allow you to

A. Upload your OWN lease agreements.

B. Upload your OWN Applications 

C. Is deal for managing a smaller portfolio

Let me know what platforms you recommend and why?

I've poured over the previous posts on topics like this looking for answers but a lot of the conversations are pretty old. 

There are a lot of things you could be doing with your time and I really appreciate you taking the time to read this.