All Forum Posts by: Johann Jells

Yes. It's tough to evict for anything but non-payment, lease renewal is mandatory with potential judicial review of a big enough rent raise. But choose your tenants well and that's not an issue, is it?

Not true! NJ courts have no patience with non-payment. If a tenant shows up in court without the rent and whines about maintenance or pest issues they WILL be evicted! Talking from experience here. 

That said, in 25 years of doing this and 12 units, I've only had 2 evictions, both of legacy tenants. Choose your tenants wisely! Use your nose, and do it yourself rather than trust an agent. I just had a tenant leave owing me 2 months, but it was not a court battle, she had some class and just left. And that was the worst of the whole Covid era, I had like 80% turnover but no one else stiffed me.

Been using Cozy, now Apartments.com for years. Tried Zillow recently as I generally like their interface better, it's OK, but I noted they can't take individual payments from roommates the way Apts can. 

Damn, I just can't believe how bad that site is compared to Zillow. I've used it to collect rent since it bought Cozy, but cannot figure out how to list. When I open up the listing page it brings up all the units in that building already checked off as "active". Nope, I just want to list one unit. But I can't! When I try to post the ad it insists I populate the info for all of them. WTF? Does anyone have relevant experience with this?

I've been using Cozy/Apartments.com for rent collection for many years, but not usually for starting a lease. How secure is it that I'll get the money and the new renter can't claw it back if they have a change of heart? I'm okay with the usual delay, I just don't want to get a surprise a week after taking the unit off the market. Of course I'm inconsistent, I usually will take a personal check and not insist on a bank check.

I'm also considering migrating to Zillow for new tenants, I find the Apartments.com interface exasperating to navigate and find functions. 

I'm sure they like them, but everything looks great when new.  I'd love to hear from someone with white rental cabs 5-15 years old! My white rental vanities need replacement after just a few years, but that's just one little cab, not a whole kitchen.

Sure, but how has it worn?

I've always installed light oak to midtone natural wood in my kitchens, but it has gotten almost impossible to find in the import cabinets. Everything is painted or very dark stains. 

My experience with the ridiculously popular white cabinets is not good, even in my own bathroom the frames yellowed horribly. I imagine in a rental damage is absurdly obvious, versus wood where it can be hidden by the grain or simply wiped with Old English or stain. 

So what are all you installing, I'm guessing white anyway, right? 

It may be more stain resistant in the lighter colors, but you can't put a hot pan right on it like you can granite since it's really just stone particles cast in plastic resin.