All Forum Posts by: Jenni Moore

@Joe Splitrock I really appreciate your comment and for sharing your view on this! This is not something I knew about (baby not counting) and also was unaware that this type of language could be criminal...not my intention at all, so I will be careful what I say moving forward. I was actually much more focused on and concerned about myself getting into trouble for knowingly allowing too many people to reside in the unit.

You are correct, the real reason I need them out is to renovate. My previous reply explains some of the extensive renovations needed and they have a tub that currently leaks every time they use it - which ultimately is damaging my property, therefore I need to renovate the unit in a timely manner. I bought the property in that condition, but really thought we’d be doing the renovations last fall, so we are way behind my ideal timeline anyway. Now it’s spring and we need to get central air installed before it’s summer or the unit won’t even be rentable for the summer. I can’t budge on the timeline.

@Nicholas L. I have 4 young kids of my own, I totally see where you are coming from! We bought the property last July and allowed the current tenants to finish out their existing lease (up in the fall), we figured they’d move on since they made no indication they wanted to stay....but both did not move out like I had assumed. I found myself scrambling to offer new leases, so the units wouldn’t be vacant over the winter. At that time we only had 6 and 12 month leases. Both tenants asked for m2m but that’s not something we had previously offered, so we told them it wasn’t an option. Both tenants signed a 6 month lease....again, total assumption on my part, but after begging for m2m and then choosing 6m over the 12m option - it REALLY sounded like neither intended to stay for long!!

Now, in hindsight, they probably knew they were expecting a little baby and you’d think that knowing that would entice them to choose the long term stability, but no that’s not what they did. I however had no idea they were expecting a baby until we offered them a m2m lease when the 6m was up (because again, they didn’t move out!). I kindly explained to them that choosing the shortest lease term possible leaves me believing they don’t want to stay long, so I began planning the renovations and getting a contractor scheduled for the spring.

Well, here we are, it’s spring, I gave them 60 days (yes, they were clearly agitated, and mentioned the baby coming) and told them I already had the repairs scheduled for May.

I feel like going back on this is a super slippery slope. I’ll be behind on repairs and might lose my contractor if I’m not ready to roll when his schedule allows.

Also, the repairs are pretty significant...this side of the duplex doesn’t have central air, so we have to get that installed, total bathroom gut b/c the tub is cracked and the sink leaks and toilet is 50 years old....I can’t do this stuff while they remain living there.

@Brian Ploszay how would you advise going about finding an “eviction lawyer”?

@Brian Ploszay thanks for the reassurance - I completely agree on not offering them a chance to return. They have become somewhat combative towards me and have begun making the tenants in the adjoining unit very uncomfortable (threats, yelling, etc). They aren’t welcome back.

I didn’t expect it to come to this, I just thought giving them verbal notice at 60 days and then sending letterhead via certified mail at 30 days was good enough. I expected them to be on their way, but it’s looking like it may just turn into a big issue. I can’t have them running off the other renter either, then I’d have both units of the duplex vacant!

@Theresa Harris yes, you are correct in assuming the other side rents for more, but this renter in discussion seems to believe that THEY are the ones paying more and they have to live in the worst unit...ugh...that clearly makes no sense, but they just can’t be reasoned with!

@Joe Martella I guess I hadn’t thought of that. Do you think their angle is to try and get another month there if they know they can’t be kicked out?? I mean, we aren’t trying to “kick them out” and we definitely aren’t evicting them. We just need them out so we can make necessary repairs, renovate, and raise rent to match the adjoining unit.

@Theresa Harris I should mention that since the birth of their new baby they have: 2 parents, 1 teenager, 3 kids under 3 yrs all living in a 2bd/1ba duplex. They won’t be offered an opportunity to return based on how many people reside there. That’s over the 2 per bedroom plus 1 rule.

I need to vacate a renter (one side of duplex) in order to make major repairs. Tenant was month2month and we gave 30 days notice. They should be out on/by May 31, 2021. They weren’t happy with the notice, started attacking me about all the things wrong with the unit (duh - that’s why we need to renovate), yelling about how good the other tenant has it and how awful it is that we are “kicking them out”, but not kicking out the other tenant (their side was already updated before we purchased the property). I was kind enough to give them the heads-up an entire month before I mailed the 30 days notice, so they knew it was coming.

Anyway, beside being ticked off that we need them out, they are trying to make it personal and also making life miserable for the next-door tenant. They went ahead and scheduled their June 1, 2021 payment on our management portal...they have never “scheduled” a payment ahead of time in the past! To me this indicates that they are not planning to leave when they are supposed to.

What should I do?

If the payment sends when they scheduled it, am I obligated to let them stay or do I have to move to an official eviction?

The property is in Kansas and we self manage....really questioning that part moving forward.

@Vince Mayer @Mark Gallagher

Thanks for your responses. I have yet to get inside the house, so I can't be 100% sure of the layout, but from the interior photos it looks as though the garage entrance is currently in the kitchen. I would intend to change that and put the new garage access entrance in a hallway or mudroom built behind the converted bedroom. If the bedroom is now in the 1-car side of the garage, it will still be in close proximity to a nearby bathroom, as there is a bathroom just off from the kitchen, but understandably not directly by the bedroom.

Would you all consider that a weird layout? 

I'm definitely new to this, so gathering stats from comparables and rental prices is not something I feel really confident about, but it seems a 2-2 in the area will rent for $800-$1000/mo and 3-2 rents for $1100-1400/mo....most of those numbers come from apartments without garages/yards, but some are from duplexes. I've found very few houses in the immediate area, but certainly some within the same town/zip and they are in the $1200-1500/mo range. 

I'm looking at getting the property for around $100k and using equity from my first property (the home I currently live in) to do the rehab work...which right now is just tearing out some damaged room additions in the basement and (hopefully) converting the 1-car garage. I normally wouldn't consider spending this much on my first rental/flip, but owner financing is so enticing. The owner wants out and doesn't want to put in the time/money to get it ready for market....that's where I come in...if it calculates out anyway!

Any ideas on how to find out how much it would cost to convert the garage? 

The contractors I've spoken with want to look at it all before they will even shoot me a broad estimate - understandable - but I don't have access to the property yet.