All Forum Posts by: Jon R.

Definitely a big NO. Tenants are assets, a friend cannot be a financial asset unless you are not treating them very friendly. Does not matter whether you are the landlord or the tenant, never ever with friends or family. Unless you want to completely lose said friend/family.

I frequently make offers based on nothing more than the MLS listing, sight unseen, with a cash offer above asking within 24 hours of listing...so yes.

 At least we can agree on something. Any technology that gets rid of property managers or meeting tenants is gold. It hasn't happened yet.

And yet again I have to point out the entire point is the tenant is being interviewed. I have to SMELL them. (Just a few days ago I turned down somebody who said they don't smoke for a non smoking property because he smelled like a Vegas hotel room)

 The unfortunate problem is tenants are often that dumb. Like the person who apparently paid an application fee and deposit without ever seeing the house or talking to the owner. I'd love to just say screw craigslist and forget it exists, but then things like this happen. They are starting to charge listing fees in busy areas, which should cut down on scams.

It is funny, I posted an ad on craigslist for a buildable 1/2 acre lot I have for sale, no hurry to sell. I only posted it because it is bare land. The kind of questions I get from the people of craigslist are bewildering and bizarre, definitely 98% are only window shoppers.

Honestly more legal action needs to be taken against craigslist, and it will if they continue unchanged. Like I said earlier this is the only reason they got rid of their open and obvious prostitute and drug sales, they had to be forced.

I appreciate the offer, but I don't want this thing popping up anywhere else on the internet. One of the 3 ads has gone down, but interestingly he is no longer answering his phone, even when I call from different numbers. Almost like the homeowner called and threatened violence. Huh...

 I have also posted another CL ad warning people, which I don't like to do, but on CL there is only 1 single house available in this area. Probably why the scam happened in the first place.

I do appreciate those that have offered advice, thank you.

It's best to never ever promise to do any improvements beyond those required by law. As soon as you say that the tenant now thinks they are entitled to have that. My lease and most others state something to the effect of "you have had a chance to inspect, and you take this house exactly as it sits", meaning nothing needs to be upgraded after it is signed.

As an example, I told one tenant that I was going to have the roof cleaned last summer. This is just normal maintenance, nothing to do with the tenant. I only told him so he would be aware people are coming. A month later, in court, he tries to use this against me that I didn't have the roof cleaned. It took longer than expected thanks to covid. As if that has ANY bearing on his tenancy what so ever. It didn't leak, and the roof wasn't messy, but the rest of the house this guy had was. (And to be clear, the judge didn't care)

Basically what I'm saying is tenants are often really really really dumb, and they look for everything and anything they can to use against you whenever things don't go to their liking. If you want to fix/upgrade something by all means do it...just don't tell them what they are getting first.

 You should google how secure Kwikset products are. If you have one on your house, I can get in without damage or sound in under 30 seconds, and so can anybody else with youtube.

The commercial locks I use are used on banks, pharmacies, and almost any other commercial space. They would never ever ever consider using anything kwikset based. (It's funny, neither Home Depot nor Lowes actually sell the type of locks they use  for their own stores!)

Like I said, they're not even expensive if you buy them online. So much higher quality! Not just hard to pick, longer lasting. A rental is a commercial environment.

That is genuinely horrible advice! You're a property manager?! Tell me you don't do this to client properties?! Just like a tenant picking their house, I pick the tenant. I would never under any circumstances allow a tenant I have not met in person. Also everybody is afraid of scams these days, on both sides, both sides need to see the person or you're going to get scammed or robbed. Doesn't matter if you have their ID, it could easily be fake, you have no way to check.

When I am showing a house I am investigating the tenant. What kind of car do they have? Is it clean? Are they clean? How are they dressed? Do they stink? Do they obviously smoke? Is there something totally weird about them you can't place but you don't trust them? Do they have 17 kids they never said anything about? Do girl and boy fight constantly? All of these and more are things I am checking. Just because you filled out an application and saw the house does not mean that I am going to pick you. My decision simply cannot be made without a meeting.

Additionally, any pets are approved only on a case by case basis, so I have to meet any pet.

Approving literally random strangers is so ridiculous! For the same reason I would never hire a property manager, but if I had to and this is what they did, many strong words would be used towards them...

I suspect that should be in any document you may have signed with them. Read everything carefully. You may not owe them anything if you find a tenant before they do, or, your agreement might say you owe them no matter what unless they cannot find a tenant by X date. Perhaps there is a cancelation fee that is lower than the placement fee?

You might want to discuss your displeasure with the agent, these people are in the customer service business, if you find they are difficult to work with you need to fire them.

Garnishing wages or bank accounts is all you're ever going to be able to do. That's all any bill collector can do. If you know where they are and they have a job, this could be easy. If not, you're going to have to do some serious digging.

With that said, yes, if you are successful in garnishing, there is no reason you should not get every cent back, until the person either goes bankrupt, homeless, or disappears entirely. This is why I require tenant's social security number and ID/license plate numbers, so I can find them if they run. One time a loser left 3 years of tax returns with his other garbage and tried to hide...I had his social, bank account, and W2s!