All Forum Posts by: Jon Swift

Thanks for all the quick responses. I do have a list of criteria that I told her about up front and I know I have read on here multiple times that credit score isn't everything. So I had figured if she had bad credit but a couple really good references from previous landlords I could over look the credit but since she has neither it makes me iffy and I just wanted to get a feel what everyone else would do.

Do credit reports show previous credit scores? Would I be able to tell if before her divorce she was good about paying stuff on time and had decent credit?

This is my first time screening for a tenant and was hoping to get some advice. I have a woman who would like to rent but she told me she has horrible credit due to a divorce, I figured that if she had good references from previous landlords I could possible move forward but she doesn't have any references either. 

I know I've read that credit score isn't everything but with bad credit and no renting history should I pass?

I'm currently rehabbing a house to move to and plan to rent out my old house. I was planning on only doing leases for a year at a time but someone wants to rent the house for 3-6 months and said they are willing to pay over the amount I have the property listed for to get in there. 

 My question is, since this is my first time renting a house should i avoid short term leases for the time being? Also if i were to decide to rent short term and have them pay more what would be a reasonable amount, $100-200 extra a month?

That is what i was worried about but since its likely the basement that flooded it's possible the furnce, water heater and breaker box were ruined which would cost too much to fix anyways and we'd have to walk away.

I also just found out through our realtor that this broken pipe/pressure issue didn't exist before they winterized the house. So shouldn't this be the banks issue to fix since they or the company the winterized it  are the ones that broke it?

The inspection would be necessary because we are financing the property.

The preliminary inspection from the bank makes mention of the basement being gutted most likely do to water damage but thats as far as it goes.

Can you renogotiate the price once you find out what problems the proerty has or will the bank not do that?

I put and offer in on a Homepath home and the offer was accepted. The house was winterized and the basement looks like it has been flooded and all the drywall torn out.

Now that the bank has accepted our offer they tell us that the home can't be dewinterize because of a burst pipe/ pressure problem. They want us to pay for a plumber to come out and fix the plumbing issue so we can get the inspection.

The home is listed as-is but should i have to pay to fix the plumbing even though i dont own the house yet? If i do pay to fix the plumbing issue and something else comes up that causes us to pull our offer would i be able to recoupe that money or would it be gone?

Since money will be tight would i be able to rent the house in its current condition and just tell the tenant when i plan to fix everything. Like the windows will be fixed in 3 months and the breaker box in 6 months?

The house has central air and we just replaced the A/C unit last summer. So cooling the rooms in the summer isnt a problem.

I probably didn't describe the circuit breaker box well enough but its in a divider wall in the middle of the kitchen. The wall comes out as deep as the fridge and separates the kitchen from a small dinning area. Flipping the box to the other side of the wall would make it easier to access. I plan to do it eventually because i dont want to worry about tenants pulling the fridge out whenever a break blows.