All Forum Posts by: Kay March

If cash flow is your primary goal. consider high yielding REITs.

Thank you, everyone.

I have two very needy, nitpicking tenants who have recently informed me that they would like to have the ducts cleaned and they are willing to pay for it. I have refused their request for reasons that I need not go into here. I believe they will continue to make an issue of the duct cleaning, claiming that it is necessary to cure their "allergies" (I don't believe they have allergies). At this point it is just fine with me if they wish to move out, and I plan to tell them in writing that they may break the lease and move out whenever they want to. Is there some reason why I should do more than send an email to that effect; for example, is there some reason why I should present this offer as an amendment to the lease?

@Bill B., That's interesting about the Teslas. It's the fires in Chevy Bolts that have been much in the news lately, and there are other electric cars that have had problems with spontaneous fires. Again, it's the fact that these cars tend to catch fire when they're parked that makes them a risk to homes. General Motors has told Bolt owners to park at some distance from their homes and from other cars.

@Bill B.. you don't have to be rich to buy an electric car. A 2017 Chevy Bolt will cost around $20,000.

@Theresa Harris According to Consumer Reports, "All electric vehicles come with a 110-volt-compatible, or Level 1, home
connector kit. It’s essentially a fancy extension cord that allows your car to be plugged into a standard outlet on one end and into the car on the other end." https://www.consumerreports.or...

@Bill B. I've read that gas cars catch fire more often than electric cars, but gas cars tend to catch fire when they're involved in accidents, while electric cars catch fire spontaneously when they're parked, so they are more likely to cause harm to the home. Electric car fires are also harder to put out.

After reading reports of serious, damaging fires caused by electric car batteries, I'm considering disqualifying potential tenants who have electric cars and putting a clause in my lease prohibiting electric cars and stating that the tenant expressly assumes all risk of damage to the property arising from electric car fires. It's my understanding that these fires are highly unpredictable and there are no reliable prevention measures. Has anyone else taken steps to deal with this risk?

@Theresa Harris Yes, my lease does prohibit using the deposit to cover the last month's rent, but sometimes tenants ignore the lease. At that point in the relationship, sometimes there's not much they're afraid of. 

@Kaylane Davis No, the tenant has not broken the lease. The lease renews automatically unless he gives notice. It renews with an automatic rent increase of $25 per month but without an automatic increase in the security deposit. If the lease keeps renewing without an increase in the security deposit, at some point the rent will exceed the security deposit, and if the tenant decides to move out and not pay his last month's rent, the deposit won't cover it.