All Forum Posts by: Jesse Smith

Thanks for the idea!  This seems like a pretty involved process.  Any idea what sort of cost I should expect for something like this?

Yes it does.  The ceilings are quite high.  Not certain on the exact level, but room for some ideas! 

Commenting for visibility

I own a 110yr old apartment building, with four symmetrical 2b/1ba units.  Two on the top floor and two on the bottom.

All units have beautiful, original hardwoods.  While lovely to look at, the floors do a terrible job dampening any sound from upstairs to down.  I've gotten complaints from my downstairs tenants that they can hear everything going on upstairs.

I've been reading about flooring options to deaden the noise transfer.  At this point, I'm planning to use an acoustic underlayment and install carpet in the bedrooms, at least.  

What products have you found to do the best job with this?  Any other ideas to reduce noise?  Wall treatments?

Thanks for all the replies so far.  I have reached out to the dad over the past couple weeks.  Turns out that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.  After a week of promising to pay and apologizing for his sons actions, he has gone completely dark as well.  Won't answer calls or respond to texts.  He even told me that he had mailed a check nearly two weeks ago... Nothing.

To those of you saying that this is my fault, you are mostly correct.  This was the final tenant I placed, before I started screening much more tightly.  

I'm following the rules for notice of abandonment in Missouri, then I do plan to bring legal action.  It sounds like small claims and then a bank garnishment will be the best route.

The father is a dental equipment salesperson, and I have his home address for service of the suit.  I will plan to file, at least in small claims court.  If I get a judgement, I also have a rent check from the dad for a bank account garnishment.  I don't plan to just let this go away.

Thanks for the reply.  There's nothing from him in writing to indicate that he had planned to move out.  Just a phone call.  Without anything in writing, why couldn't I continue to charge rent until another tenant is placed?  Missouri law permits it.

This is in Missouri.  One of my tenants stopped paying rent in October.  He then called me in mid-November and said he had moved back home with his parents, and he would no longer need to rent the unit.  His lease runs through February 2020, and I have a 2-month lease-break fee.  His father also co-signed the lease.

I have posted and mailed the required legal notice that the apartment is considered to be abandoned.  The 10-day waiting period will finish on Monday, so I want to get things rolling.  I already have a bid lined up to remove all of the property in the unit (nothing valuable - mostly worn out furniture).  I will also be taking plenty of pictures and changing out the locks.  I'm working on a listing to get the place filled after I remove the property and clean it out.  

At this point, he owes rent for October and November and has completely stopped responding to my requests for payment.  I understand that I'm allowed to continue to charge rent until a new tenant moves in, as long as I'm making a "good faith effort" to find a new tenant.  My questions is what kind of lawsuit do I need to file to recover the unpaid rent, late fees, and expenses for removal of his property?  Can I also go after the 2-month lease break fee?  This will likely exceed the $3,000 threshold for small claims.  

Thanks for any advice!

Not familiar with the Kirby reference.  Friends come to me and ask for all the same advice they should be getting from their agent... but I earn nothing.

Thanks for the response.  I love helping my friends, and I am going to continue to do it either way.  If the tables were turned, I would absolutely want my friend to earn a commission if I was already going to be buying a house.  By my math, if my 6 friends used me as their agent, I would have earned an extra $85,000 this year.  That's a lot of money left on the table.

They seem to know I'm proficient as an agent, or they wouldn't be asking me detailed questions through (and after) the process.  It's honestly really hard not to take it personally - wondering what I'm doing to make them think I wouldn't be the best option to help them through the process.  I mean, they're literally hiring (at least in two cases for sure) people they had never met.  If my friends won't trust me with this, I have trouble believing that anyone else would.  Someone else mentioned that maybe they didn't want to share financial or personal details... I've actually helped most of these folks set up their investment accounts, so I've seen all of their financial info.

The worst is when the agent they selected completely drops the ball on something, and I have to hear about it.  My tongue is raw from biting it, and my wife is simply tired of hearing about it... since she's really the only one I talk to about this.