All Forum Posts by: Kristann Montague

Once again, thanks for the responses everyone. I should have taken control of the situation right from the outset and will definitely do that next time there is a maintenance issue. The tenant thought she was doing me a favor to arrange for the plumber, and I didn't stop her from making the call (I could have told her to cancel the visit so I could arrange for someone else instead, and I didn't do that). My mistake. Mea culpa.

I belong to Angie's List and looked up the plumber after the fact. They are rated "C" overall (recent ratings are "B" for quality but a "C" or "D" for price -- which sounds about right, given my own experience with them); definitely they're not a firm I would have hired had I looked myself, and I'll never use them again.

I'll let the tenant know I belong to Angie's List and will research contractors myself in the future to be sure the best qualified firms are doing the work. She's a good tenant so far (she actually used to be a landlord herself years ago, and knows firsthand what it's like to have problems with rental properties/tenants), so I'm sure I won't have this sort of issue with her again.

I'll chalk this one up to experience being an effective (and very expensive) teacher. I certainly learned my lesson here.

Hi all,

Thanks for the feedback. Your advice is good. Next time I will control the selection of the contractor and verify the issues myself. I know the tenant was shocked and upset about the expense too. Neither of us was expecting that. We both thought the tub drain issue would be no big deal.

I looked at the inspection report and noticed the inspector had noted that the tub drain was leaking in the crawlspace under the bath, and recommended to have it repaired and corrected. I had added that to the inspection contingency addendum and the seller agreed to do the repair, and told me that it had been completed. It now appears that did not happen -- or at least the leak was repaired but the source of the leak was not addressed (inoperable drain).

Do I have any recourse against the seller? Can I ask the seller to pay for the bathtub drain repairs? I will take responsibility for the washer repairs since that was not noted in the inspection report. I am planning to contact my realtor first thing on Tuesday about this.

Hi all,

Forgive me but this is a rant. I'm a newbie RE Investor; I just closed on my first rental property (2 bed, 1 bath SFH) on 9/26. I was very fortunate to get a renter lined up before closing, and she moved in last weekend (9/29). I was particularly excited because I had a full months' rent paid a month before my first mortgage payment was due, and that was going to be the start of my contingency fund.

A couple of days after moving in, my tenant called me to say the bathtub wasn't draining properly. I authorized her to call a plumber to check it out, and the plumber just came by today; it turns out that the entire tub drain assembly needed to be replaced. While he was there she mentioned having a question about the washing machine not working quite right, and he also checked on the washer (he replaced hoses, which were old and not working properly, and cleaned out the drain area). The bill came to $1500. Thank goodness I had that first month's rent, because that just about covered the repair bill (rent is $1150/mo.). So, I'm starting off my landlording life in the red by $350!

I'm pretty sure it's too late for me to go back to the sellers to pitch in for the repairs (I seriously doubt they knew about the problems, as they were prompt to fix everything on the inspection punch list). The house was vacant for several months during the buying process, and I wonder if that contributed to the problems.

Anyhow, I'm having a bad day, and hoping this is not the start of being bled dry with problems. I knew going in that being a landlord means dealing with stuff like this, but I was not expecting to have problems/expenses like this right off the bat. Live and learn....arrgggghhh.

Joshua, thank you!

Hi, thanks for the feedback!

@Raymond -- Rentometer says a fair range is $1100 - $1400/mo for a 3 bedroom. The house is 2 bedrooms + a bonus room (no closet in the 3rd room -- I'm thinking seriously of hiring a contractor to build in a closet but haven't decided yet; I don't think it would cost much but could help me get a higher price and the time to recoup the investment would hopefully be a year or less).

My realtor is not active with rentals but talked to the resident agent in his office who handles rentals and got the estimate from her, based on market comps, and that's where he got the range of $1125 - $1150. There's not a whole lot of similar SFH rentals in the area so it's a little difficult to pinpoint what the optimal price should be (the only other listing right now on Craigslist for a similar type home in the vicinity is much higher, $1400/mo. -- they have about 80 sf more and an extra 1/2 bathroom, but the house/property is not nearly as nice as mine). My realtor indicated the price in the $1125 - $1150 range would result in a quick rental. Like everyone else, I want to get the best rental price I can get while also minimizing the vacancy time.

@ Lynn, I'm aware that in WA there is usually a gap between the closing date and the date of possession ... when we bought our primary residence there was a 2 day gap, and I was giving myself a little cushion (closing is on a Wednesday so I was counting on getting the keys by Friday night). But I definitely will keep this in mind and be checking on the status of closing as we get closer to the big day. I might need to wait until the following weekend for the open houses just to be on the safe side. Fortunately, the house is already move-in ready; the current owners have done a great job of prepping it for sale and I really don't need to do anything as far as maintenance is concerned. The owners had their elderly parents living there until recently and the house has been extremely well cared for -- a major reason I bought it.

Thanks for your help, I am super excited and nervous all at the same time.

BP is such a great resource to newbies like me!

Hi everyone. I'm a newbie investor and have some questions. This week I just purchased my first rental property (a SFH). Closing date is scheduled for 9/26/12. I'm unsure as to when I can begin marketing this property to prospective tenants. I'd like to start at least a couple of weeks prior to closing date by putting up Postlets on Craigslist and Zillow, and announcing a couple of open houses for prospective tenants on 9/29 and 9/30 (I plan to do showings primarily through open houses). I know I couldn't put up a For Rent sign up until the house is mine, unless the sellers consent to doing that earlier (I haven't asked yet and not sure whether I should even bother).

Since I won't officially own the house until 9/26 (assuming all goes well), I know I can't start showing the house until then. However, is there anything to prevent me from marketing in advance, as long as I am clear as to the availability for showing/move in? Obviously I want to rent out this property as soon as possible, but don't want to violate any laws/protocol by doing this. I also think I have a good handle on what the fair market rent is for this property, but by advertising early I think I could better gauge the interest level at the rate I'll be asking (and if there is little interest, maybe that means I need to lower the rent).

Speaking of which, I do have another question. How accurate is Zillow for establishing fair market rents? Zillow says this property should rent at $1225/month while my realtor estimated $1125 - $1150/mo. I was planning to market it at $1195 and if there's not a lot of interest, to lower it to $1150.