All Forum Posts by: Kelly N.

To get to the garage, they have to drive over the driveway, right?  How is driving over it going to damage the concrete less than parking on it?  Or maybe the previous owner was worried about oil or grease stains.

When we had our driveway redone, we asked for extra gravel and went with 6" of asphalt instead of 4" so that we wouldn't have to be worried about heavy equipment damaging it, but this is at our own home where we used to routinely drive heavy loads into our yard to get to the barn.  I doubt that this guy's landscaping trailers and trucks are going to damage the concrete unless it wasn't done properly.

You might be able to find a replacement oven door, we've replaced two before.  Surprisingly, neither was in a rental.

Add limestone gravel to it, with dust. It will harden up and be pretty solid.

We've had to replace a LOT of hollow core doors over the years, most were damaged by inherited tenants and due to the slumlord that owned it before us there was no documentation on the unit condition prior to the inherited tenants moving in, along with no security deposit in place.  He had covered most of them with those cheap $8 mirrors and in some cases he attached a wood piece over the spot and put hooks for towels or whatever on them, so I suspect most of it was prior to those tenants moving in.  Especially considering doors were busted up in all 4 units.

Anyways, the ONE time we had our tenant put a hole in the hollow core door (and the drywall- they claimed the fist sized, shoulder level holes were from moving the dresser), we replaced the door with a solid door and deducted the price of a hollow door from their deposit.  No one is punching a hole in that, and it does improve the feel of the apartment even if people don't realize it.

We typically buy occupied multifamily properties, so 0 days most of the time.  One quad we bought had 2 empty units, we cleaned them and repaired a few things, and had them both rented within 3-4 weeks. 

Option 1.  Fix or repair the dryer, or the power issue, asap.  Sounds like you are at risk of an electrical fire, plus tenants should be able to wash and dry their clothes if the appliances are in the lease.  I wouldn't want to be sending tenants to the laundry mat in the current pandemic situation.  And sorry, but how do you not know if it's an electric dryer or not?

Wear a mask, use hand sanitizer, and get it taken care of.

I state our requirements briefly at the end of every ad, it does save some time screening but some folks still won't read the requirements.

Something like "3x the monthly rent in income (Students may use a personal guarantor), min credit score of 600 (no credit score due to lack of use is also acceptable), no criminal or eviction history." 

Where I am, we get some students whose parents are paying, hence the personal guarantor.  If they aren't a student and their parents are still paying, that's  no-go for me.  We also get people with no credit score, or who think they have no credit score.  I also have a written sheet that we follow in the event that more than one person or group applies, so that I can take the best qualified based on our per-established criteria.

Hi Tyson,

I think that offering up the entire balance due for the year will likely work against you, it might make them think you are hiding something, or plan to start a grow operation or other illegal activity in their rental unit. 

I would approach the property manager and ask them if there is a way that you can rent the apartment.  Perhaps an increased deposit, a higher rent until your score improves to their standard, increased late fees, or a month to month lease would work.

I normally ask for a security deposit equal to one month's rent, 1.5x is the max allowed by law where I am and I would increase the deposit to the max IF the prospective tenant had a score above 500 and was working to improve their score and the rest of their history looked ok.

Given the current environment with COVID -19, they may be very willing to help you out just to get a paying tenant into a vacant rental.

Hope that helps,

Kelly

It is looking good so far for us in Michigan-

I have 5 out of 26 tenants that have yet to pay- 2 have already told me they are paying on the 3rd, and both acted as if they were asking permission even though we don't charge late fees until the 6th (and one normally pays on the 5th anyhow).  Of the 3 I haven't heard from, 1 has a roommate who already paid and typically pays towards the 5th, they other 2 I am expecting payments from on or before the 5th as well- one I know is able to work from home, the other couple both work for Universities so are still getting paid.

The ones I was most worried about (students and those who I know are not working) have paid.  There have been some posts on social media about a rent strike- particularly targeting one of the big companies since a lot of folks don't have warm fuzzy feelings about the guy that owns it- but that does not seem to be gaining much support.  We shall see what next month brings...

Who is on the lease, and what does it say? 

Have you run a background check on the boyfriend?  If not, why is he permitted to move in?