All Forum Posts by: Kelly N.

We filmed video tours of all our occupied apartments that are on the market.  So far, I have one leased this way, and a second that watched the video and then wanted to see it in person before leasing- understandable since the video showed it unoccupied so it is harder to understand the size of the place.

I am not posting the videos publicly, but sending prospective tenants a link to view the video instead, at least for the videos that show the unit with the current furnishings in it. 

We did a few showings before things really locked down here, and confirmed the health and lack of exposure to the virus of both the current and future tenants.  I operated all the doors and switches, and wiped them down along with handrails with Clorox wipes before and after touring, along with providing hand sanitizer. I'm liking this enough that I may insist they view the virtual tour prior to scheduling an in person showing in the future, once things get back closer to normal...

I have mainly 12 month leases, occassionally shorter terms of ot suits us (we prefer summer turnover).  I don't have any monrh to month, and have seen a few 24 month leases on the area, but I wouldn't go longer than 12 personally.

What is typical for your area?

I have just started using cozy, most of our apartments have multiple tenants on the same lease. I have entered the total amount due and listed every tenant. They are able to set the amount they pay, and so far it's going well. I think this will work better than the individual invoices I was sending through quickbooks- now they can see if their roommate hasn't paid.

Most of our leases end in the summer since we rent in a college town, and folks want to be in before fall classes start.  I use Quickbooks for our accounting, and have the lease end date noted in every tenant's info there so it shows up on their invoices too.  I am switching over to Cozy.co right now, and lease end dates are part of their program as well, and like @Evan Polaski said above, I also keep the dates in my calendar on my phone.

We review all the properties over the winter to see what we are making per door, and what our competitors are charging for comparable units so we know what we need to do with rents.  I then have a list in Excel of units, current end dates and rent, what the rent will be for this tenant if they stay, what rent we would charge for a new tenant moving in, when the apartment could be moved into (2 days after the lease end date typically, longer if upgrades are planned) and how much we will spend upgrading the apartment if the current tenants move out.  Then I contact each tenant about the upcoming end of their lease, let them know what rent will be for the new term, and see if they want to renew.  If so, we arrange to sign a lease by a certain date (3/31 typically) and start marketing apartments that will be available.

If she can move in April 1, I would give her April 15-30 for free, but PRORATE MAY'S RENT not April.  She needs to pay the entire deposit and one entire month's rent before she has keys.  (And last month's rent if you can collect that where you are). 

For us, rent is due on the 1st, if they move in more than a week before or after that date I collect the full month's rent and prorate the second month, that way I collect as much as possible up front.

Your contractor should be able to work during certain hours (8 am to 7 pm where we are), so while it may be a nuisance to the neighbor as long as it is during permissible work/noise hours then they really can't do anything but complain.  Get him in there to get the job done, or go do it yourself.

They moved out on the first, but you don't get the keys until Friday?  Sounds to me like you don't have possession until Friday, so they owe rent up until then, or until 30 days after they gave you notice.

Did they tell you in writing that they vacated?  IMO, but check your local laws, if they didn't pay and said they left, you can enter without notice. 

We inherited a tenant who swore he always paid by the 6th every month.  Two months in, on the 6th, I haven't received payment and also got a shut off notice e mailed to me that morning.  We went to the apartment and spoke with neighbors, he had moved out in a hurry the day before.  We could see that some things were still in the apartment through the window, no one was coming to the door, and I felt we had a right to enter.  I put the key that the previous landlord had given me in the lock, it didn't work, then I recalled that the tenant had been home each and every time we had visited, before and after the purchase, so now I have a new item on my new purchase checklist- verify that the keys work!  Luckily he had left a window unlocked, so with a boost from my husband I gained entry through the window.  He had left one working window A/C unit, a bunch of broken furniture, and 6 kitchen cabinets were stuffed full of plastic grocery bags.  We cleaned and fixed up the apartment, and had it rented within a month.  I never got a forwarding address despite leaving several messages, so I sent his final statement to the same address to be forwarded to him and never heard a thing from him.  We kept his deposit, between giving no notice we would have been entitled to it for the month's rent, it would have been difficult to make a case on the damages since there was no condition report from when he moved in, but we could have charged him to remove and dispose of all the junk.

We went through this as a buyer a few years back, and ended up going to a new lender and paying for a new appraisal to get the deal to go through.  We challenged the first appraisal, but they are pretty much untouchable, the lender can't even dictate who is used to keep things "fair".

Good luck to you.

I would just replace the countertop with another laminate countertop.  Your big box stores will have some in stock, you just have to cut them to size, cut a sink hole in them, and install.  Or, you may be able to order them premade.  Near us, we have found that Menards has the best prices on in stock counters, Home Depot and Lowes aren't bad either.

Check your local municipality.  Sometimes you need a Certificate of Occupancy to use the home as a rental unit, along with periodic inspections to maintain the C of O, other places you may not.

Hi Gary,

I'm in Michigan and we will be under a "Stay at Home" order as of midnight tonight.

I have video tours of all the apartments we have on the market and will show the one we have that is currently unoccupied if needed. I've already leased one using the video tour only, the new tenant will tour the apartment in person after the Stay At Home order is lifted.  

If someone wants to move into the empty unit, they can as long as they qualify.  Right now, that would mean they are able to work or have reserves available to pay rent until they can work.