All Forum Posts by: MacKenzie Clinton

well, I guess I spoke too soon. Tenants are alleging that the home is still uninhabitable and dangerous to their children and want to pursue me for lodging and maybe property damage. I've had a handyman working there every day this week and he says there isn't even an odor any more, let alone dangerous levels of smoke. I have lots of witnesses on the condition of the property and consulted a lawyer today. He recommended offering to let them terminate their lease if they are unhappy with the condition of the property so we are going to give it a shot tomorrow. I know this stuff appens but I'm pretty bummed it was with our first tenants! >.> 

Pretty discouraging, but we will do our best to get past this and screen harder next time!! Sigh

So the "good" news here is that our tenants are melodramatic and don't know how to handle things. I was able to talk to the fire chief on my drive in to the property this morning. He said the fire never left the oven and all they did at the scene was turn off the oven, unplug it, move it away from the wall and open the windows. He said the house would smell for a few days but that it was totally safe to inhabit, the stove seemed fine, and he wasn't really sure where they were getting this stuff.

The property is in great overall condition, the stove and oven are fine except that the oven seal is broken because they first attempted to pry it open when they noticed fire... We will get whirlpool to look at/repair the seal. 

I gave handyman permission to cut in to the sheetrock where the mold is because I want to make sure we don't overlook a bigger problem. He found no signs of leaking or water damage behind the sheetrock, there are no pipes in the wall and he feels that the mold was entirely caused by a low airflow furniture situation in a basement (mattress directly on floor and pressed against the wall)

So overall everything should be easy to handle and the property is in all right shape. Phew! 

And for those wondering about our PM situation, we are temporarily located about 1.5 hours from our houses. We have a great manager who works for us "part time." He has a key and will handle situations for us at an hourly rate of $20. So we deal with the tenants, but call in PM if we need assistance or can't be there ourselves. It's been a really nice arrangement!!

Thank you! I am definitely not trying to be "anti tenant," but the way they both described the mold is that it is literally a "bed shaped" space where it begins and ends at the bed, from the head to the foot and top to bottom and isn't present elsewhere. The mattress is directly on the floor pressed against the wall, and there is no pipe or bathroom in that wall...we had all the basement walls sealed, and new sheetrock put up, and laid new concrete  footings all around the house to keep water away. 

As for the fire, we actually put a brand new stove in that house, and I can't imagine how it is possible for the food inside it to set on fire so severely that it makes the dwelling unsafe for days and causes smoke damage? Sounds insane to me, it should just burn itself out in there unless there is A CRAZY amount of food ! Soo this does initially strike me as there being some dishonesty going on. I will definitely go in and document the situation and am open to being wrong. Really appreciating the input on dealing with the tenants directly and there is definitely a question of SFH "competency" here I think. They've given me other reasons to believe they don't know how to handle basic house hold maintenance tasks.

Anyhow, off to inspect and will update you all! 

Even if it caught fire, wouldn't the oven contain the fire and thus it would not be "totaled," there wouldn't be smoke damage, or an "uninhabitable" living space? Worst case, the oven is very hot for a while and the house needs to air out.

We started buying this year and have three properties. One came with tenants, one is mid remodel and one we filled in June on a 12 month lease. So, until now, month 5 of that 12 month lease things have been fine. PM has done monthly inspections and had to stay on their case about keeping the property less junky, but no property damage or late rent.

Cue incident 1. On Friday morning, tenant calls me to tell me that when moving their bed to change the sheets, they found mold. I send handyman over to inspect the situation and he said the mold is literally only where the bed was but he (and tenant) think there might be mold behind the sheetrock and arrange for him to come back Monday (tomorrow) morning to remove the sheetrock, check for moisture behind and replace/repair. PM and myself feel, based on the description, that this mold was probably tenant caused and that we should show up to survey the process a bit and provide tenant with information about mold and airflow, as well as a dehumidifier, and have them sign an addendum to the lease that they are responsible for any reoccurrence of mold that they create via furniture placement etc. I inform them that one or both of us will be there.

Aaand incident 2. Evidently, during inspections my PM has been particularly concerned about the appalling dirtiness of the oven and stove and taught them how to use the self cleaning oven. SO, I get a phone call tonight from the tenant that, because we are coming in the morning, she ran the self cleaning feature *per PM's instructions* and the oven set on fire, and the FD was at the property. Her story is that they ran the self cleaning feature, the oven set fire for no reason, and that the FD says the home is not safely inhabitable for 3 - 4 days, her property has smoke damage, and the stove is "totaled."

This honestly sounds like a load of BS to me. A brand new oven spontaneously set fire for no reason during self cleaning mode, the fire did not leave the oven, but the home is unsafe for four days and her possessions have smoke damage? I told her to leave everything as it was (they wanted to throw away the stove tonight) and that I and PM would be there in the morning to assess the situation. I definitely think they are lying and that they are possibly wanting to pursue me for a few nights of of lodging and damage to their stuff, though our lease is pretty tight in that regard. I left a message with the FD requesting the report.

Okay wise and experienced landlords. Advise me! What do I look for and what do I do tomorrow morning ?! My PM will be a big help, but I want to be prepared myself going in there tomorrow

In my area, regular buyers usually don't buy homes with less than 3 beds. 2 bedroom homes sell for less and mostly investors buy them for rental property. So resale value would definitely go up.

There is definite demand for three bed rentals that is not being tapped. We just rehabbed a basement on our other property to add a third bed and second bath and the #1 comment we got from applicants was "hurray, a third bedroom!!"

I'm just not sure if the added cost and project time is worth the added $150 in rent, when the returns are really good already. There also aren't a lot of kitchen to bedroom renovation stories online, so I'm wondering if I'm missing something about this particular kind of project.

Having an actual quote in hand will definitely help! 

We just closed on an awesome off market deal with a retiring investor this month. One piece of land with 2 sfh in a quiet B neighborhood for 36,000. One needs no work and has good tenants already in place ($475/mo. I could probably raise to $500). The other was recently vacated and needs some attention. It is 1,000 sq ft, 2 bed, 1 bath all on one level plus a basement storage area.

It needs:

1. Cosmetic- paint and flooring

2. A couple new windows

3. Sealing around the foundation

4.  Some front porch repair for stability plus a facelift (I'm thinking new posts and some fresh paint to pretty it up)

5. Heating/cooling. I'm getting some quotes this week but considering mini splits.

If I do these things I'm looking at $550 /mo rent probably. It occurred to me however that the main living space is HUGE and the kitchen is closed off and awkward. I'm thinking I could put a door on it and have a third bedroom, then move the existing counters etc out to the large living space for an open living/dining room. Three bed rentals are hard to find in my area and I could then rent it for $700. 

The pipes are all easily accessed in the basement ceiling so I don't think moving the sink would be too pricey. There is already electricity in the wall I want the kitchen on and my dad is an electrician so he would put in electricity for the fridge and stove for free. 

Has anyone done this?  Any possible money sucking factors I'm missing?  Do you think it's worth it?

 Well clearly I'm no expert, since I am just starting out myself :) 

But for finding property, I picked my target market, and used tips on BP to calculate my target price range for certain rents. I scanned the MLS often, tried 'driving for dollars,' and the main agent in the area was aware of what I was looking for. She brought this property to my attention months ago but it was too expensive. When the price dropped in to my price range, I had an inspection and made an offer :)

Pop the champagne! ;) After a year+ of lurking here and 3.5 months of searching, we closed on our first property today!! Exciting and terrifying ;)

We are getting quotes this weekend on some work we want to do (and some the insurance company wants), we have a lawyer drafting a lease.. and hopefully we will be ready to advertise and rent by the end of March :)

It is great to come on BP and see encouragement- there are so many debbie downers out there when you mention rental properties!

Any words from the wise?! 

Hi BP, 

I am looking for Turn Key properties in Wichita and the surrounding areas. Show me what you've got or recommend companies that you have had positive experiences with please!  :)