All Forum Posts by: Mags S.

@Mara Witt - sorry but I have to agree with some of the other posters.

- who pays for the heat?  Electric?

- get the roof fixed. We have slate too and area/partial repairs on roof are very common in my area.  Poor excuse for a tenant occupied, paying tenant. Not the way a good landlord performs. Sorry. Three years of dealing with a leak, no matter how small, would drive me bonkers...

- enforce your lease. If your lease sets tenant expectations, enforce them. You 'being nice' about it does no good. You are saying in essence, don't pay any attention to what the lease says, I'm not.

- I would have handled the heat issue differently. It doesn't appear tenant to be at fault. Instead of giving plastic for tenant to put up - I would have done it myself or hired someone to it. Is the thermostat functioning properly? 

I'm laying odds the deferred maintenance has something to do tenant behavior.  When ppl pay $$, they expect the service they are paying for. Ppl are just 'wierd' like that. Go figure.  

Get over being personally offended. It's business.

o@Account Closed  - thanks for your detailed post. Very helpful.

I do not send out letters, etc. If  an applicant follows up and they don't meet the criteria, I let them know they didn't meet criteria. If they ask in what regard, I let them know since I have decision-making reasons noted on every app. 

Do employers still send denial letters to applicants? Not in my field.

@Anthony Lee  thanks for that distinction.  I'll bring it up to my ins guy who is also an investor. I wanted to be named mainly for liability reasons. Property is in a very litigious city.

@Kalene Smith - those tiles are common in my older neighbor.  What's the price point of the rental? That would determine how much I did.

Yes I require tenants to carry renters insurance. My ins guy suggested 300k.  Based on some readings here, I also require the tenant's insurance policy to carry me/owner as addl'l insured (free).  Tenant got the space they wanted, I got the extra protection - win, win 

@Fatima Champagne  the more orderly approach would be to get your financing together first for the purchase.  Get pre-approved for the loan (unless you're a cash buyer) thru a lender.  the pre-approval process will tell you of your financial limitations so you can work within those parameters searching for the appropriate property. While that process is going on, look at neighborhoods (not areas) for your comfort level (assuming you will be house-hacking and living there).  Best wishes.

@Ruel K.  I had ppl tell me they did not have credit. What they meant to tell me is they did not have any *acceptable* credit.  I would run them thru a 3rd party for verification. I used mySmartMove; setup SmartMove for prospective tenant to pay fee. I required my new tenant to have a co-signer (weak rental history) and SmartMove handled that without any issues

@Brad Crosby - for the house sale, ask for a copy of the HUD1. 

@Georgia Acres - double check the  photos to make sure the space shows well-lit, clean, empty and appealing. Show off amenities. (Any rooms with 2 closets? Showcase them!). Include a nice write up - 'an experience'.  Then add a dash of patience; the right tenant is often worth the wait. 

BTW, please don't look at potential tenants and think of how you can make it work.  Look at each prospect and come up with reasons why they WONT work. When you come across a prospective tenant when this approach doesn't work, you'll know you have a viable prospective for success.  For example, if a prospective tenant asked me to lower rent for them (and I know it's priced right), my first and only thought would be - this prospective tenant can't afford the place so I prolly won't get my rent payment on time, every single month. I don't think I would even 'hear' the reason they thought it should be lower.