All Forum Posts by: Marcia Maynard

Are the fleas in the vacant units? How long have they been vacant? Perhaps a former tenant left the fleas. Or are you talking about just the occupied unit with the pet owner? Regardless of where the fleas came from, take a look at this for some help....

http://blog.deanandadie.net/2008/09/a-house-infested-with-fleas-what-to-do/

Good luck!

@Jon Klaus Extraordinary patience.... she obviously was not Judge Judy. Was the tenant entertaining and captivating? Well, good job on your part! Gives me some ideas what to have in my folio, should I need to prepare for court. Thanks!

@Willow Loney About the out of state plates... Give your tenant a copy of the state ordinance about requiring registration within a specific number of days. If the rental property is in Minnesota, see below:

From dmv.org about Minnesota:

If you’re new to Minnesota and your current out-of-state registration is still valid, you will have 60 days to register your car with the MN Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) once you establish residency.

• If your out-of-state registration will be expiring soon, you must register your car with the DVS before it does so.
• If your out-of-state registration has already expired or if you had to surrender your plates after leaving the state, you must register your car BEFORE you drive it in Minnesota.

• Exception:

If you’re a non-resident student or member of the military located in Minnesota but claim residency in another state, you do not have to register your car with the MN DVS as long as your registration remains current with your home state.

@Narelle Myke

@Narelle Myke Great! It's a fun roller coaster! Wishing you the best!

@Narelle Myke

Some tenants are very private and prefer to keep to themselves. Others are the social butterflies of the street and will make their own introductions. I would be very careful not to make introductions. The only time we do is in the case of a multiplex, but we will first ask the tenants if they would like us to introduce them to other tenants in the multiplex.

We do introduce ourselves, in-person, to all neighbors and make sure they know they can contact us anytime (day or night) if there is trouble at our property. Never had this abused. Neighbors are more likely to not call enough, waiting until something has escalated before calling. So we periodically "check in" with the neighbors to proactively find out their perspective and to demonstrate that we care about the neighborhood.

We don't buy the top-of-the-line and we don't buy the bottom-of-the-line. We look for durability, something that is easy to clean, a neutral color and the type of pile that does not show foot prints. Do not get berber if you allow cats or dogs, as their claws will snag it. The quality of the pad is important.

We average 10 years use, even though we specialized in affordable housing (ie. low income tenants). We address the tenant's responsibility for caring for floor covering in the rental agreement. We also have a no-pet policy and do regular inspections. When a tenant moves out, we have the carpets professionally cleaned at our expense, which is factored into our maintenance budget. For a good tenant (who pays rent on time, does not damage the property, no drama) we will occasionally give a "thank you" gift of professionally cleaning their traffic areas. All of this helps us get longer life from our carpets.

If you shop at a store that caters to builders and landlords, you can save buy purchasing a whole roll - keep it at the store (ours does not charge to store it) and your contractors can measure and go to the store to pick up the amount they need per job. This is a money and time saver if you have a good number of properties with carpet and a good carpet layer.

So my husband replaced a hot water heater at one of our rental properties. A bit later he notices a quarter size red spot on his hand - some inflammation and warmth. He plays piano professionally, so this could be a big deal if it is infected. Thinks maybe he was bit by a spider, so gets a same day appointment with his primary care doctor.

While registering, they say "What are you here for? He says, "I was doing a job changing a hot water heater and think I was bit by a spider." The registration person says, "Oh! If you were injured on the job, we can't see you!" He says, "No, it wasn't at my work - I'm a piano player; it was in my home." They say, "Okay then, you can be seen." He danced around that one.

Got us thinking.... We have a typical comprehensive health care insurance plan, through my employer that covers both of us. We maintain an umbrella policy of one million. We do not have employees. We do not have workman's compensation insurance for us when working on our own rental property. Do we need it?

We own our own rental property business and it is in an LLC with my husband and I as the partners. We also have another rental property business LLC with my husband and I, my father-in-law, mother-in-law, and sister-in-law as partners. Our rental property business is not primary employment for any of us. What do you think about injuries that occur when working on our own rental property? What's the best way to handle this?

[BTW it turned out not to be a spider bite and was just a contusion. :-) He made the most of the appointment though and addressed other health care concerns with his provider that had nothing to do with the hot water heater "job".]

Never say never. I have rented successfully to people who have had an "oops" in their past or made a poor decision in life, learned from it and turned it around. If I rent to someone in this situation I will require additional security deposit to lower my risk.

Prime example: One of my "all star" tenants had a felony for methamphetamine use (over ten years prior to applying to rent from me), successful rehab, steady full-time employment in a respectable job. Tenant of mine since Sept 2009. He always pays rent several days before it is due. Promoted at work. Been clean now for over 15 years.

Another tenant had an eviction on her record (8 years prior) because she co-signed for her daughter who defaulted on paying her rent. I required her to pay full restitution to the previous landlord and additional security deposit. When that tenant later moved out, she got back her full security deposit. She had never been late with rent and she did not cause any damage.

Opposite example: The "good" gone "bad". Tenant worked as a leasing agent for a respectable property management company in town. Had a steady job in the RE business, good rental history, good credit, no legal history. She snuck a cat in against our no pet policy, lied to us about it, caused significant damages, did not pay the last month rent, owed us $350 upon move out (above what her $700 security deposit covered) - sent us a check for this - then stopped payment on the check.

Sweet! Stick with Bigger Pockets as you move forward. You are right to be cautious, especially as someone new to landlording. We're here for you!

Congratulations on your success!