All Forum Posts by: Marc Estepa

@Ned J. thanks!  I agree, I’m trying to understand the proper way forward with this.  His argument is that in all fairness the home should be returned in the same manner in which it was handed over.  Our sticking point is simply this smell.  He agrees that the home is well taken care of, but can’t get over this smell.  I’m a bit put off because they keep pushing back saying, “we allowed you to stay with your dog against our normal rules, but know that your dogs are important to your family.” 

My thoughts are - If you accept pets, you accept them period.  And everything that goes with it.  

Of course that doesn’t mean that I’m just allowing my pets to run amuck in the house to destroy everything.  But the owner has an unrealistic vision that there will be ZERO pet hair in the home and absolutely no trace of an animal ever living on the property.

I don’t know what to do or how to properly proceed without burning bridges.  In the end, I’m trying to be cool and I’m trying to make sure we’re good - but we are not seeing eye to eye on this.  The owners are NOT pet owners and have a different expectation versus the reality of the situation.   

@Theresa Harris.  I am going to look this up.  How expensive is this?  Is it a service a carpet cleaner could possibly execute as a service?

@James Mc Ree, thanks for the detailed regulation!  I’ll have to review this and see where we go from here.  I’ve reviewed some Hawaiian rental laws but can’t specifically find something related to carpet odor.  

@Adam Martin, yeah this whole situation is frustrating.  I am sending the carpet cleaner forward one more time.  I did have a discussion with the owner and he simply wants the smell gone.  I told him we’ll send the carpet cleaner there for a third time, but understandably my carpet cleaner is getting frustrated also. 

 I told the owner there is a difference between normal wear and tear and damage caused by us as the tenant.  His argument is that the home should be returned in the same condition as it was received.  

He acknowledged that the home was well taken care of, but it is the dog smell that is putting off his wife.  I said, “let’s talk worst case scenario here.  If I send the carpet cleaner again and the home still does not meet your standard for removing the smell, what’s the next course of action?” 

He stated, “I have no choice but to change out the carpet.  He stated, if that’s the case - I will split the cost because I went against my normal rule of accepting dogs on the property and agreed.  On the other hand, you have large dogs and I think it’s only fair that you assist in changing out the carpet.” 

I reminded him and his wife again that we are liable for damage not normal wear and tear.  He argued that they did not turn over a home with the smell of dog and expect it back in the same condition. 

I told him that we can clean the house but realistically cannot remove every bit of dog hair from carpet after staying there for four years.  

My next course of action is to send my carpet cleaner a third time to redo the carpet and see if that will remove this smell.  The saga continues.

@Steve Morris.  The lease agreement is the typical standard with regards to the use of a security deposit.  It’s held until after the final walkthru and returned in full unless there are damages caused by the tenants.  My issue is that a good landlord will typically set aside an amount of rent toward capital expenditures such as the eventual new roof, carpets, painting, etc.  That’s what I do for my 3 properties.  Depending on the rental laws of the state, the tenants are typically liable for any damages they did to the property during their rental term.  They are NOT held liable for normal wear and tear.  I spoke with my carpet cleaner today - he offers a 100% satisfaction guarantee, so I am scheduling him to go out yet AGAIN for a third treatment.  After speaking with the owners, when we left the property, they turned off the A/C, turned off the fans and closed up the house.  Hawaii obviously gets rather warm, which led to the odors.  When I told the landlord to leave it open, they complained that it would require someone to go babysit the house or leave it unsecured as the carpet dries.  I stated we need to meet halfway to ensure the carpet is cleaned to their standards, but I’m now off the island.  The owner is off the island too and sending family members to brief them on the status of the house due to CoVID.  Frustrating.

Aloha.  I have a situation in Hawaii I am looking for guidance with.  My family had rented a 3000 square foot home from 2016-2020 with two large mastiffs.

Bottom line up front:  The owner is hinting at replacing his entire carpet using our $4000 deposit due to a dog smell.

Here are the facts:

1.  Carpets are original to the 2008 home.  The home has been rented with dogs in the past, but not for a period of 4 years with 2 XL sized dogs.

2.  During the initial walkthru, we took pictures and annotated every deficiency throughout the home.  

3.  Throughout our rental period we kept regular communication with the owners noting injuries from numerous nail pops, dislodged staples, ripped carpet seams and fraying carpet.  Their response was to cut the frays and snags that we came across.  Throughout the rental period, owner reminded us that he needed the dog smell out of the home when we left.

4.  Carpet was cleaned once a year using rented professional equipment and hired professional cleaners for a total of 4 times. 

5.  In preparation for our move out inspection on 1 Sept, we initially cleaned our home, hired professional cleaners on 28 Aug 2020, a professional carpet cleaner on the 29th and then dried the carpet In preparation for the inspection.

6.  On the day of the carpet cleaning, the carpet cleaner noted how he was impressed with the cleanliness of the carpet prior to his arrival and vacuumed again prior to his deep carpet shampoo cleaning. He noted that there is a 100% satisfaction guarantee if we are not happy with the work

7.  During the final walkthru on 1 Sept 2020, the owners were unable to attend the inspection and sent the neighbor’s sister to conduct it while they remained on the phone.  She noted a mildewy smell in the home.  We stated that the carpets were professionally cleaned 3 days prior, and we left the windows open and fans running that day before vacating the house over the weekend.  We stated that we returned to the house over the weekend to open the windows and dry the carpet, which probably led to the smell.  I stated we had no issue with bringing the carpet cleaner out again if needed.  We presented the inspector with all the pictures of our initial walkthru (she didn’t have the initial inspection sheet), and noted the condition of the carpet with her citing the previous conversations we had with the owners regarding it.  We also pointed out the various nail pops and injuries sustained from the fraying carpet and loose staples.  Following the inspection, the owners were satisfied and told us they would be sending us our deposit back as soon as we had a forwarding address we could provide. 

8.  On 2 and 3 Sept, owners stated that they wanted the smell out of the home.  He stated that his wife has pet allergies and needed clean carpets, or he would have no choice but to replace the carpets.  We asked to clarify which areas, to which he wanted all of it. 

9. We contacted the carpet cleaner to return to the house on the morning of 4 Sept 2020 to re-treat and re-deodorize the house alongside the owner’s sister.  

10.  We were contacted 12 hours later by the owner saying that the cleaner’s attempt to clean and deodorize was unsuccessful, and he is still not satisfied.  The owner states that he will leave all windows open and rehire the cleaner to do it all over again, or will have no choice but to replace the carpets.  

11.  The carpet cleaner stated that the owner called him Insisting That he  answers whether or not he could fix the problem with the carpet.  The carpet cleaner stated to me that He could not make a determination over the phone without making an assessment in person.  He stated that he used the strongest pet de-odorizing solution he has but sees the carpet to be clean.

Although the owner has not outright stated that he will use our deposit, he continually guilt trips us saying that he didn’t normally rent to families with pets, but allowed it because he saw how much it meant to our family to have our pets as a part of our home.

Naturally, I am biased of course - but I was very impressed with the amount of cleaning we have done with the rental.  We are landlords ourselves and manage 3 properties currently.  We have taken exceptional care in ensuring the house is cleaned properly and to our own standard as if it were a property we owned ourselves.  

Based off the homeowner’s language, we feel that the owner is continually hinting at changing all the carpeting for his house and has made up his mind that it must be changed.  He continually cites the dog smell, which naturally leads us to believe he wants to fund it using our deposit.  The carpet cleaner believes it is clean and also provides a 100% satisfaction guarantee.  I intend to make him clean until the owner is satisfied, but feel that the owner has already made up his mind.

How do we go forward?  Looking for advice 

@Benjamin A Ersing, I am totally on the fence on the Philippines as an investment.  There are large infrastructure developments happening.  I’ve wanted to invest for awhile.  I’m just afraid with all the horror stories from people I know personally and others who are very well connected there but still face major headaches.  

 I was on the verge of selling my other properties in North Carolina out of the issues I was having managing from out of state.  And that’s in America!  What more investing overseas?  

I dunno, it really depends on the payoff and the numbers.  With CoVID in the mix and the political struggles between President Duterte and his hate for the US, it makes it more risky to me.  I just need more data to be comfortable.  

I spoke to a realtor in the Philippines who talked about a lot of the real estate trends there (pre-CoVID).  He mentioned the influx of Chinese coming to the Philippines.  He mentioned quite a few property owners who rented to the Chinese because they always paid rent for a year upfront.  Unfortunately, after a year the place was completely trashed, and then the headaches of trying to repair all that made it even harder to manage from overseas.  

@Account Closed, I appreciate the straightforwardness and honesty.  The numbers may sound right and the potential is there, but there’s a lot to be said about peace of mind.  You almost have to go in to it knowing it will be challenging from that perspective, but if the eye is on the prize to be profitable, it may be well worth it!  

I highly doubt you’re the problem.  Business is business and when it comes to working overseas with ANY culture other than your own, you have to do the best you can and study their culture to find the middle ground and get business done.  No different in the Mideast or the numerous other countries I’ve worked in.  

Makes me wonder what people think when they are from other countries doing business with us!  Americans are pretty straightforward for the most part.  So, the question is - would you do it again?  Is the profit worth it for an outsider coming to invest there?

@Account Closed.  All I have to say is, “wow”. Thank you for sharing your experiences.  Did you pull out your investments there, or did you tough it out and stick through it?  If you stuck through it, are you profitable? Would you say the payoff was worth all the hassles to get it up and running?

 I’ve been working there for the past 4 years, doing military stuff and even though our militaries have a very strong relationship, there were struggles with the different mindsets.  I’m also ethnically Filipino and have witnessed first hand the way business is done in my own personal life.  Needless to say, I get it from both sides.  I’ve been wrestling with this myself because I see the potential it has with the growth and development taking place right now with the infrastructure alone.  

I have an uncle who wanted to build his retirement home there too.  He is Filipino too, born and raised on the islands but did a 20+ year career in the US military also.  Like me and many others, he saw the price and potential for investment there and tried building a luxury place where he grew up.  Even with the connections he had, there were a lot of things that were done wrong there and he is at the point now of scrapping it altogether.  I’m still on the fence depending on how the numbers play out.  

Thoughts?

Hello! Looking for some advice. I am in the market to buy, but my timeline won’t allow it for at least 6 months due to my current loans in forbearance. This will be cleared by January.

Anyway, my family is military and in the process of moving to Washington. Because we HAVE to suck it up and rent for a little bit, I am trying to minimize moving twice in one year and interested in rent to own properties.

In my search for rentals, I came across various companies that specialize in rent to own options. I also learned about it through BP so it grabbed my attention. On the surface, it looks like a good program, but after talking to other investors way smarter than me, I see the money I would be losing working with a company specializing in rent to own properties as it’s still a business for them.

On the other hand, I’ve read about awesome deals being made by home owners motivated to sell and open to a lease purchase agreement that were a win - win for both parties. The question is, how do I find those people?

My issue is this. I initially walked into the home search looking for purchases. After I learned that I would be unable to purchase at this time, I looked strictly at renting and closed the option to buy off. Now I see that with a little negotiation and asking around, there may be motivated sellers who would be open to this. But how do I find them and work with them one on one? Also, moving to Washington State - I don’t think homes are sitting on the market too long from what I’m seeing.

Looking at homes to purchase opens up my aperture and gives me more options than strictly rentals at this time. I’m just trying to streamline the turbulence of moving as much as I can while putting myself in a better position to invest!

Any thoughts, leads or advice are definitely appreciated!