All Forum Posts by: Michael Leo

So I am a landlord myself but I am actually currently renting an apartment because I have to be in Texas temporarily for my job. I had a quick question about renter's insurance I thought someone on here might be able to help me with.

I live on the first floor and recently the water heater in the apartment above me broke and caused a water leak that damaged some of my stuff. I made a renter's insurance claim and got compensated but did have to pay a $1,000 deductible. Some people have told me that the apartment management should cover this deductible because the water leak was their fault. I've tried to look up some information about this and I'm not sure that's how it works, do you know if I can get management to reimburse me for the deductible?

Please let me know.

Thank you!

So I am a landlord myself but I am actually currently renting an apartment because I have to be in Texas temporarily for my job. I had a quick question about renter's insurance I thought someone on here might be able to help me with.

I live on the first floor and recently the water heater in the apartment above me broke and caused a water leak that damaged some of my stuff. I made a renter's insurance claim and got compensated but did have to pay a $1,000 deductible. Some people have told me that the apartment management should cover this deductible because the water leak was their fault. I've tried to look up some information about this and I'm not sure that's how it works, do you know if I can get management to reimburse me for the deductible?

Please let me know.

Thank you!

Hello,

I was wondering if anyone would have any advice on how to handle this situation.

I was renting an apartment on a lease that was supposed to go through the end of October. Near the end of March one of the tenants told me they wanted to end the lease early and they let me know that they wanted to move out at the end of May. I was ok with it and was able to get someone else to rent starting in mid-June so only had it vacant for half a month.

She just asked whether she was going to get her deposit back (seemed like she wasn’t really sure if she was getting back or was supposed to, just asked if I was going to give it to her). The lease was just one I got on Turbotenant and doesn’t look like it specifically addressed ending the lease early and in our emails about ending the lease we did not address what would happen with the security deposit. I thought usually in these situations the landlord would keep at least part if not all of the security deposit but I was wondering if anyone else deals with this situation a lot?

Thanks,

Mike Leo

Thanks for your replies and advice. Actually decided to get a management company to take over managing the property. I will probably have them take over the other property I am managing long distance soon as well. 

So I just signed a lease with a tenant for my property. The house is a converted single family house with the first and second floor being separate units. I am relocating from the area and thought it would be nice to see if someone would want to rent both the first and second floor as I have had issues with two separate tenants renting the units.

I signed a lease with a man. His girlfriend was there to see the place but did not want to be on the lease, she is a student and said might not be there much. They were talking about all the upgrades and changes they wanted to make which I thought might be kind of a red flag but I made it very clear any changes had to be cleared by me first in writing. Also he said he was handy and could take care of some maintenance issues including the yard so I made an arrangement where he mows the lawn for a small rent decrease.

So I put a lease in place with the man (girlfriend not on the lease). For a short time they would just rent the upper unit while I still lived in the lower unit before I move. Immediately they started completely renovating the yard, I feel like this was above any lawn maintenance I had in mind and they did not ask permission for this at all.

There was a small garage with a door that was opened/closed manually. Within a couple days of moving in they claimed that I told them there was a garage door opener and that they needed a lock for it which I made clear when they viewed the place was not the case.

Now the girlfriend is claiming the bathroom faucet is not draining fast enough because when she runs it for 5 minutes then turns it off it takes a couple seconds to drain. First she claimed that this issue would be solved by buying a brand new faucet, then she said she thinks the entire vanity needs to be replaced.

Then at 1:00 AM last night I heard dripping in the closet right underneath their bathroom. I texted them trying to figure out what was going on. She says they just showered and said she told me something was draining right. Also, they had already made some changes to the shower fixtures in the upper unit (another change they did not ask about).

I have a bad feeling about these people, I think they might be trying to take advantage of me. If anyone has faced a similar situation please let me know if you can give any advise. Thanks!

Hello,

Recently purchased a foreclosed property in the Coal Grove, OH area. Was working with the owner to try to get the property back in their name but they are not being responsive. Looking for an attorney that can help with an eviction. I was wondering if anyone has done something like this in that area and knows of someone who can help?

Thanks

Thank you very much for the information. I had been looking into property management software. TurboTenant does look a little better than the other DIY sites I have seen for the price. I will probably use them for properties I try to manage myself in the future.

@Richard F.

That is an interesting chart. Wasn't sure how they determined what a minimum credit score would be but that is helpful.

@Muhammad Amawi

Thanks for the referral. Carla reached out to me and we'll see if property management services might make sense for this property right now.

@Linda S.

Yeah that was an issue I was worried about. I doubt that grandma was even charging rent. I may try to confirm some of their other information but I am thinking about moving on with other applicants.

Thanks!

@Melanie Thomas @Winter Heintz

Thank you both for replying. Very useful information. I definitely have to be better about figuring out what my minimum criteria is and being clear about that up front. I may try to verify their ability to pay by getting more information from them and requiring some of those other things you suggested but it will be hard to verify anything with what I have from them so far.

I will be looking into a leasing only PM and maybe have them take care of more as I am still working a full time job so it's been a little difficult balancing that with trying to take care of getting these units ready and filled. Thanks for all of the help!

Hello,

I'm kind of new to real estate investing and first time posting on bigger pockets! I have been trying to self manage a couple of properties for the last 2 years. Haven't had many issues except I run into things I'm not sure how to handle when looking at prospective tenants. Currently trying to rent a 4 BD/2 BA in Lakewood, OH area.

I have a man and his girlfriend applying with the man's mother. They would also be moving in with his 2 kids. I did a rental application through Zillow Property Manager. The income they reported is enough but the man and his girlfriend both have bad credit (530-545) but the mother has good credit (628). I'm also having trouble figuring out how to confirm rental history because they have been living in their grandmother's house and she passed away recently. She was the rental manager they put down. Just wondering if anyone had any advice on how they might handle this situation? Think I'm going to try to find some other service to at lease find/screen tenants in the future.

Thanks!

Hello,

I'm kind of new to real estate investing and first time posting on bigger pockets! I have been trying to self manage a couple of properties for the last 2 years. Haven't had many issues except I run into things I'm not sure how to handle when looking at prospective tenants. Currently trying to rent a 4 BD/2 BA in Lakewood, OH area.

I have a man and his girlfriend applying with the man's mother. They would also be moving in with his 2 kids. I did a rental application through Zillow Property Manager. The income they reported is enough but the man and his girlfriend both have bad credit (530-545) but the mother has good credit (628). I'm also having trouble figuring out how to confirm rental history because they have been living in their grandmother's house and she passed away recently. She was the rental manager they put down. Just wondering if anyone had any advice on how they might handle this situation? Think I'm going to try to find some other service to at lease find/screen tenants in the future.

Thanks!