All Forum Posts by: Von S.

Thanks all for your advice and thoughts!

@Sam Sheuh I've always addressed the concerns right away and get everything fixed but it seemed they want superficial improvements in order to attract more airbnb guests. The apartment is one of the best in my market due to location, off-street parking, and amenities.

@Thomas S. -- as they are at will with a lease agreement, I only need a 30 day notice per state requirement, but my question is have people given their tenants more notice than legally required? Thanks also for being the voice of reason regarding raising rent, I definitely know it's the smart thing to do. I am wondering though if it is possible to make money and still do some good in terms of providing affordable house in a low-income area? The other part of my thinking is strategy-wise, is it better to price the unit competitively so that tenants stay longer? If I raise the rent and get $2000 extra a year, what happens when tenants leave during a bad economy and I lose those gains due to a month or two of vacancies? You made a good point on the last part about language barrier being an excuse not to know/do things.

@Nick M.  I do have a clause against subletting which is what I'll be using if I decide not to renew their lease. You are right about the language barrier being a problem-- the problem tenant will actually continue to be the go-between in my dealings with the remaining family which is why I just wanted to get rid of the family in general. The remaining family members are nice/no issues. I think if they leave, I can raise the rent to market level in one fell swoop but of course my idea was to underprice just below market level to have long term tenants.

Thanks again for all your input!

Hi everyone, for landlords who have decided not to renew tenants' lease, how much notice do you give them?

Also, opinions needed. I have tenants in one unit where recently one person is in the process of moving out. I've had a hard time dealing with this person over the two years they've lived here. Nothing major-- they always pay on time but I feel like they take advantage of my kindness and is always asking for extra things while complaining rent is too high as well as getting into arguments with tenants in another unit over parking. On top of that, the person airbnb a room in the unit behind my back. My decision has been to act clueless as the house seem to be in good order (my thinking is that they will take care of the unit in order to get bookings) and rent is paid. The remaining rest of the family will stay in that unit but I only communicate through the annoying tenant as no one else speaks English. I would like to sign the lease with the remaining family but is this foolish?

Second part of the question. The rent is currently below market by $100-$200 in my mind. I've seen rent for comparable apartments go for higher but I have some ethical issues raising it so high. My market is considered low-income and I would like to have long term tenants so don't want to end up having vacancies should the economy go belly up. If I renew the lease, how much should I raise it by?

A big challenge in the  last couple of years have been tenants in different units not getting along and trying to throw each other under the bus. This happened consecutively with four different set of tenants! The other challenge is the entitled tenant-- they asked for extra things (Can you repaint the hallway walls, can you fix the front porch, blinds) and point out that they pay so much in rent, meanwhile they leave a mess with their trash in the backyard. Oh boy. Yes, the rent is paid on time but dealing with the snide remarks is the worst.

I did have to evict a tenant early on years back. Tenant screening via smartmove and calling previous landlords help with the financial stability side but I wish there was a good way to filter out the entitled tenants!