All Forum Posts by: Mike Roberts

Except the fair housing laws do not require I ever give a reason, and this is why you shouldn't give reasons. I just don't want to blatantly say I have another tenant when I don't. I could say, "Sorry, we are going to look for a different tenant", but that seems rude.

Lets be honest, rental housing isn't really that "fair" most of the time...life isn't fair. I do not want somebody that simply meets the minimum standard if I can do better.

You've never met somebody you just didn't like for one reason or another? If I don't like somebody as a person, they won't be my tenant. Or maybe something just seems fishy but I can't prove it. Hopefully it won't be an issue, but who knows who is going to apply.

Be careful with that "emotional support animal" BS. Yes, if it is a valid thing from a real doctor you can't prevent him from having a dog. With that said, people are HEAVILY abusing this privilege. There are websites that will give you a "prescription" for a dog or whatever ridiculous animal you want without ever having seen or talked to you. Just pay them a fee. This is not real legal protection for the pet owner, just a scam. Many people who do this have no actual medical issue. Many people blindly accept this as a free pass for pets because they don't want to offend somebody.

People try this all the time on airplanes when they don't want to pay extra or put their dog in a different area of the plane. They want it on their lap, without a cage.

You really should verify this with the actual doctor.

I am currently closing on a SFH that will be a rental in NC. The area is kind of rural, and I don't expect to see a huge number of applicants. Say somebody applies, they have good credit, no criminal history, job, etc, but for whatever reason I just do not want them as a tenant. How should I deny this person without breaking the law or being too rude? I don't want to give them a specific reason why, I just want to say something like "sorry, we have chosen a different tenant".

BUT...if the house stays on the market after that, it's going to be obvious that I don't really have another tenant, I just don't want that particular one. I can't just wait until I have multiple applications to choose from, it may take a month or more for that to happen.

With that in mind, what is the best way to tell a "protected class" that you aren't interested in their business, without getting sued?

 That's what I am asking. What kind of insurance would I need? I have no idea. If I bought my own jet ski, my homeowners policy would cover any liability with me driving it. I'm also relatively sure I could let a friend drive it also. I suspect they would not cover a "commercial" use of the vehicle, but I have no idea what kind of commercial insurance I might need. (And thus, I cannot calculate a cost)

Yes, I know some landlords are extremely uptight about liability, but as long as I'm insured against said peril, I don't care.

And yes, of course there is maintenance and possible abuse, it's just like renting anything else. The same can be said for any rental house - tenants are hard on things, that's why you get to charge them money. :) That's why I'd buy a new vehicle with a warranty. If the renter damaged it beyond normal wear and tear, they would be on the hook. (And I'd have to get a deposit for it first) And they would definitely have to sign a waiver. The deposit would probably be whatever my deductible is on full coverage insurance.

So back to the cost - if the local mom and pop rental places around the lake can afford the insurance and maintenance, I feel like their insurance premiums are not too huge, and their maintenance bill not out of hand...or they wouldn't do it. If it rents for $300/day that's like a house that rents for $9,000 per month! Of course, it would not be rented every day, but probably most days in the summer.  The other bonus is, I get a free jet ski to ride whenever it isn't being paid for.

Getting a cut from somebody else to send them a customer is unlikely, they have no trouble renting them during the warm season. There's often a waiting list, they don't need a referral from me.

I bought a house this summer on a lake. I plan to live here another year or so, but then it will become a rental property. It's in a unique location where I could either rent it like a normal house, or use it for vacation rentals. (Like airbnb type of thing) I haven't decided which option would be best yet.

What I'm thinking, is if I rent it as a vacation rental is to include the use of either a boat or jet ski. They rent them in several other places around the lake, in the neighborhood of $300/day. I could buy a brand new jet ski with a warranty for less than $300/month. I also have a dock where it can be kept. If I only rented it 12 days/year it would be paid for.

Anyone have any thoughts on this idea? What kind of extra insurance would I need for such a thing? Would my homeowner's policy cover anything like that? Or would I need some sort of commercial insurance? The biggest issue would be liability, one can cause a lot of damage with a jet ski. Maybe something like a pontoon boat would be safer, they are also common rentals around here.

I bought a house this summer that I plan to live in for about 2 years and then rent. While I'm here I'm fixing it up a bit, though it doesn't need much. The house is the cheapest one in the neighborhood, I'm on a lake and many of the neighbors are million+ dollar houses. There aren't many rentals to compare to around here, but my realtor says there is a demand for it.

Anyway, the house is a bit weird. It is 4 bedroom, 2 bath, but all the bedrooms are tiny and there is no master bedroom. It's very hard to fit an adult size bed in any of the rooms. They are just fine for a child or an office, but not one or more adults. I would like to expand one of the bedrooms and take over the bathroom next to it and call it the master. It would fit very easily into the shape of the house and I don't think construction would be terribly expensive. It would only add about 100sq ft to the house.

The question is, will that do anything to help increase rent in the future? I know it would add to the resale value, but will it help the rent? Given it's location, and the neighborhood, I would expect a family to rent this. They would need to have a little better than average income for the area.

At the same time I'd like to remodel the bathroom - is the rent going to be any better if I use high end fixtures, etc vs basic home center stuff? It's not bad now, just very basic and boring.