All Forum Posts by: Robin Grimes

Applicant shows up to view house and says she wants it 5 min into tour. As she hands over application I get this story.

Female applicant: "I have a felony change from 3 years ago but it was for drugs my old boyfriend had, I was just in the car with him. My current boyfriend and I want to rent the house for us and my 3 kids. My sister is insane and is kicking us out of her house."

I take app and run background. The current boyfriend is on probation for assault on his current wife. There is a restraining order filed by the wife.

I call the lady to deny the application and she gets upset and tells me that it's discrimination. I tell her that discrimination against criminals is perfectly legal. (She was not a minority by the way, no idea about the bf).

When I started out landlording I would often waive late fees, trying to be a nice guy and thought I was helping out my tenants. After a while I discovered that this set a terrible precedent with the tenants. To the point one tenant was upset when I would not waive his late fee a third time. Now I will rarely waive a late fee. There are some occasions when I will waive late fees but only for long term, good paying tenants. How you you? Do you find yourself waiving late fees if the sob story is good enough?

Recent applicants request while touring the house, which is in Houston Tx:
"Would you be willing to have gas piped to the house and put in a gas log fireplace and gas stove? Also you will need to install garage door openers." 10 min later... "How negotiable are you on the rent?"

It's not that these are dumb request, it just irritates me when tenants expect you to do expensive alterations without increasing the rent.

They had been at the prior address for 10 years, had GREAT references from landlord and employers and were only moving because their prior landlord wanted to sell the house.

Thanks for the idea of starting the lease the day of signing and giving them free days, since the lease covers the requirement for Tenants Ins. I'll use that in the future.

--Robin

I recently leased out a house to a very nice older couple. The lease start date was about 8 days away. The tenants old lease ends in 38 days. They were just being very proactive in finding a new home and allowing ample time to move. The lease was signed, deposit and 1st month paid, then they asked if they could start moving stuff over and storing in garage, this being prior to lease start date. They both work full time and planned to move gradually, on their days off. Since I had deposit and first months rent, plus I wanted to start off the relationship on a good note, I agreed.

Their lease has started now and there were no problems.
However, thinking back on it, I realize that I opened myself to some risk. Their property was in my house, without a lease being in effect. What if their stuff had been stolen? a fire? broken water pipe, etc. With the lease not being active how liable was I? Was the open liability worth the small amount of goodwill?

What do you think?

--Robin

My mistake, I used the word private when I should have said personal. How many properties I own is personal information that I would rather not hand out to anyone who ask, regardless of how publicly available it is.

Ok, I need help. How do you link to someone's name with the @ sign? :^).

Thanks @Dawn A. and Ryan Richard. The site has a mobile version also, because the url is on all my bandit signs. I followed the teachings from Danny Johnson over at FlippingJunkie.com. Basically to keep the site simple, personal and honest.

I started this thread because I get asked the question constantly. Just yesterday I was rehabbing a new rental and posted two free vanities on Craigslist. A young guy and his pregnant girlfriend show up and the first two questions they ask. Q: "So are you going to rent it out?" A: Yes. "How many properties do you own?" A: Only this one is available for rent.

"So, how many properties do you own?"
I get this question almost every time I tell someone that I'm a real estate investor. Tenants and applicants ask the same question also. I generally respond with a smile and say "At least this one." To me the question is about the same as asking a stranger how much they make. Do you get this question and if so how do you feel about it and how do you respond?.

--Robin