All Forum Posts by: Wesley W.

Your utility provider may have such a service, even complimentary.

@Carl Fordyce Honestly, no.  Most of the people I know self manage.  Even those with large portfolios.  If there is a reputable company in the market I would be interested in hearing some testimonials.

Good luck!

Just casually ask the "PM" when you call them who the owner of the property is.  If the tenant is running some funny business with a friend, they most likely won't be prepared with this information. 

You, on the other hand,  can find this info yourself through the municipal tax rolls before making the call.

Thanks @Kelly N.!

The pic with the sink and black pipes are actually of the kitchen - the pipes are the washer hookup. Pics 2 and 3 of Unit 2F are panning from left to right.

What about the flooring? It's dated via style, but in good condition otherwise.

I appreciate the input!

Great idea, @Matt Vogt! I'm embarrassed to say that I never knew you could post images to these forums.  After a 2 day odyssey of trying to resize and upload the images here, I believe I have finally produced something that is viewable. ;)

Hopefully this thread hasn't seasoned to the point where everybody is ignoring it.  Your subsequent feedback is graciously appreciated!

UNIT 2F - 4 images

UNIT 2R - 4 images

Hi all,

We have a growing portfolio of small multi family properties in a nearby city.  The area has been historically blue collar, but is experiencing some gentrification in recent years.  These particular buildings have units that typically rent between $650 and $900 to give a frame of reference.

We just closed on another building this week that is largely vacant, so we're looking to make some improvements to these units in order to improve the quality of tenants in the building.  I've read that one should make the condition of a unit congruent with the quality of tenant desired. 

On a limited budget, I'm struggling with over improvement versus leaving it too "dated/tired" and attracting the wrong crowd.  I asked my contractor what he would do as he is also a landlord, but I see his advice as not completely objective as he is spending someone else's money by creating work for himself.

I called one of the big PMs in the area and asked her if she would be willing to avail her skill set, and she gave us a price of $500 for the 3 units.  I'm not against someone leveraging their ability/experience to supplement their income, but I thought that was a bit steep.

I was envisioning someone that could walk through and point out a few things that would be required updates/improvements and others that would be optional: "if you do this, you might be able to get another $25 per month, but it wouldn't be a turn off to most tenants" kinda thing.

I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed with three units empty, so I want to make sure my time and money are spent as efficiently as possible.  I'm not sure if I am conveying my question in just the right way, but hopefully I'm being clear enough to get some good feedback.

Thank you in advance for sharing your collective wisdom and experience.

I think an important detail in this thread that everyone has overlooked is that the current tenant is on an existing lease.

That being said, you need to thoroughly acquaint yourself with the terms of that contract to determine whether or not you can charge a late fee.  If the lease doesn't provide for it, you can't legally charge them a late fee.

You can, of course, have this woman sign a new lease (or amendments) at any time, but she is not required to.

I agree with most here that she is not a good tenant if she is paying late.  This is a business.  Treat it like one and you will reap the returns.  If she is not paying you, she is paying someone else.  I can guarantee no matter how low-paying her job is, her monthly net income is more than her rent.

Thank you for your input thus far.

The yard is less than 500 sq. ft., so subdividing is not an option, and there are two ground floor apartments, so making it "ground floor only " doesn't necessarily avoid this problem in the future.  I also think the local custom here is for all tenants in the building to have access to a common yard.

To answer @Marcia Maynard questions, when we took over the two tenants in the larger units both had lawn furniture. One moved out, which made the yard less congested.  During this time, the other three units turned over (thus the single set of items in the yard).  I know there were not any pre-existing arrangements before the purchase of the property (estoppel).

I'm thinking of establishing the "common areas are for common use, so work out an arrangement where everyone is happy." My quandary  is what to do if the tenants cannot resolve it themselves.

P.S. There were parking issues with this same tenant - see a previous thread I started on this forum. ;)

Hello all,

Here's a question to you small multi family landlords that have properties with a shared yard.  Specifically, what is your policy on its use as well as the use of tenants' items therein?

Some context...I have a 4-unit property with a shared yard.  I do not provide any "common" appliances or furniture (liability and maintenance concerns), so tenants must supply their own lawn furniture, etc.  Tenants do not have any decks with their  units.  This a property we purchased last year. 

The sole remaining inherited tenant has an outdoor bar and round table with 6 chairs as well as a barbecue grill.  These were existing in the yard before we took over.  The other tenants are relatively new, placed by us within the last 6 months.

One recently expressed concern that the aforementioned tenant will not allow anyone else to use her things in the yard, and there is no room for anyone else to put their own lawn furniture etc. in the yard.  The lawn is not more than 500 sq. ft.

How do each of you handle the use of such a shared yard? What policy do you recommend I adopt?

Options as l see it:

(1) Purchase common furniture and grill for all to use (least preferable of all options for the reasons above )

(2) Create policy that any privately purchased large items in the yard  are assumed to be available for common use. (possibly problematic given the private items are already in place and have been for years)

(3) Encourage tenants to work out an arrangement amongst themselves, and if an accord can't be reached, private items will not allowed to be stored in the yard.  (seems to be a heavy handed solution in lieu of other choices)

Looking for advice and feedback. Thank you in advance!

 Unfortunately they are younger than school age, and the sister's address is in the same school district anyways.  Another tip for everyone to file away.