All Forum Posts by: Nick Ferrari

Why not while we're at it.  My tenant also demanded for a lot of changes right away and last minute the day before cancelled on both my electrician and my contractor.  When I asked her are you okay if I drive there and open the door for them to let them in she refused.  She was uncomfortable with people being in her home without her.  

You tell me am I being out of line thinking that's unreasonable?  I'm trying to fix unnecessary items for her in the first place.  I scheduled it weeks in advance.  I'm paying the bill for everything and then the day before she cancels.  

Would it be acceptable to charge her a cancellation fee?  I don't find it fair for my contractors to go home empty handed after two of them just lost a half days worth of work.

I officially have a needy problem tenant and I would like all your advice on what you would do permanently.

I have a class A-B townhome in a good neighborhood in the suburbs of Philadelphia.  I just recently added a new tenant and at first everything was great but as time past issues started to occur...with everything.  This woman the day we did our move in move out checklist wasn't happy with anything the window sills weren't clean enough.  The Air conditioning wasn't turned on before she came in and it was too hot (tried saving electricity no one in home).  The toilet seat a few days later was somewhat wobbly.  The ceiling fan remote's button is hard to press in a bedroom that she doesn't use and she wants it wired to the wall.

Now i'm all for treating your tenant's well because if they treat you well the same often times is reciprocated, so naturally we paid to bring out an electrician and contractor to do some of these minor fixes and moving forward there shouldn't be much to complain about.  Although she cancelled it last minute and now I have to reschedule (topic for another time).

My question is how do you draw the line with your tenant with what you will repair and what you won't?  Do you fix only what is broken?  Do you throw them a bone and go above and beyond no matter what?  

Also bonus question I am considering adding an amendment for future leases stating any repairs after move in the first $100 the tenant is responsible for repairs; makes sense to me they are after all the ones living in the home and responsible for wear and tear and it should deter from ridiculous fixes like several of the one's I mentioned earlier.

Sam, if you don’t mind could you send that to me as well?

I’m curious what you find to be the most important things to do when ‘training’ your tenant. It could range from calling during certain times of the day (except for emergencies) to paying their bill online direct deposit. Give me your top 3!

Depends on what you are trying to accomplish.

Personally I preferred the route of paying down debt out of college.  It makes life much easier and when you pay off a car, student loans, miscellaneous expenses it makes you available to buy a home down the road without much concerns.  Having a second mortgage isn't as big of a deal when you don't have other bills to pay.

But if you're hungry and are going to buy anyway....buy a duplex that's a little bit of a fixer upper. Learn the trades it takes to fix up a property, have your tenant pay your rent, receive great financing from a local bank since you're an owner occupant you'll be eligible for an FHA. You will learn home remodeling, practice being a property manager, and take less risk on an investment, while decreasing your cost of living expenses.

The latter of the two options is more work and stress but if that's what you want it's an intelligent move.

You are in luck.  You live in Pennsylvania therefore according to state law you must as a landlord disclose where the security deposit is located to your tenants. If it's required to be in an interest-bearing account, the tenant is entitled to receive the interest if he or she lives in a rental property for 2 or more years.

In addition to this you as a landlord must return the security deposit to the tenant within 30 days of them moving out of the property.

So long story short if you did not transfer the security deposit from the purchase of this sale the original owner is liable to disclose this information to you.  It's the law.

Get in contact with them find out where that money is at and how long the tenant has been occupying that property.  Otherwise one of you will be held liable for that deposit.

Remember if you have an LLC its a company not a corporation.

Why is that important?  Well you need to be careful with the transfer of ownership between yourself and a company that is owned by, you guessed it yourself.  Make sure you have honest open conversations with these people.  If you're looking for financing and are trying to switch ownership now they may think that could happen again.  Although most banks don't have the time nor inclination to pursue potential due on sales clauses that doesn't mean they won't try avoiding it in the first place.

If this get's too sticky consider finding more regional banks and make friends with your portfolio managers.  These are the people that will make or break your finance opportunities and you would be shocked at what they're willing to do when you make good on your word.

Hey everyone, So today my first ever tenant is moving in. I have a lease ready to go, a Move-In Move-Out Checklist, extra keys have been made, and some information on the neighborhood. I've already informed them of all the info regarding their utilities. Is there anything else that I should have ready for them?

How many days in advance should a tenant give before attempting to terminate a lease?

I'm constructing my first lease and wanted to get your opinion on how much time should be given.

What's the best way to automatically debit a tenants rent and have that recurring monthly?

Is there a service that can do this?