All Forum Posts by: Mike H.

Before any rehab, I would recommend to check what your competitors have for interior, how close are they to affect  your area and what are the rents they are asking.  Do you have any advantages that your competitors cannot offer? ie. school rating, big yard, landscape...etc.  pretty much determine what are your advantages to help you raise rent (from new tenant) before open and rehab the kitchen (especially you have someone occupying the unit).  definitely need to raise to be close to market value and hopefully you can do so w/out putting more in.

In Texas, I take 1st month rent + Deposit at lease signing.  Only prorate 2nd month if applicable.

I agree with @Jim Sakalis  I tend to have better tenant experience when I speak to previous owner directly.  Missing info or contact that could not be reached are warning signs. 

In this business, I think there are formal ways of dealing w/ things and there are human ways of dealing w/ things.  @Account Closed, you are right, I think while Jon has the conversation going with tenant, he needs to get a feel about the situation and begin to setup for eviction as a protection.  I often bring up the formal process to tenant, be honest about the consequences about what they did and how we could resolve this issue if they work cooperatively.  Mention about you will be sending notices out to protect yourself is not a bad idea, this gives them the warning that if they do not move out (in this case) in the agreed timeline, they will be facing this issue formally and this will not make them better in anyway.

I agree with @David Dachtera, it sounds like she is not financially stable and won't be able to repay the dues.  Best situation is to have her move out completely and take the property back to place on market.  If she does not drag into Nov.  that would be consider the best out of this undesired situation.

Good luck

Actually, I should of have been more clear on the situation.  This is their 6th-month into the lease and one of them has lost the key.  They are not moving anywhere and it seems the key was lost in another town about 15 miles away. 

I initially had more concern on the security than the cost and wondering how others have done during a lease situation. 

At this time, I am thinking to send an email recommending rekey at their expense to avoid future security breach and an option to keep same lock/key at their choice and we are not responsible for the lost of personal property in case theft.   

Anyone sees an issue with this approach?

Have received a notification that one of two tenants has lost her key "when key-chain broke last night".   Just want to scratch everyone's brain a little to see how you had deal with this in the past.  I am thinking to rekey the door for safety, any one suggest to simply duplicate the existing key? 

Comments are much appreciated.  Thanks

you may want to look into local regulation as well.  Smart locks are also another option, it would allow you to rekey between tenants at lower cost.  (And now electronic failure concerns)

I simply use excel to track income/expense

check with you local requirement to see what you need to provide, typically there is a time frame you need to return the security as well.  Typically 30 days, may vary base where you are.