All Forum Posts by: Nancy C.

Hi!  My sister has accepted a job in another state but still has 8 months remaining on her lease.  Can anyone help with her rights as a tenant to mitigate being on the hook for the rent for the remaining 8 months?  

The landlord currently is trying to re-rent it and is trying to get 10% more in rent, which is really steep for the market, and her place is the most expensive house in that range.  I'm just wondering if the landlord is allowed to try and increase the rent that much.  And while the lease says that subletting requires the landlord's approval, is there any reasonable reason that he can refuse to allow a subletter (she has not formally asked yet)?  

Additional info: The owner is trying to do a For Sale By Owner, my sister has left the property in immaculate shape with professional cleaning and has continuedto pay rent despite having moved out.  So far it has been a fairly friendly relationship, but the landlord has not been overly helpful either.

Any help appreciated!

@Bill S.  this is a great way of looking at it. I have been trying to put it in the investment category so that I'm less resentful of spending the money every month. But thinking of it more as a gift and how I would approach it if were my own living situation makes perfect sense.  They have 10-15 years of independent living ahead but have been exceptionally nomadic so I'm not sure that they would choose to stay in the same place for that long.  In that case renting is the better option, especially since they're moving to an area they haven't lived long term before and who knows if they would want to stay 10-15 years?

It definitely is great that we're in a position to help.  I just need to get over the resentment of paying for their retirement instead of furthering my own.  Better that than having them move in with us 😁

Thanks @Bill S. and @Matt M.for the warm welcome back!  Thank you for your advice and the points that you made.  I fully expect the "helping family" to not go well.  But I figured if we have to pay rent for my husband's parents anyway, it may make sense to pay off a part of our own mortgage instead of some other investor's.  Right now we're just in the investigation stage.  The front range is definitely on fire right now, and once we check it out in more detail may decide to instead invest elsewhere.  But I thought it was worth investigating since it sounds like either way we'll be putting money every month towards my in-laws' rent or mortgage.  Any advice if we end up going this route, or is it better to just suck it up as a sunk cost and move on?

Hi!  I'm Nancy Capron and I have been a dabbler in real estate investing for the past 12 years.  We started with a slow flip of our personal residence and then purchased a three family in Boston and lived in and renovated that.  I got tired of self-managing so moved to Melbourne, Australia (OK, that was really because my husband got a great job opportunity).  We have since purchased long-distance 3 single families in the Dallas area and are considering purchasing another single family in Colorado, probably north of the Denver area.

My real estate goals are probably similar to everyone's, passive income so we can retire.  While my husband and I have just turned 40, we've been saving well from his well paying job for 15 years so we're hoping to get there in the next 5 years.  I came to BiggerPockets a couple of years ago looking for advice on how to make that happen.  I haven't been very active nor very deliberate in our investing.  But since my husband keeps running the numbers and saying he's "done" working (and/or he wants to work in Asia :)  ) we need a more considered plan.

We're headed back to the US for an extended family visit and are considering purchasing another property in the Denver/northern Colorado area (mainly to help a family member).  I'm bumping in to the "fifth mortgage" problem and looking for advice and other members' experience before I waste my vacation time "working".

Looking forward to taking this more seriously and making more connections this time around!

Tevis Verrett: I loved your ideas about adding value to the rental, I'll definitely pass them along.

In general, she and I have let the rental agents set the price, figuring that they know more about the market since they're in it every day (and I'm not going to personally look at all of the properties for rent). I am hesitant to overrule her agent in terms of price.

How much faith do we put in the number that rental agents give us? Or does it just come down to whether it rents at the price they set or not? (That seems a silly question now that I've written it - it either rents at the price they set or it doesn't and we lower it.) Does anyone else have experience with letting the rental agent set the rental price?

Jon Holdman: The market in the area is slow, but other properties are getting rented. She hasn't "played tenant" and looked at the competition herself because she lives in LA. I've done a little scouting for her and I think it's overpriced compared to others. I'll have her make some calls about other properties that are very near her, that's a great suggestion. She's been listening to the agent who doesn't think lowering the price would help (even though that was my first suggestion after looking at similar listings).

My friend has a house for rent in an upscale suburb of Melbourne, Australia, 2 blocks from the beach. It's a 3 bedroom historic home, 1 bath upstairs with the bedrooms, another full bath outside by the pool. The kitchen was just updated but the main bath is a little dated. Overall it's a nice looking place, but it's not super modern and high-end. It's listed with a rental agent, which is typical here in Melbourne, at a fair market price, but it's not renting. The agent has been getting about 2 people through a week to look at the place, but they don't rent.

Does anyone have any tips for getting this house rented? She's listed it separately on Gumtree (similar to craigslist). The agent didn't think lowering the rent would help (although I personally think it would). She had it rented previously (prior to the kitchen update) furnished but has since emptied the house. Does renting a house furnished help?

What things that have worked for you in the past to get a house rented?

I had good luck with my first three family that had a home warranty. Had a massive hot water heating leak under a tub that they fixed for the $35 call out fee. They also did a $450 heating system repair for the call out fee.

BUT - I had a three family that had separate heating and hot water for each unit. When another unit had a heating problem, they refused to repair because I had already claimed a heating repair. In the end I got rid of the policy because I was being charged for three family coverage but didn't feel I was getting 3 family coverage. I also read horror stories about the company I was with, and eventually I was part of a class action lawsuit against them.

I eventually decided that the money I was spending on the home warranty system would be better saved and put towards actually upgrading the old systems. I think my policy was $1,200/yr. Yes, I've spent more on replacing the furnaces, etc. than I was saving but I haven't had to pay for service calls either.

If you go the home warranty route, make sure that you read all the really fine print. Most policies won't *actually* replace the system, and the total amount paid for a major repair is capped. Based on the repairs that you've already had, do a cost benefit and see if you would be ahead or not.

In my experience, you most likely wouldn't be ahead if you went the home warranty route, but it might be a short term solution to get you through a year or two more in the black so that you can upgrade the systems.

I second Steve Babiak. You most likely don't need an incentive, it's entirely possible that they forgot when their lease renews. Asking them to sign a new one wouldn't encourage them to start looking elsewhere, as the time and expense of moving deters most people.

Your $250 incentive (or whatever amount) would be better spent on an improvement that stays and helps with their utility bills, like a programmable thermostat or something. Check with your utility company and local and state programs as sometimes they offer great programs that benefit both of you. I got my entire three story rental done with blown-in insulation for a total expense of $1150 for the entire building. It requires effort dealing with the logistics, but the tenants were extremely pleased with the results and decided to renew their lease.

I am updating my Addendum and wanted to ask MA landlords about including a late rent fee.

Legally I can't collect it until rent is late by 30 days. If I include "a $50 late rent fee is assessed after the fifth of the month" in the addendum to scare the college kids I rent to into paying on time, does that make my lease unenforceable, and/or cause me more problems?

Telling them that they have 30 days before a late fee is collected I have found doesn't provide enough "incentive" to pay on time. I can start the eviction process if the rent is one day late, but that's a PITA I want to avoid. Or is the threat of starting that process enough of an incentive?

Or do I include an unenforceable "a $50 late fee is assessed after the fifth of the month"?