All Forum Posts by: Thomas S.

I do not "try" I do raise rent to full market immediately. I never find it to be awkward or painful. Fortunately my money has no feelings.

Renting to the government, with their nit picky inspections, can be a royal pain in the butt. Their standards for their "special clients" is higher than normal people would expect.

If you are not intending to replace the floor you should not be charging the tenant. You charge tenants for actual cost of repairs. I would have a contractor in to replace the damaged section and charge the tenant the full cost of repair. The ice maker is your call, it should have been mentioned in the pre inspection walk through. If you do not repair it make sure the water line is shut off at the source to avoid future leaks. It is not a good idea to have ice makers/water feeds to refrigerators in a rental..

This property would have at least $300 negative cash flow per month after all expenses. There is no point in keeping a property that has negative cash flow unless you are speculating on above average appreciation. Sell it.

"Landlords, get shot and killed in my city going around chasing “ rent “ Your joking right, landlords do not chase rent, you send a pay or quit and then evict if necessary. Chase rent....that's funny.

What you do is learn to operate as a business and leave your personal feelings and emotions at home. A overflowed tub is incomitance not "sudden and accidental". You must make your tenant pay for the damages. It is not for you to decide she can not afford to pay, that is her problem not yours. Give her the bill, set up a payment plan if necessary, and if she does not pay you evict. The threat of eviction and possibly being cut off of S8 will get you paid. You need to stop caring about your tenants problems. Additionally once you get your $700 do not renew this tenants lease. You need to get rid of her or she will do it again.

Biggest mistakes I have made were always associated with allowing the government to manage my business. Fair housing, human rights etc. I do not allow that to happen any more, my business my rules. Second biggest mistake was renting to someone on welfare (S8). Never again.

It will always be more expansive when using a PM. $2400 is not out of line for a PM managed property. No effort is ever made to save money and supervising of contractors is not normal practice. With no skin in the game a PM does not manage as a owner would. It will cost more.

Raising the rent directly to full market does two things, first it will tell you if you have a tenant that can afford your apartment. If she can not afford full market rent she is not a good tennat and you need to replace her immediately. Second if she can afford full market you have maximised your returns as opposed to subsidising your tenants rent. If you do not put it directly to full market, and she can not afford full market, what you have accomplished is to lose money and end up with the same vacancy in the future that you are trying to avoid. That is a very poor financial decision. Immediately raising inherited tenants to full market is the wise business decision. Anything else is a personal decision. There is no reason a investor should be making personal decisions when money is involved.

The way to manage a out of control egotistical tenant is to not let it bother you. There is nothing they can do or say that should effect how you manage your business. You ignore A holes and manage your business. It should make no difference to a professional landlord what their tenants personality is. In cases where I have difficult tenants I tend to be brutally blunt with them. I do it intentionally to piss them off not because they bother me. Dealing with good tenants isn't much fun but pissing off a holes has it's moments. I don't value tenants with negative personalities so don't care if they stay or go.