All Forum Posts by: Pj Holmes

 We haven't considered buying our own since they were included when we rented the place and we never imagined that they would replace them with junk if they failed. The lease is up soon and we will be moving out of state. So I don't look forward to hauling big appliances on top of furniture and belongings. I will for sure buy my own once there. 

We'll talk to the landlord tomorrow since this dryer is a fire hazard at this point and see what happens. 

Hi, the lease states that the Landlord will take care of Appliances (washer dryer, refri, microwave, oven/range are all listed under appliances that are part of the property being rented. 

After having cleaned the dryer, I tested the high heat setting and burnt smell started coming out and even the smoke detector went off!!! Some burnt dust is being blown into the drum through that grill that looks rusty. 

I called the repair man before testing the high heat setting due to a small leak on hot water hookup, so he is coming tomorrow. He will probably offer to fix the dryer, but at this point we would prefer they install something that is decent and not some burnt/dirty unit. 

I could call the landlord before the repair man shows up, but the result will probably be that they will fix it instead of replacing, so I could end up just pissing off the repair guy and end up with the same result. Not good. 

Does a tenant have a right to get a replacement that is at least comparable to what is being replaced? 

Hello folks,

After at least 2 years of sending a repair guy to fix the faulty washer and dryer we had in our apt, the landlord agreed to replace them. 

Unfortunately, they sent the repair guy to buy a used combo and he chose probably the combo in worse condition.  

The dryer is rusty inside and dirt is stuck in places I can't easily clean (crevices). The washer was filthy. 

These pics were after I cleaned them up the best I could. 

So my girl friend is disgusted that we will have to use these units to wash and dry our bedding, clothes, etc. I am not as picky, but still I find this kind of gross and a step down.

Is this something I should bring up or complain about? If so, what can I expect? I doubt they will replace them or do much about it so I might be wasting my time. On the other hand, I can send these pictures for their records since they can then blame us for the units' condition when we leave. (also when repair guy was testing the washer, some water leaked from the exit hose through the ceiling and left a water mark on the ceiling)

The washer and dryer are included in the rent (most apts are rented with washer and dryer in this area), and the ones we had were 10 times better than these ones, but failed often. However, I would have been happy to continue to call the repair guy if I knew we would get this nasty ones. 

Suggestions appreciated. 

Thank you.

 Hi Aaron, 

What do you mean with this statement? Let's imagine that I manage to lower the taxes significantly than other similar properties, would this affect the listing in any way? 

 Thank  you all for your comments. 

Did you send a CMA or BPO or something professional like that? My county provides a tools to look up comps, but not sure if I have a better chance at getting the appraisal lowered if I send in something made by a real estate professional vs what a simple mortal home owner could. THanks

I was hoping to get some insight from real estate professionals regarding the following. 

During the past few years home prices in Nashville have skyrocketed. 

This year the County Assessor issued new Appraised Values and as you can imagine they are ridiculously high and out of control. At least for the people that I have talked to who are home owners, almost all have seen HUGE increases in appraised values from the county. 

This is great if I am planning to sell the home, then public records shows a higher value for the home, but at the same time this will increase my taxes by $600 per year. 

I am currently renting this home, but I may or may not be selling the house in the next year or so depending on a few things that need to be sorted out still. So that's the tricky part, that I am uncertain whether I will be selling or keep renting. 

So, there is a deadline to try and get the appraised value reviewed in hopes of lowering their appraised value and lowering the taxes some. There are comps that I saw that would help my case, but I am not sure if in the case I am successful in getting a lower appraisal, that it may come back to hurt me if I end up deciding that I will be selling the home next year, for example.

I have heard that realtors do not pay much attention to the appraised value by the county since it is usually off and does not reflect the actual value of the home. So if I decide to sell, it would not matter if the home has a lower value for tax purposes in the case that it is much lower than the potential listing price. Am i correct assuming this? 

On the other hand, having a higher appraised value can only help a listing, but paying the taxes on the ridiculous new appraised value is a tough one. 

What do you suggest I do? Should I attempt to lower the appraised value to pay less tax or leave this inflated appraised value as is?

Sorry for the long post, I appreciate any insight on how to proceed. 

Thanks

 You are correct, I won't have leverage if I don't do it before, but at the same time I want to be tactful since they have been good tenants. Do you suggest I have them do this by a certain date for example and word it so that following through with these items is conditional to renewing the lease?

Thanks again. 

Hello, 

I have a tenant who will stay for another year and was wondering how to proceed with the following.

There are a few things they must do to keep the home in good condition, like clean some mold in window frames, put back a door they removed, etc. 

Should I send them the lease along with an itemization of these things to do? Or should I have them do it before signing the lease? Also, is it ok to ask them to send pictures of the items when completed since I can't be there for inspection?

Suggestions appreciated 

Thanks

I can understand that some of you may look at these pics and think they are rough on the house and need to be out, however they have been there for more than a year and it has been my bad as long distance landlord and newbie, that I did not inspect the home sooner. So the house should have been a lot worse if they were really that careless. All the damage seems to be from moving furniture in and would have to be repaired and paid by them before renewal. Thanks for helping me reach this conclusion. Lesson learned in that regard. 

I will be sending a handyman to get a quote and proceed with a few repairs.

In those areas of the walls that need to be filled with spackle to prevent further chipping, would you just leave the areas white or paint on top? Painting would add to their expense and would probably require painting the whole wall as I don't have the color number for the paint in order to do touchups. Plus the walls are dirty and new painted touchups will look just as bad in contrast with the dirty wall. 

For the spindle, I hope it is not too hard to find one that looks the same at the local home depot. Should I paint this spindle as well or leave the paint for when they move out.

(the last picture is a towel hanger)

Also, they removed a door to the laundryroom that is now sitting in the garage. They explained that it was due to moving in the washer and dryer and having to remove in order to fit them inside. I image if they move out they will want to remove it again, so Im thinking it may be better to just not say anything and leave it as is. Thoughts?

I have not told them anything yet, so I need to figure out how to get this done and paid for by them before we sign the renewal, which should be signed very soon. If they were to say they won't pay for the repairs (which is unlikely) or that they want to pay when they leave, what would you do and how would you present these fixes? as a condition to renew or that is frowned upon?

Thanks again for helping a noob landlord!

Thank you all for replying. 

I will be sending a handyman to get a quote and proceed with a few repairs. 

In those areas of the walls that need to be filled with spackle to prevent further chipping, would you just leave the areas white or paint on top? Painting would add to their expense and would probably require painting the whole wall as I don't have the color number for the paint. 

For the spindle, I hope it is not too hard to find one that looks the same at the local home depot. Should I paint this spindle as well?

(the last picture is a towel hanger) 

Also, they removed a door to the laundryroom that is now sitting in the garage. They explained that it was due to moving in the washer and dryer and having to remove in order to fit them inside. I image if they move out they will want to remove it again, so Im thinking it may be better to just not say anything and leave it as is. Thoughts? 

I have not told them anything yet, so I need to figure out how to get this done and paid for by them before we sign the renewal, which should be signed very soon. If they were to say they won't pay for the repairs (which is unlikely) or that they want to pay when they leave, what would you do and how would you present these fixes? as a condition to renew or that is frowned upon?

Thanks again for helping a noob landlord!