All Forum Posts by: Ben Skove

I'm with Marcia in how to phrase it - I also call them maintenance and safety, and encourage tenants to tell me if there are any problems.

While I haven't had an eviction yet, I'm also hoping that having evidence that the tenant either did not report any problems at maintenance time, or that problems were revealed and repaired will prevent any last minute shenanigans about damage that I didn't address.

I do quarterly inspections. Messy doesn't bother me. Things which are broken get fixed and billed. Lease violations get a cure notice.

Don't skip your walk-throughs, as it may be your only chance to remedy a small problem before it gets bigger.

People who might normally qualify for the EITC should keep in mind that as they accumulate passive rental (or other investment) income they risk losing the credit. For 2013, the amount of passive income must be $3,300 or less, regardless of the amount of earned income.

Just one of those tax time thoughts. :)

Hey Kevin, you can also use the "Monitor Topic" button at the top of the topic thread. Hope this helps!

I agree with Matthew. Complying with RRP will raise the price of your paint job a fair bit. For a MF, you're not going to have future buyers falling in love with the original wood details.

Douglas, I'd rethink your plan. It isn't that sub-30k properties are undesirable, but looking for them in high crime areas will make your goals very difficult to achieve.

Think of it this way: imagine you're a higher quality housing choice voucher holder. You have a choice between a higher quality unit in a high crime area, or a somewhat lower quality unit in a lower crime area. Which would you choose?

Those people who will rent in high-crime areas are (for the most part) those people who don't have the option to rent elsewhere.

You can lead a horse to water.... I usually just have inspections frequently enough to ensure that they're being changed regularly.

I think it'd depend on your need for frequent or remote rekeying or opening, versus tougher security - so it might depend on where your rentals are located.

Consumer Reports had this to say about the digitals:

@Rob K. and @Scott K. , you're going to be thrilled to read the first "trend" in this article:

http://blog.coldwellbanker.com/5-design-trends-american-hustle/

While "no alterations" to the house is probably already in your lease, you may want to specifically address this in it as well. Some tenants are...creative.