All Forum Posts by: Richard C.

You don't go buy disposable fire extinguishers at Walmart or something. You sign a contract with a fire protection company. Every six months the come in, test the detectors, and swap out/recharge the extinguishers. Besides not having to think about it yourself, you put them and their insurance on the hook for any liability.

The general expectation in the area you are talking about is that apartments come with trash removal. For reference, a 2 yard dumpster emptied once a week runs $100/month in southwestern NH. Which for someone who spent a lot of time in Connecticut and DC still strikes me as a screaming deal. $25 a tip? Less, actually, since there are 4.3 weeks in a month...

Anyway, trash. Also snow removal. As you know, water bills in NH/VT are very small by the standards of most of the country, but they do exist.

I have single familes (just 2, plus my residence) not multis, but I pay a fire protection company to test the detecters every six months and swap out the fire extinguishers. The discount I was able to arrange from my insurer for showing documentation of this was almost 2/3 of the cost.

Toilet plungers. You're insane if you don't leave them toilet plungers.

Also fire extinguishers.

Most parks in this area do not allow rentals (except by the park owners.) So that is one reason to do the seller-finance instead. Make sure you know what the rules are at the park this is in.

All we are saying is sending your handyman is not solving the problem. Mold can be a more serious problem than you seem to realize.

In fairness, maybe this is a regional thing, if you are in a dry area. Here, every so often entire houses are lost to mold on occasion.

But take it seriously. If I can offer an analogy, a report of mold should be treated more like "We have no water!" than "Our faucet is leaking."

That is not an adequate response, unless your handyman is a licensed inspector with a full lab in his garage. Your tenant quite likely considered that an attempt on your part to cover up the problem rather than fix it. Which it was.

Or Ryan is right and he just wants out (though I doubt the inspector would actually put his license at risk but issuing a finding where there is no mold.)

Either way, the way you find out is by taking it seriously and ordering an inspection of your own.

My credit union hands out prequals, which are pretty meaningless anyway, like candy. Just on the basis of an interview with a loan officer.

That kind of changes the picture, doesn't it? You had months of notice. State laws will vary, here you would very likely be cutting him a check for the inspection, and be under an order for remediation. And this isn't even considered a tenant-friendly state.

Mold can be nothing, or it can be way beyond "spray with bleach and paint" territory. If nothing else, protecting your investment should inspire you to take reports seriously.

Have to agree with Joe Gore on this one.

She has a SFR.

Bi-weekly rent is common in some areas of the country. Things vary greatly from place to place. For example, I always get a laugh when I see someone here talk about how they insist on seeing an applicant's current residence as part of the qualification process. That would NEVER fly here, and any landlord who suggested it in small town New Hampshire would be a laughingstock, if not considered an outright creep.

But matching rent payments to payrolls is common. Usually in lower-level properties, to be sure.

So things vary, as they often do, and there is really no iron rule.

Don't ask for once a week. Ask to see things on the same schedule are the inspector. Rough framing, then plumbing/electric, etc.

Or even just ask to be present for the inspection.