All Forum Posts by: Randy E.

I also sympathize with you, @Taylor Dove. I haven't had an eviction for a while and it's never fun to go through it. But in NC it can be relatively quick for a landlord.

The short answer is NO way to force a tenant to leave without going through the legal eviction process. I know a lot of legal aid groups are providing services to help tenants stall legal evictions, but I haven't heard any first hand experience with that process.

You can offer your tenant money to move out. Pick a date (one week to however long you want to provide), write a document saying the tenant will move out by DATE and will receive AMOUNT from you after they complete the move out and return the keys. Have them sign that document and hope they move out by the agreed upon date.

It might seem uncomfortable paying someone to leave when they owe you money, but if they agree, you might end up getting possession of your property several weeks sooner than eviction. If the tenants don't agree, file to evict.

Hi Jordan,

Being in preforeclosure itself is not a concern for a buyer. More important is that you feel comfortable/competent managing that property in the neighborhood it is in, as a LL who lives 2 hours away. I scouted the HP area a couple of years ago and wish I had gotten in when the prices were half (or even less) than they are now. The rent estimate sounds about right, and you might be able to squeeze a bit more depending on location.

It doesn't sound like you have a lawyer handing your eviction, nor a property manager handling your rental. If that is true, here is some food for thought.

You will have to drive there to go to court to evict her - if she requests a continuance on the court date, you'll have to drive there more than once to attend the court hearing(s). You will have to drive there again on the day she actually leaves and change the locks. You will have to drive there again to oversee the turnover cleaning. You will have to drive there to show the unit to applicants who wish to rent your property ... maybe more than once. If you don't have an electronic lease available (which I assume is the case if you don't allow tenants to pay electronically) you will have to drive there for the new tenant to sign the lease.

I guess you have the right to demand payment via one method only, and you can choose that method to be a mailed check. However, it might make your life as a landlord easier if you create more ways for the tenant to pay you. You can use PayPal or CashApp or Venmo or any one of several electronic services. You can arrange for her to pay someone you know and trust in the area, who can then deposit or send the money to you. Or figure out another solution.

If the tenant actually has the money and the only hurdle is finding a way to get it in your hands, as a landlord, I'd much rather keep a happy and paying tenant than evict her and start the turnover process.

 And that's what's gnawing at me. Too bad I'm the only one that can answer that, but I'm asking you. :)

The good news is the parts arrived today and I convinced the plumber to finish the installation on Sunday. I plan to take a week to let this cool off and see how they feel then. Some people react poorly in situations like this and I'm not sure I want to make my final decision based on their worst moment.

 Yes, 1Bathroom.

Mostly they are complaining. They're not asking for anything other than the repair be completed right now, which isn't possible. The only specific request they made was to have the plumber come back and reinstall the old faucet. That's not possible because it was removed in the first place because it was broken, and parts of it broke further upon removal.

The rental market here is red hot in the city overall, and even hotter in that neighborhood. I could have it rented in hours if I chose to move that fast. I literally have people calling me every week asking if I have a vacancy. Market rent has continued to increase rapidly, and I could set the price for a new tenant higher than I would feel comfortable increasing the current tenant's rent. Of course, there would be some downtime for turnover, but I'm confident the new tenant could move in 30 days after this tenant moves out.

I'm a long time landlord and have seen a lot. In fact, I've seen something similar to this before but thought I'd post here for collective input.

One of my tenants has been something of a yo-yo. I think one is likely a bit bi-polar and that is leading to this current issue.  They complained that there was a problem with the tub faucet and the problem was verified. I bought a new faucet set and 2 days after they notified me, the plumber was out there to install a new faucet. As the plumber neared the end of the job, he realized the tile+mud was deeper than usual and the faucet stems were not long enough.  He was able to connect the cold water faucet but not the diverter or the hot water knob. Stem extensions are available but specific to each brand and sometimes different models within the same brand have different fittings.

The plumber and I both spent the next day calling and visiting vendors but no one had the extension we needed in stock. I had to special order one. It may arrive today (Saturday) but now it's looking like it may arrive too late to be installed today.  It may be Monday before the tenant has hot water in the shower.  The husband was updated Friday and said he understood and was happy I had the plumber out there 2 days with a new faucet - no big deal. A couple of hours later, the wife called, was in a venting mood and was not the least bit understanding. She even mentioned leaving at the end of the lease, but tried to backtrack when I agreed that might be a good idea.

I'll add this is a tenant I've bent over backwards to be understanding when they had issues during the past year of C19, and with a couple of other things. They could have been in a bad situation with a different landlord, but things worked out in the end, so far.  Their lease is up in June and I'm thinking of not renewing it, but I don't want to overreact to a tenant in the middle of an episode.

Would would you do?

This is exactly what I thought when I read the 1st post. If the other person is evasive and uncooperative before they move in, that person is not going to become more cooperative and easier to get along with four months later.

I would kindly tell him I will process his application when he completes it. If he doesn't complete it (meaning he agrees to the background check and provides you with the information you need to run it) then you can't review it.

A tenant with a difficult personality is not fun to deal with.

Hi @Mike Cantrell .

No, I was not able to buy the house that shared the driveway with me. When I bought my house, neighborhood prices were very low. The neighbors were holding out for a price about 2 or 3 times market value at the time. They were in a rough position because they would be unable to get a loan for another house because of income/credit score problems, so they needed to get enough to buy a cheap house outside the city in a smaller less expensive town. Eventually, they sold the house in 2020.

The buyer was a flipper who appeared to have a decent crew, but who made some decisions I would not have made. One bad decision was eliminated the shared driveway by putting a fence on the property line - I was able to convince him to keep it a couple of feet off the property line at the street side which would have made it unusable by either side. Now, my tenants still have a narrow but usable driveway. The other house has none. Before the fence, both sides could park in the back yard of each house. Now neither side can.

Coincidentally, a different flipper bought the adjacent house on the other side of my house. He completed a quick rehab sold the house days after finishing. The neighborhood and surrounding area are past the 50% mark of a gentrification wave. I'm glad I own it and I'm happy to keep it as a rental.

@Ben Lacascio, I'm in Durham and while I'm not a big-time investor, I've never had any trouble filling vacancies during any time of the year in five different cities in the area.  Of course you want to limit the downtime of the unit, but I wouldn't incur an unreasonable extra expense for the sole reason of finishing earlier to better your opportunity to rent it.

The areas most affected by winter moves seem to be the places with harsh winters. You won't find many harsh winters here. Heck, some winters you might not even see any snow if you blink.

 And this is the secret sauce. And remote landlord might have to pay full retail for repairs like this. This bathroom alone could exceed that $3K-$4K. Even a local landlord unwilling (or with the experience) to work to find good lower-cost repair talent. I've paid less than that to have entire houses replumbed with all new pipes and fixtures. Knowing how to get that done is a valuable skill for a smaller shallow-pocketed investor.

If the investor is able and willing to get their hands dirty, this can be a very affordable fix. If the investor is unable/unwilling to get their hands dirty AND has limited funds, this can be a long miserable expensive experience. When it comes to smaller investors, being able to handle this sort of issues affordably and effectively can be what divides the successes from the ones who quit.

This is not the worst thing in the world. But, it's not a turnkey either. The OP investor has to decide what side they're on.