All Forum Posts by: Bettina F.

Disposers are a common problem area in rentals.   Tenants can't seem to understand how to use them.  Unless you have a high end rental, consider removing the disposer when you fix the leak.  

Thanks Jon, we already have a million dollar umbrella liability added to our homeowners.  But yes, I have thought about kids getting knocked down by goats, bee stings, scratched by barbed wire, and all the assorted dangers of iiving in the country.

People believe that LLs are "rolling in the dough" -- even when one became a reluctant LL due to inability to sell a house and you are hoping the rent covers the mortgage!   While you can be proud of your investments and your business, you do not need to encourage the rolling in the dough meme with your family and friends.  

My friends and family know that my rentals are my retirement income -- I use this money to put food on MY table and pay MY bills.   My husband drives an old work truck to the rentals.  We do not need to drive our fanciest car or wear our nicest clothes for our LL duties.  

I rent class B 2 bedroom apartments.  I often have to tell people (nicely) that they cannot afford our apartments.  I have gotten very good at my "It would not be fair to rent  to anyone with income below $X.XXX"  speech.  Spending too much on rent sets people up for failure -- and failure in renting can lead to evictions which will haunt someone for a very long time.  People need money for food, utilities, car payments and fun.  Spending too much on rent is just not sustainable in the long run -- and the tenant is stressed about money all the time.  It is better for the tenant with insufficient income to put their energies into finding a smaller apartment or a good roommate situation.  

It sounds like the friend with cancer believes his LL is rolling in the dough.  The friendship is gone at this point.  Hopefully the LL will not make that mistake in the future.  

We have our list of apartment rules written right into our rental agreement.  It is easy to read, easy to explain, and prospects are shown these rules when applying.  Sometimes they decide not to apply when they read the "no party" rule. Good!  We want people who cannot live with our community rules to self-screen themselves out.   The other clause frequently violated is "no unauthorized occupants".   Singles try to move in BF/GFs and we have no idea wo these people are.  

You should be collecting and reading leases from your LL networking buddies.  I think there are some in the forms section of this website.  I usually find good ideas from reading other people's leases.

Small increases every year near anniversary of their moving in.  (We do M2M) Tenants expect  small increases, and a small manageable increase is better than a big jump every 3-5 years.  I give 60 day notice of rent increase, and have NEVER lost a tenant to a rent increase -- my apartments are still a good deal for my long term tenants.  My costs for taxes and insurance go up every year.  

Our experience has been a LOT more in repairs during the first two years of owing a building.  After then, repairs settle down.

Send to collections.  College students graduate and hopefully get good jobs.  One day they will want to buy a house or a car and your little ol' debt will haunt them.  They may pay to clean up their credit. 

I know many LLs who market a "Pay Day Plan" and the rent is paid every two weeks -- just like a paycheck.  Tenants on the Pay Day plan MUST use a form of autodraft or ACH to make collection seamless.  The advantage is that -- just like a paycheck -- there are some months where the LL gets three payments.  Some tenants do not even care that they are essentially paying extra over the course of the annual lease, they value the budgeting convenience that much.   

Offer your tenants a choice -- monthly or Pay Day Plan set up with autodraft.

It looks to me like old Sea Grass or raw silk walls from the 1980s.  It was quite the fancy designer touch.  It went on in rolls like wallpaper, but I believe it was before the easy to remove wallpaper like we have today.  You may have a lot of steaming and scraping in your future.  You may also have the possibility that the Sea Grass was put up to hide ugly, cracked walls in the first place.

If it is still adhering well, I would prime and paint a sample and see how it looks.  You might end up with a cool textured wall that could be the designer touch of 2017.  Looks like you have plenty to keep you busy in the meantime.

Personally, I would1) do the walkthru to make sure no damage to old unit 2) have the tenant sign "Release from Lease and Transfer of Security Deposit" dated and timed to release from old lease and then 3) dated and timed lease for the new property.  IMO, this would be cleaner.  Remember, the lease is only for  the judge if you have future problems.  If you do have future problems, you want everything neat and easily explained.