All Forum Posts by: Kasay Mardis

Good day all,

We have an apartment we feel needs renovated/updated.  The tenant's lease is up as of now and they're currently on a month-to-month.  Are there any restrictions or processes we should adhere to in order to ask them to vacate the property for renovations?  We would like to put the apartment on the market afterwards for an increased price.  Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

@Michael Tyler,

Great tips on the photos.  We may have to invest in a decent DSLR camera.

@Joe P.,

No worries. All opinions help.  What we do have here are houses that usually run half the price of a Philly house/Pitt house and the cash flow from what we've seen is generally higher per dollar spent buying the house. We've filled up all of our other units (2/1) pretty easily in this area at $565-$605 which is what concerned me about this unit in general.  The reason we believe we may be having more trouble than the other house is because of the crappy school district it's in.  We get calls all the time asking if it's in the school district that butts right up against the neighborhood line (which our other property is in).  We've had quite a few callers and showings, but no one that fit the bill of standards above and plenty who fit the "never rent to" category.  After changing some of the ads today we've already received 5 inquiries with two showings coming up.  The other side of the unit rents for well over the 3 bedroom you posted as an example even as a 2/1.  We did decide to lower the price to $550 which may be the sweet spot we're looking for.  The pictures definitely don't do it justice and the wall paper that came with the house is pretty tacky.  We are looking into developing areas for the next buy, but this house was a steal for how much we had to pay for it.  It was purchased at the end of summer last year.

@Dennis M. & @Joe P.,

Great Suggestions that I have incorporated into the new add.

@Patti Robertson,

The link for our new ad is:

https://www.zillow.com/homedet...

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/marke...

Thank you all for the help.

@Darius Ogloza,

  Sorry,  the unit has been vacant for around 5 months.  Mostly during what I've been told is the slow season (winter months).

Good Morning BP'ers,

I have a question on how to find a good renter for a unit we are having trouble with.  We've recently purchased a new property which is beautiful.  The interior is very nice as well as the exterior.  We've already found a renter for one side at a very good rate for the area, but we've yet to find a qualified renter for the other.  Here are some of the requirements that we've been asking for that worked for our other property, and for the other side of the unit, but I believe should be modified.

1.  First months rent as a deposit.

2.  No evictions (I wont be changing this at the recommendation of just about every landlord)

3.  Two times the amount of income monthly over the cost of rent

4.  $25 application fee for a background check

5.  Character references and one from the previous landlord

I'm not 100% sure what class the area would be, but the general rent in the area runs about $550-600 for non-section 8 properties.  So far the only applicants we've had have large debts, too low of income, wanting section 8 or want multiple pets.  We've put the property on Zillow, the news paper, Craig's list, a for rent sign and are now putting up fliers without the address for people to call to see it.  What can we do to help find someone without sacrificing the securities that prevent us from losing money in the end with a bad tenant.

Thank you

@Todd Shoemaker ,

I appreciate the suggestion.  I will check those while out at the property.

The stairs were fixed a little over a month ago.  This is really a question regarding the basement water trail (no standing water).  We're going to let her stay for a bit and feel it out, but I like the humidifier ideas.

Great answers.  I very much appreciate the help.  I'm going to make the repairs with the help of a handyman I know and well as waterproofing the walls.  If the problem gets worse I'll adjust from there. If she becomes worse for no reason then 30-day notice sounds like the only option I have.  Maybe we're being too easy going since we're still fairly new to the game.  Thanks again.