All Forum Posts by: Rob Gribben

I have my BS in mechanical engineering and now do life cycle cost modeling for the Army.  Engineering is an incredible foundation that allows you to branch out into just about anything that you want to do.

unless you can negotiate to lower the cost, i'd find another property.  Structural, water, and mold issues are huge red flags.  Did you have a termite inspection done?  Termites are fairly common around KC.

my parents have a single family rental in Brunswick, GA.  Their current PM was collecting rent and not distributing their portion to them.  i think they were taking advantage of the pandemic and trying to make it look as if they weren't able to collect rent.  They stopped answering phone calls.  My father finally had an attorney mail a letter, and they have since been getting the rent payments.  They are obviously in need of a new PM.  Recommendations are appreciated.  My parents have owned rentals for years, they are elderly, but they know the businees, are not easily taken advantage of, as their current PM was probably hoping.

I have 2 in Baltimore city snd 1 in Balt county.  I keep the water account in my name.  I pay it and send them a photo and tell them due date and they pay me.  I have been doing this way for about 13 yrars and never had a problem.

@Kenneth Garrett

I agree, there's a fine line you walk with being a push over and letting tenants take advantage, and having some compassion in the name of keeping a good tenant.  Someone who keeps the place clean, and has a good history of payments, is someone that you want to try and keep around if you can.  

If the tenant had a short rental history with you and/or has some other issues, then yes you should take a hard stance and explain the agreed upon payment terms.  If they fail to live up to those terms, then you either try to get them to move out on their own, or you begin the eviction process.  In most cases, you really do have to be firm about payment terms, or tenants will take advantage.  However, in some cases its worth putting some effort toward keeping good tenants in place.  

I setup my leases so that they go month to month (with 30 days notice) after the initial 1 or 2 year lease period.   That gives them the flexibility to move if needed, without signing a longer term lease, but more importantly, gives me the latitude to end the rental agreement if there are issues like payments, maintenance, etc.  

@Russell Brazil

I had just had tenants vacate a property in KC, and they had "service animals".  They left the place a mess.  Dogs were using kitchen floor as a toilet.  The whole house needed paining, dirt/stains on walls, trim, doors.....  

The tenant is def D to F .  the area, no i dont think is C or D.  I just had a crappy tenant and telied too heavily on PM.  I wont make that mistake again.

@Lata Williams, great input thank you.  They put $1600 SD so thats gone for them.  They didnt pay last 2 months rent, so that was their plan all along i'm sure.  They will end up owing somewhere around $8k i think.  Not sure I will ever see the $ but I am sure going to file suit and try.  If nothung else make them miserable dor awhile so they dont treat future landlords the same way.  Shocking how some people can live and not care.

Proprty is in Independence, MO.  Gauging from listings in the area, Kentucky Hills neighborhood, i would classify as C+ to B area.  Lately there seems to be a lot of properties for sale and for rent.  So it seems to be an area where investors have purchased and flipped and rented too.

I would agree i have been somewhat remiss in monitoring the condition of the property and keeping on top of the PM.  I am in MD and so have not been to visit the property.  Thats my fault. I do plan to visit soon though.  The PM costs to repair do seem high, but i have to pay for their time to manage the repairs.  So what should cost closer to $5k IMO is costing me closer to $8.5k.