All Forum Posts by: Sandy Gabin

Quote from @Paul F.:

We listed our townhome in Woodbridge, VA (South of DC) and have about 35 interested people wanting to see the property. I set up around 10 individual appointments, but for the more recent inquiries I am offering 2 time frames on Saturday for showings. More like an open house, but by invitation. The first showing is 10 days away, and Im worried that we may have listed a bit too early, as we are getting about 3 additional inquiries per day, so 10 more days could bring in potentially 30 MORE people. Do we just let everyone see the property that wants to? or should we do a prequalification first? How many is too many? This is a highly populated area and the low supply is really evident here!

Hi, I remember when 84 people were interested in one of my units.  I had talked to them by phone,  and then I had asked a few questions to see if it would be worth to see the unit.  After that, I did one open house on a Saturday.  And to finish the story,  no one was suitable until I saw the last person. She didn't the best credit score,  but I have to say that she has been a great tenant for 6 years. Hope this helps!

Hi Steve,

I don't work with PM, but since you did hire one, you have every right to ask them the questions. Actually, they should be reaching out to you and giving you the details as well of the new tenant. You want to make sure that your business is running smoothly and that you can trust the PM at all times. You need to have open communication with the PM. 

Quote from @Paul F.:

Thanks for the advice. We finally got her to sign the Termination of Lease agreement after consulting with a lawyer on the wording. She agreed to meet us at the property for the Move out inspection. Its been a roller coaster ride! We will def change the locks. In moving forward, how do you screen for crazy? We did all the right things before choosing her as a tenant, then she literally turned on us! I like to learn from our mistakes, but don't see where we made any! We followed all the rules!  Praying we can find another tenant and quickly!

 I am so happy for you! I would rather sleep at night, then having someone talking to me about attorney or lawyer! Those words in my vocabulary list are just "mama mia!" I hope you can find good and responsible future tenants. Have a great weekend!

I remember when the same happened to me with a tenant. It was completely my fault because the roof had issues. So I offered to pay her for the mattress and she thought that she was going to rip me off when I told her to send me the brand of the mattress. So, not only she sent me the brand of the mattress but she found an old receipt from a furniture store, and then we noticed that the brand name was not the same as the mattress she had at home. So that wasn't good. The tenant was mad at me because she was demanding to fix things in the unit and we were fixing, but it got to the point where it was too much for me. Section 8 had a deadline that if the things at the unit were not fixed by a certain day, then they wouldn't renew. What she didn't know was that the Section 8 inspector told me that if I wasn't going to fix the apartment, then to send her 30 day notice to vacate. I sent her a certified letter asking that I want the apartment vacated. The tenant had the audacity to tell me that she never got the letter. Mind you, she did sign the certified letter. So to make the story, at the end, the tenant was asking us if she can stay a 5 more days and we can deduct it from the mattress. I agreed, and the tenant vacated and my husband lived happily ever after!

I highly agree with Matt Devincenzo on this one. Remember, the tenant should be responsible for paying the rent and maintaining the unit or home for you. If I were you, please reach out to the Service Provider and ask them if they ever sent you a letter or called you to let you know that this was going to be done to your home, if you haven't done so. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't add in to a contract or lease to my future tenants because I wouldn't want them to feel like they are obligated to let me know who was at my property. What if my tenant works during the day and any job done to the property would be done and no one was home to tell me? Or I have the tenant working nights, and the tenant sleeps during the day? Those are just some questions to keep in mind. Hope this helps.

Hi Adrian,

I did have section 8 tenants because I had inherited them while purchasing a property. The pros of having section 8 tenants is that the rent was always in my checking account. The cons that I had experienced was that the tenants would smoke marijuana and complain to have things fixed. Luckily, I had decided to get rid of the complaining tenant because I had told section 8 that I wasn't going to have the job finished by the given time. Now, I don't have Section 8 tenants, and I am the happiest landlord. 

Again, this is my past experience and I would rather not be in the position that I was before. Other things happened, but I wouldn't finish tonight by telling you the whole story from those tenants. 

You decide what you want to do. Hope this helps.

the laws in Pennsylvania are more landlord-friendly than in Massachusetts. I have properties both also in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania. My tenants in Pennsylvania are the best for me so far because they pay rent on time. The cons that I have is that I have to drive 6 hours from Mass to Pennsylvania.

Hi Josh, let me ask you this, did you run this by the tenant at least a month ago? Looks like she isn't planning to leave either. Either way, I hope that the tenant communicates with you. Have you sent her a text? Email? 

Thank you very much for the info! I did check and it is around 11pm to 7 am.

Have a great day!

Hi all! Especially to the investors in Pennsylvania. Have a quick question about quiet hours. I am writing out a month to month lease, and I want to be specific with the code of Ordinance.  I was looking into the list that Pennsylvania has that says on top, " The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951".  By looking thru the section of the numbers, it is kind of confusing to me, but I was never able to find the quiet hours. Can someone come to the rescue?  Have a great day!