All Forum Posts by: Sara N.

@Jay Helms we use venmo with all our tenants & it's working the best. It's free for bank to bank & arrives the next business day (deposit by 7 pm), max. $3000 per day. So if it's more than $3,000 you may have to deposit the max allowed 2-3 days in a row.

https://venmo.com/

I helped my aunt sell her house last yr and needed some legal advice before signing a contract on with a potential investor and also needed advice for resolving uncleared deed, etc. and I highly recommend Greg Oxley. He looked over the contract with my aunt's best interest in mind was very knowledgeable about RE. Highly recommend!

Gregory Lynn Oxley, Esq
Gregory Lynn Oxley Attorney At Law, P.C.
10200 Forest Lake Drive,
Great Falls, VA 22066-3609
VSB No. 24718
703  623 0947
Title Insurance Licenses:
VA, MD, DC, DE & FL

@Russell Brazil totally agree with you. Over priced & not the most convenient location to public transportation. But I guess when you're buying it to live in it for you and your young family, with hopefully a good school the kids can get into, it's not looking at it through the eyes of investors.

 @Dan Robinson--we renovated our rental studio in DC last fall and found a really great contractor who did a very professional job, was reasonably priced, and finished in the 3 wk time-line we agreed on. He gutted out the entire 1960s studio, opened up the kitchen space area, moved the gas stove line, installed new dry walls, new sliding doors in the back, new water heater, etc.  Since he works for himself with a few extra help, that allowed him to keep the cost much lower than other quotes we got.  We wished we found him sooner for past properties we've had to renovate. 

Since it's a rental, all the materials we picked out were from Home Depot/Lowes. 

Tell him Sara in SW DC passed his info. to you : )  Good luck. 

Dan Robinson

Dan Robinson

Sung Soo Hwang   hwanggu30 @ gmail.com

Thank you everyone for your input and @Marcia Maynard for your lease text. Always continuing to learn & deal with what ever comes next... 

We installed a new dryer less than 3 yrs ago in the rental rowhouse. The new tenant who moved in last fall said the lint trap/plastic for it for this dryer just broke and needs to be replaced as it keeps falling out while drying and makes a lot of noise. The lint trap & plastic to hold the lint trap are inside the back of the dryer (vs. typical in front & you slide it up to remove the lint). I understand that things break but in this case, the machine is pretty new and it seems like they should have been more careful when removing the lint trap to clear it out and put it back properly. Other tenants who lived there didn't have this problem. Who should pay for this replacement of the lint trap and the plastic to hold it? It's costing more than $75 just for these small very minor parts. Yes, washer and dryer are included in the house/rent. Since they've moved in we've already had to replace the microwave  as the handle was broken (how does a microwave handle just get broken?) and our contractor said the top of the microwave was crushed--how does the top of a microwave installed above the stove get crushed? And just a few wks ago we've had to replace the entire washing machine--OK it's about 8-9 yrs old, and things break.  I've already said we'll pay for the new lint trap and plastic part but warned them that we're going out of way to do this.  I assume since the washer & dryer is part of the house and the rent, we as landlord should pay for  it? But would it be unreasonable that they pay for it since they should just be more careful when using our appliances? Should we have charged them for this?

Does Cozy charge a fee for from the tenant for using their site?  Here in the DC area most young people use venmo. They use it for many purposes like paying their friends for dinner, etc. All our tenants pay via this site. It's free for bank to bank  & the transfer happens the next business day. The only drawback is that max. transfer per day is $3,000. Thus, say you total rent is than $3,000 per month & everyone pays on the 1st, you'll need to make a few transfers. Nevertheless, we love this site & it's working for us.

https://venmo.com/

For those of you who have rentals, how often would you suggest cleaning the dryer vent?--getting it professionally cleaned? I'd have to hire someone to do it as I don't know how.

@Douglas Skipworth thanks for sharing. Glad you're all OK!

@Jon Sheffield  how is your search for a property in DC going?  Have you bought something yet? My husband and I own a few places in DC. My biggest advice is location, location, location. Buy in a desirable area, near the metro if possible so it would be easier 1. to market it, get many applicants and have more choices to select a good tenant. 2.) ideally get more professionals/steady income renting who will hopefully give you less headaches. Feel free to email me and we'd be happy to share our experiences with you. 

I agree with @Dave Meyer. Tell her you want her to be a safe place and that it would be best for her if she finds a new place asap.  You are on her side, looking for her interest even if it means she has to break the lease. Let her off the lease--you don't want this to drag on since she obviously has issues. Even if it means a little loss for you.  Put out and ad and find a new asap. Since it's not even mid Dec. there's a good chance you can still find a new tenant for Jan. 1st.