All Forum Posts by: SaraEllen Hutchison

Hi All, I am looking for a Washington State (or other state) addendum whereby a landlord property manager can assign a lease to a different landlord.

Thanks!

I need to install cameras that record good sharp video at each exterior door of my triplex. 

I don't need the system to do anything else, but I do want to be able to monitor it from my phone, 4.5 hours away. So it would be a wifi system.

I have Simplisafe at my residence and like it, but I don't want any door alarms or other bells and whistles. Just the cameras that I can watch!

What do you recommend?

Hi All, I am looking at renting to healthcare professionals who need to self-isolate during COVID-19 or just are regular traveling nurses. 

I put my Airbnb unit up on Furnishedfinder.com and hope that works. I may furnish my other vacant unit and make that one available too. 

Calls for my (as of now) unfurnished vacant unit have slowed way down ever since the stay-home order (except from people who would not pass the credit check).

Has anyone here tried targeted Facebook advertising to traveling nurses?

And to step back for a minute and make sure I'm in reality....are there more people wanting to rent to traveling nurses than there are traveling nurses who want units to rent? 

I’m a woman and I invest in real estate! 👋🏼

Thank you, everyone. We handled it with the tenant.

On the Airbnb front, I made a written request to Airbnb's support portal for Airbnb remove the review for two reasons: (1) Airbnb's policy is that guests are supposed to tell Airbnb if there is a strong odor that makes it untenable; (2) guests are not to "refer to circumstances entirely out of the host's control." I am also letting Airbnb know I am willing to give the guests a full refund. I hope it works out.

This guest had one review under their belt, and may not fully realize Airbnb is a community -- not really the same as staying at a large corporate hotel chain. I have 25 reviews as a guest. I've had to run from only two bookings due to serious issues (a dead rodent at one, and bad cologne odor in the bed at another.....OMG) and handled both of those directly with Airbnb. 

Thank you all for the moral support, and wish me luck!

Hi Everyone,

I purchased my first multifamily in December 2019. It is a triplex. I have a regular tenant in one main floor unit, upstairs is vacant so far and the other main floor unit is my Airbnb. 

My premises are strictly smoke-free. My tenant's family member came to stay over the weekend, at the same time I had my very first Airbnb guest. My guests did not tell me this during their stay, but it turns out that my regular tenant's guest was chain-smoking out the back door and throwing butts in the lawn. According to the Airbnb guest, the cigarette odor permeated every part of the building, including the foyer/common areas and the Airbnb unit.

My Airbnb guests left me a scathing 2 star review, with one star for value and cleanliness due to the odor. Other smaller complaints the guests had could have also been cured during their stay had they told me -- I would have been all over it, and fixed it pronto. Incidentally, they gave me 5 stars for communication, which was what bumped my overall rating to 2.0 instead of just 1. Imagine that!

I have received notice from Airbnb that my listing may be paused. Needless to say, this represents significant loss of expected income and will take weeks or months for me to recover. My brain is spinning with thoughts like, "I may not recover," but I am doing my best to manage this with tact. I've been self-employed for a decade and nobody keeps me down. 

I responded to the guest's review with a very polite response that I was glad they brought these issues to my attention so that I could take swift remedial action, and regret that I had not known much sooner...yada yada. I am also sending a proactive message to my other two booked guests to let them know that all defects flagged in the bad review, including the smoke issue, will be cured by the time they arrive -- basically, as Abba sang, "take a chance on me."

Now onto the tenant default. Yes, the terms of the lease make it a default for a tenant to allow a guest to smoke anywhere on the premises. I can send a notice of default with 10 days to cure per the terms of my lease, and then pursue any remedy.  The issue here is that the tenant's guest has already left, but the damage is already done. My damages aren't a sum certain, but WOW -- I start off on Airbnb basically with my reputation destroyed; that's worth real money. I am also a bit concerned about my ability to book on Airbnb as a guest after this terrible host review. The tenant is quiet, otherwise no-drama and pays on time and, I don't see how I will do anything but hurt myself even more if I throw them out and suddenly have a completely vacant building. I definitely will send a notice of default to cover all my bases, but the damage is already done.

Any advice here?

Thank you.

This is exactly what I needed, everyone!

Hi All,

I'm looking for various viewpoints to help me decide which cosmetic improvements give the most bang for the buck when one is trying to make a rental house or small multi-family units look more "upscale" (without spending a fortune). What makes the biggest difference in the mind of a tenant? Assuming all structural things are in order and I want to invest a little in appearance, what's going to make the most significant impression/improvement? I can think of what would matter to me, but I'd like some input. Links to articles and threads inside and outside BP, plus your personal insights and stories would be very helpful.

Thank you!

Hi y'all.

I'm under contract on my first small multi-family property. Seller's agent promised to fix a boiler before the appraisal (due Nov. 1) and can't find someone to go look at it.

It's believed to be something simple -- possibly the heat registers need to be air bled -- but I don't know about that kind of stuff, and am down to the wire.

I'd appreciate some referrals.

Many thanks.

SaraEllen

Thank you very much @Michael Baum, this is just what I needed.