All Forum Posts by: David S.

Thanks for the input. Yeah, bottom line they aren't a good fit. Although I recently had a brief interaction with the wife, and she was very personable and respectful. That was a bright spot in an otherwise frustrating relationship.

Combining your advice, I think I will try and minimize face time (which should inherently minimize conflict), have the yard cleaned up, collect rent (impersonally) and then find a better fit in tenants when they leave (which they will certainly do for work reasons). 

Lesson learned. I was busy with other business at the last vacancy, had a huge flood of early interest (a lot of them that were seemingly qualified), these people were persistent, had great income and credit, so I signed them up and took the listings down.  More patience next time...

I'm now wondering if I should let the yard go entirely until this tenant is out. Even after offering to relieve him of yard duties at no cost to him he remains combative.  He texted me asking whether I'd hired a yard guy or not so I could "stop harassing him about the yard." I told him he needs to keep pets off the lawn for an hour after the gardener comes for the first time, and he asked if they would be spraying "toxic chemicals." 

He seems to be looking for a reason to be upset at this point, so I'm wondering if I should just give him space and deal with the yard on the back end.

@Jeff B.

Yes, this is exactly what I don't want. I know all the neighbors and have good rapport with them, and feel obligated to help maintain the look of the neighborhood to the extent that I can. 

The only reservation I have with providing yard care as part of the lease moving forward is that I will likely lower my cash flow in doing so. Prospective tenants seem to look only at the advertised price. Most don't seem to factor yard care in, and most of my competitors don't indicate in their ads if yard care is included in the rent price (I do).

Thank you for your input. It is valuable to gain another perspective.

Thanks for the input. Yes, I am probably too emotionally entangled on this one. My management style thus far has been to maintain personal contact. I pick up rent in person, perform all repairs (that I can) myself and try to build rapport with my tenants. This tenant is not a good fit for this style, he has bristled against the personal rent pickup from the beginning (even though I informed them of my policy prior to them filling out an application) and generally passive-aggressively opposed my policies (walk through checklist for one) from day one. This is my fault for renting to them in the first place. I saw the red flags (more like yellow flags as they are by no means nightmare tenants) but was eager to get a lease signed and move on, and they were a bit pushy in wanting to quickly secure the lease.

I'm thinking I'll go ahead and pay for the yard care, let them mail their rent checks from now on, and possibly ask my wife to handle any further personal contact that is needed. Yard care is not cheap, it is a big yard and the quotes I've gotten are $80-$100 for bi-weekly service, plus $200 for initial clean up and lawn redevelopment (weed control, fertilizer, etc). 

The one remaining question I have then is should I address the yard care policy change in a lease addendum (along with the rent check delivery change)? Part of me wants to document the goodwill I am expressing in appeasing these people. The other part of me thinks that I am ceding too much ground in doing so. 

Hi, All. I have an SFR that is halfway through a one year lease. My lease stipulates that the tenants are to maintain the yard. It does not go into specifics as to what this entails. They have not been maintaining the yard well at all. Weeds have grown 8-10" tall, leaves are still on the ground from November/December. It appears the lawn has never been edge as the bermuda thatch is 3-4" over the concrete in places. The backyard is completely weeds. I tried to handle this over the phone, and the tenant stated he was "doing his best" and that my expectations were unreasonable. When I pointed out the weeds, he corrected me and informed me that they are "native grasses". He claims to be maintaining it more than he is, and I called him on it saying I had driven by the house weeks apart and seen no change. He then asked if I was "spying on him" (which he later stated really "creeped out" his wife). Our conversation (argument, really) on the phone was a month ago, and there has been no real change.

As I am interested in the condition of the property being maintained, I have offered to hire and pay for a yard service. I realize this is probably overly conciliatory, but I'd like the property to show well when I put it back on the market in 4 months (they will be leaving the state), and it will take a while to get the lawn back. I'm thinking of handling this in an addendum, though he stated that he does not want the hassle of more paperwork. He did not seem remotely appreciative of my offer.

This tenant has been resistant to my policies from the beginning, and seems to take any action on my part as aggressive. One thought I had was to have my wife handle meeting with both tenants (they are husband and wife) to sign the addendum and handle business moving forward. My wife is named on the lease, but did not sign it.

My current thought is to email over the addendum, and if they refuse to sign it to then give them a notice to comply or quit on the basis that they are in violation of the lease due to their neglect of the yard.

Any input is appreciated. Thanks in advance.

I would be inclined not to make a sudden move. Taking the penalty/tax hit makes little sense in my opinion. If you are interested in real estate, and this is your first attempt, why not try a house at a time? Roll as much of the 401k as you can, set up a self direct for a small portion, buy one property and test the waters. If it is working and the numbers are good, buy a few more. But don't shift it all over to RE, and definitely don't move it all at once.

David, thanks for the info on the profile changes.

Thanks for the advice, all. I think I will opt for the "dont meet our minimum criteria"

I'm thinking email would be best for all- simple, quick, allow them to move on with their search.

Given how quickly they gathered the applications and pay stubs, etc., they appear to have done this very recently, and no doubt been rejected.

The crime is not still pending, it is a conviction

Thanks for your response. My next question is how to change my profile to not show my full name and town! Yikes. I could have sworn I picked a screen name..