All Forum Posts by: Stephen Meche

I have 1 property in Dearborn Heights and 1 property in Taylor.  You have to know the neighborhood, but both get good rent and I have great cash flow.  

@Ashton Day  really appreciate the information you provided.  I will look into that for sure.

@Samuel S. I currently have 2 buy and holds in the areas you have described below and live in Flat Rock. I am getting good cash flow and i have a good property manager so finding tenants has only taken a couple weeks after I have gotten my Certificate of Occupancy. The market seems to be tough right now. I will save a house on the MLS and it seems the next day it is gone. As soon as you think it slows down, 5 or so houses will go up pending. I was lucky on both of mine and having conventional finance helped me out on my second (i was the lowest offer, but they had just had an offer fall though on financing so they went with mine). I would agree with everyone else on this post, you have to know the neighborhoods. You can message me if you need more information.

@Marian Smith I agree with you that they add risk and i should be compensated.  I have wood floors on the first floor and on the 2nd floor (including stairs) is the short industrial type carpet.  And yes, i would assume the whole house would need a deep cleaning afterwards.  

@Wesley W.  Thanks for the feedback.  I am going to talk with my PM about getting a notice to quit served.

@Scott Shuster I appreciate your incite. 

@Neil Schoepp Thanks for your feedback.  I am going to take your advice on #1.  On #2, i have been researching today what people typically charge.  What you stated sounds close to what i was thinking.  Good information on #3 and #4.  I know talking with my PM, he states the same as you do on #4.  

@Michael Plante what i meant by that was i am not so against pets that my first thing to do would be evict.  I have 2 dogs myself and have learned most people have pets.  I have warmed up to the idea more and probably will consider adding verbiage that you can have a pet and it will cost you X in a nonrefundable deposit and X/month per pet.

@Rob Beardsley Funny you mention that.  When i was over at the property, they had no idea that i was the owner.  Its funny the things they tell you.  They mentioned that the would at most be there 6 month (even though they signed a 12M lease).  I passed that long to my property manager as well.  

@Dennis M. Thanks again for the advice.  I will let my property manager know i want to go that direction.

@Matt K.  No, they were tenants that applied, passed the PMs criteria (our agreed upon), and agreed to the lease.  Yea i agree with you here and this seems to be the most logical way to approach it.  I will most likely go that route.  Would you ask for a non-refundable pet deposit and increase rent or just one or the other?  

@Thomas S.  Thanks for the advice and great point.  What is the purpose of the lease if it is not enforced.

@Rob Beardsley Thanks for the reply.  I was thinking the same.  Do I just ask my property manager to get them to sign an addendum to the lease and if they do not sign, evict them?  These are my first properties so i am just happy i have tenant and do not want to go through the process of having to find new ones.  But i guess the cost to find new ones would be less if the pets destroy the house.

@Mike Cumbie I appreciate the advice.  Yea its unfortunate that they signed a document saying they do not have pets.  Pretty obvious if you drive by the place. 

@Terre B. I assume my property manager drives by, but i live close so i drive by from time to time.  The first house the insurance company noticed the dog when looking at the house.  The tenant denied the allegations and signed a form that stated he did not have a dog.  I made friends with the guy across the street and he said he has a dog.  You can not see the dog in the fence if you just drive by.  I have only had that for 3 months so i guess my property manager has not yet done a check up on the inside.  My second home, i actually drove by last week and did not see any dogs.  I went to fix something today (they did not know i was the owner) and saw 2 dogs in the backyard with a beware of dog sign on the fence (that was not there last week).  Inside there was at least 1 cat.  The tenants have not even been there for a month.

I have 2 rental properties that are run by a property manager.  The first one I purchased in April and the second one in June.  Currently they both have tenants.  On the lease, it states clearly that the tenant can not live on the property with pets.  I found out from a neighbor recently that my first house has pets and went to my newest property today to find out that they have both cats and dogs.  So i am 2 for 2 on pets when the least says no pets.  I am not 100% against pets so i am willing to negotiate with the tenant.  Has anyone ever been in this situation and if so what did you do?  Is it worth evicting the tenant because of this?  Do i need to redo the tenant agreement to get a deposit or raise rents?  

@Amber Hooks thanks for the suggestion.  Unfortunately i got off of Facebook a few months back.  I may get back on just to find out.  Someone suggested someone in Gross Ile.  But to drive around an hour does not seem to be a big deal since i would only be doing it once or twice a year.