All Forum Posts by: Steve J.

@Nathan G.

Thank you, very insightful.

@Julie Hartman

Thank you, I plan on interviewing some PMs

Hey BP!

It’s time for my lease renewal and my PM is charging $350 which I expected for a renewals. However, they are telling me with all lease renewals included is a “Tenant Benefit Package” where the tenant has to put an extra $20/month and they partner with “credit hub” which is a credit bureau which will “incentivize on time rent payments and help my tenant improve their credit score”. I’ve never heard of anything like this, but this is my first property. I did plan on raising rents, and am concerned that they will be adding $20 to the tenant in addition to me raising the rent. Also, my tenant already pays on time consistently, and “improving her credit score” would only make it more likely that she actually gets a house at some point rather than continue renting from me. I could see if this was optional for tenants, but they are presenting as being mandatory. What are y’all’s thoughts, and how would you handle this?

@Patricia Steiner

Super helpful, thank you !

@Brie Schmidt

Yeah, seems so minor! Alright I appreciate the information.

Hello BP,

When it comes to repairs where do we draw the line on something that we need to repair vs something the tenant is responsible for at move out per the security deposit?

I have a rental that’s being managed by a PM and was contacted about repairing the “back door sweep”. I contacted my home warranty and they don’t cover this. Part of me feels like this is normal wear and tear that the tenant should be responsible for vs the landlord.

My gut says they can either have it fixed now and pay out of pocket or leave it and be charged at move out. While I understand that plumbing, electricity, etc. is my responsibility but where do we draw the line?

This is also my first rental so perhaps I’m not looking at this the right or legal way. Any insight would be helpful (my PM has been contacting my non stop about this - want to be informed before I get back)

Thanks,

@Matthew Tregoning

I am currently house hacking my first property and managed myself in the beginning. I ended up hiring a PM to take over though. If I could go back in time, I would’ve hired a PM from the beginning and acted as if I was a tenant. For me, I’ve found that it’s a weird dynamic when the neighbor knows your the owner.

Every time I’d see my tenant, they’d have something to say was wrong with the house that needed fixing. It would be the smallest thing, but since I’m right there they bring it up. There were also times where the noise next door would be really loud, and in my mind I’d approach the tenant as a neighbor simply asking if they could keep it down but since she knows I’m the owner it would turn into this big thing and she would feel as if she was under attack. .

Again, these are my personal experiences and maybe it will be different for you but I’ve found it’s a tough relationship to manage being both the owner/neighbor.

@Elise Marquette

Looking into that now, thank you!

@Christene Martin

I would like to connect. I’ll send you a message

@Andrew Postell

Thank you!