All Forum Posts by: Weronika Jedrak

Quote from @Kerry Baird:

@Weronika Jedrak, I just found this thread and am wondering what your experience has been.  The renovation ought to be done and photos taken.  What has happened since then?

 Unfortunately, we haven't had much luck on Furnished Finder and MTR. We opened availability on Airbnb, and we've had a lot of short stays reservations. 

Quote from @Colleen F.:

@Weronika Jedrak  I don't reach out to unmatched leads unless it is for dates and we are pretty close, others always do. There is no harm in reaching out for a slight difference in budget you can just say that you got there contact on FF and have an available unit slightly above their price range and tell them the price and let them know to get back to you if they are interested. It really depends on what a slight difference is.  I am sure no pics is hurting you at this point, some will not even look at units without pics. Also do a video when its done. It is much more helpful than pictures to see you aren't hiding anything.   

 Great advice! Thank you. 

Quote from @Colleen F.:

@Weronika Jedrak I would also add that until you get pictures you are unlikely to get inquiries. MTR unlike long term rentals I think you get better rental candidates closer to move in. Temporary work travelers etc. Longer lead times I get alot of intern inquiries which can be fine but income wise they aren't as strong a candidate.  You can try zillow or FB marketplace but until you are ready I would go with furnished finder and if you want use it airbnb at least for a while. Other sources may get you leads but more don't pan out in my experience.   

Thank you, Colleen, that's helpful insight. Would you reach out to unmatched leads if their budget is slightly lower, or do you think it's not worth the time? 

Quote from @Miguel Del Mazo:

Our experience has been that MTR residents do not book way in advance of their travel and they want to see great pictures, so being pro-active won't be as big a deal as you might expect. Finish the project, take great pictures and go live quickly. 

One bit of advice where you can be ahead of the curve is to write down your screening criteria for possible tenants and commit to following it. Apply it fairly, but stick to it.

 Thank you, Miguel, I will probably end up waiting and take the risk. 

Quote from @Sarah Rosko:

Hi! We manage multiple MTR units in the Indianapolis area. Furnished Finder is what we use to list all of our mid-terms and don't typically have any issues finding tenants. High-quality photos and detailed property descriptions are key. Despite having photos available, many prospective tenants still prefer to see the unit in person to get a better sense of where they'll be staying. As Miguel mentioned above, a majority of the time MTR residents do not search for housing in advance. From our experience, it is typically within a month of their desired move-in date. Hope this helps!

Thanks, Sarah. That's great information. As a property manager, do you source tenants other ways besides furnished finder? And how many people per booking do you usually get? 

Thanks for your input, Eric. That's very helpful. Do you get a lot of leads on Furnished Finder? I noticed when I started creating the listing, I got like over 50 unmatched leads, but now it's been over a week and no new leads coming in. The property is not active yet. 

Hi, my husband and I are finishing a big duplex renovation project. We are planning to rent one of the apartments as MTR. The unit is located in South Jersey, 15 min outside of Philadelphia in a nice, vibrant neighborhood, close to amenities and public transportation. What is the best place to find tenants for MTR? I created an account and listing on Furnished Finder but not getting many leads. As the unit is still being renovated, we didn't take pictures yet, but I am trying to be proactive and start looking for renters sooner rather than later.  What other planforms have you had luck with to find traveling professionals? 

Quote from @Shawn Mcenteer:

Hi @Weronika Jedrak please do me huge favor and speak directly to attorney that specializes in removal of tenants in NJ (particularly the county you are in).  Absolutely take no legal advice from anyone offering it to you on the forums, there is a lot at play here.  Every state is different and section 8 adds an entirely new element to this.  County to country can change significantly in NJ. 

Thanks, Shawn. We have contacted the attorney and also spoke to the Housing Authority. It turned out he wasn't officially a section 8 tenant and in order to complete the process, he would have to enter a new yearly lease with us. We mutually aggreged to a new lease with a higher rent, as he wants to receive the voucher so looks like we are on a good road to some resolution here. 

Quote from @Nathan Gesner:

If I understand you correctly, he hasn't completed the Section 8 process, and your home doesn't meet the standards. I would terminate his lease immediately based on the lease violations. Do whatever you can to get rid of him quickly before this becomes a bigger problem.

You may want to consult an attorney to ensure it's done right.

Thank you, Nathan! Yes, that is our intention, we will be contacting the lawyer today to discuss our options going forward. In regard to him not completing the section 8 process, am I allowed not to fill the paperwork required for him, and pursue the eviction? He keeps pressing for us to submit the paperwork (confirming his residency at the unit), but If I don't do it, what happens with the rent? I assume this will take some time, but is he allowed NOT to pay me on May 1st because he is in process of section 8 benefits, and I didn't submit the paperwork? 

Hello, my husband and I closed on our first rental property in Woodbury, New Jersey. We unfortunately inherited the tenants, but the property was a good deal, so we went for it.  It is a duplex, both tenants pay $700 & &760/month (yes, in New Jersey!!), one has a current lease until January 31,2025, the other is month-to-month. The market rents are between 1200-1500/month. We ideally hoped we can have at least one tenant move out so we can renovate, but that doesn't seem to be the case. We are negotiating with the month-to-month tenant as they don't want to leave and hopefully, we will come to some agreement there. 

However, the problem we have is with the tenant on the lease. Once we closed on the property, we got the documents from state about his section 8 voucher. We were confused as the previous landlord said he wasn't on state benefits and paid the rent directly in the last 10 years ( we have texts to confirm that). So we had a conversation with the tenant and turned out, he just got approved for it, like a week ago. We weren't thrilled as the unit won't pass easily the section 8 inspections in the current condition, and it's also extra work for us. We knew we couldn't do anything until his lease expired but once we had a conversation with him, he kind of suggested he wanted to move out sooner, which was great news for us, and we said we wouldn't charge him fees if he broke the lease earlier. He even said, don't worry about filling the paperwork for state, I will just give it to a new landlord. 

Well, a week has passed, and we wanted to check in on that. He then turns around and says, he didn't find anything he likes so he's staying. We read over the lease again and when we came to his apartment, we noticed a cat. The lease says, absolutely NO PETS allowed. He also changed the locks few months ago, which is also not allowed. We didn't want to make a big deal and serve him Notice to Cease since he said he wanted to move. But now he is staying so we decided to play the cat card, and told him that per his lease pets not allowed and if he would like to keep it we will need to amend his lease to include additional $100 pet rent plus collect additional security deposit. My husband is also very allergic to cats and will cost us a lot of money to deep clean the apartment once he moves out which is what we explained. Again, lease said no pets, so we were pleased about that. We tried to be cordial but now he started showing his true colors. He said this is way too much money, the other landlord verbally agreed to a cat (there are no documents, no notice and he filled estoppel agreement and did not mention anything about it), he said he had this cat for the last 10 years and he won't pay that much, and he can take us to court because he has tenants' rights. 

Well technically he breached the lease twice (having a cat in the property and changing locks- we don't even have a key). So what are our options? We honestly want him out as he is already problematic and threating us plus now, we would have to deal with section 8 paperwork, and additional inspections. Can we just not fill the paperwork since we just learned about this, and he also violated the lease? Should we let the housing authority (section 8) know that he violated the lease and unless it is amended, which we gave him an option to, we will not fill in the paperwork? Should we serve him Notice to Cease and then pursue the eviction?

I know it is a long post, but any help and guidance are much appreciated! This is our first rental. I know NJ is tough on landlord laws but looks like in this case we may have actually some grounds to fight it. Thank you in advance.