All Forum Posts by: Lisa Ryan

I have tenants moving in 7/1 and wanted to get some opinions on if I should offer to paint the green in the living room & kitchen to a neutral color. They haven't asked for it, but I want happy tenants and don't want them asking me 3 months from now if they can paint because they don't like green. I've been living in the house so it's my personal taste, not necessarily a renter's taste and I get that. Thoughts?

There are a lot of scams so be careful. Definitely verify employment with the university. I'd also want to do a Skype interview so as to be able to assess demeanor a little better than over the phone. Overnight mail is overnight & typically costs about $20.

Wow that person seems like a jerk. I can understand them not being happy with the situation, but there are reasonable and unreasonable ways to handle a situation and they definitely crossed the line. 

At the end of the day things are just things, money is just money - it's how we treat people that really attest to who we are, how happy we are, and how we are remembered.

I'd get in contact with a property manager and say that you're looking at a few different neighborhoods and want to know what the average prices are. If they view you as a potential customer they should be willing to help. You could try an agent too but I'd be a little skeptical because I know there are a lot of really great agents, but there are also a lot that will tell you an inflated price to make it look like a better deal & make a sale. A property manager should be able to give you real numbers for properties they actually manage.

To price my house I looked at Craigslist and rentals on Zillow & Trulia, as well as talking to two property managers to see what they thought fair rent would be (one said $1,300, one said $1,700 and I'm actually renting for $1,500).

Definitely finish the exams! I'm an active CPA and even though I don't plan on doing it forever, the knowledge will still help with investing. Being able to keep your own spotless books and having a foundation of tax knowledge helps, but really the main thing is the credibility it brings. People instantly take you more seriously when they know you're licensed. Stick through it and old you will thank young you.

1. Do you require your tenants/roommates to have renters insurance?

2. Do you expect your tenants/roommates to contribute to cleaning common areas (not just picking up after themselves, but actual dusting & vacuuming)?

3. Do you have rules regarding the living room & sharing the TV (was it a free for all, or was it more like this is my TV & my house, I watch what I want to watch, you can go to your room and do your thing)?

4. Are any areas of the house off limits?

5. Did you set limits or boundaries on guests in general, both day guests and overnight guests?

Just curious, I never had any of these. In my prime with 2 tenants I was bringing in $1,025 plus 2/3 of utilities on an $850 a month mortgage. Oh the good old days. For two years I had one tenant and during that two year period for two separate six month periods I had a 2nd tenant. We were cordial but they both mostly stayed in their rooms. I'm not the warm and fuzzy type & neither were they.  In my new house I can only have 1 tenant (you aren't allowed to park on the street overnight and I'm not car shuffling) and I'm trying to figure out how to do it better.

@Account Closed

That's good advise, next time I'll innocently tell the landlord some incorrect information. Do you normally do a home visit for all potential applicants?

HA I was just about to write "wait for Sue Kelly to find this thread and give you her opinion, because I know she's gonna have one about this" but I was too late. @Account Closed found you!

Thanks everyone for the feedback! Since they are a higher risk due to the eviction, do you think I should only offer them a 1 year lease at $1,500 or stick with the 2 year lease at $1,400 that they want?

@Steve Babiak

I don't think the current landlord reference is part of a scam, but I did think of that. I know I've heard that current landlords can say all great things because they're trying to get the people out, or they could have a friend pose as the landlord. I received the landlord's contact information from the application, but started the phone call with "I'm processing an application for X & Y and your name is on the application. What is your relationship with them?". I got that piece of advise from an old thread - that way if they're having someone act like the current landlord that's actually not, they might get tripped up and forget who they're supposed to be. They live a few miles across town, of course directly across from my ex. I did a drive by, everything looks fine from the outside. Luckily the ex wasn't home because that would have been awkward and he probably would think I'm stalking him.

I'm going with my gut and I know some *concerned* individuals might lecture me :)

As I talked about in a previous post, one of my applicants warned me that he had an eviction on his report but his name wasn't on the lease. I had them over to discuss it and the situation is that his ex-wife wife was a little bit of a con artist and forged his signature - he's fighting it and I saw the legal proceedings that are happening, including her history of forgery. He's been divorced for a few years now and is trying to leave her legacy behind.

He also makes solid income - he makes 3.6 times rent - and has been with his company for a decade. I talked to his current landlord and they're sad to see them go and have tried throwing extra incentives in to make them stay.

So I'm going with my gut. He has an eviction in his name currently from 2010, but all the positives (1) solid income (2) stable job and (3) glowing current landlord reference are telling me yes.  His wife's income is a little lower and I know some people want both the husband and wife to meet the 3x rent rule. She makes 2.4 times rent. They're newlyweds (2 years) so hopefully nothing happens to the marriage, but if something does there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to pay the lease through or an early termination fee penalty of 1.5 month's rent.

Let all the concerned Aunt Suzies step forward...