All Forum Posts by: Zack Kolb

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. The help is much appreciated!

Hello everyone,

I will be signing my first lease tomorrow, many thanks to the BP community. I have a couple questions for you guys.

I am going to pro-rate the days Dec. 24-31. What do I put for the term of the lease? I am going to be doing month-to-month, so is the first term Dec. 24-31? Or Dec. 24-Jan 31? Or Jan. 1-31?

I am collecting the pro-rated amount + first month + security deposit.

Here is how its stated in my lease:

Tenant hereby agrees to lease the Lease Premises. The term of this lease shall be from _________________, 20____ to _________________, 20____. Tenant shall pay to Landlord as rent for each month during the term of the lease the sum of $________________, payable in advance, beginning on the first day of the term and on the first day of each and every month thereafter until termination of this lease.

With the unit being month to month, not sure what the term of the lease should be. Maybe just an addendum at the end of lease explaining the prorating process, with dates and amounts?

Question #2 - I am going to have the tenants deposit the money into my bank account every month. Do I need to have them sign an addendum explaining the whole process - The address of my bank, the account name and number, etc?

Or is the process of rent payment mostly discussed in person, verbally? For example, "Thanks for signing the lease new tenant, you can mail a check to P.O. box xxx by the first, or bring it by my house(not recommended), or bring it to this bank at this address, etc."

Basically, does the method of rent payment need to be in writing and signed?

Thanks

Thanks for the replies everyone. Like always, quick, educated responses. The BP community is priceless!

Hello,

With many thanks to everyone here at BP, I am now advertising my townhouse for rent.

Do we as landlords have to take the first qualified applicant? Or can I gather all the applications and then pick and choose.

I tried finding the answer, but to no avail. I also thought I remembered reading somewhere we have to process applications in chronological order. Is that true?

Last question, does each person living in the home need to meet the 3 times gross monthly rent? Or is it the combined household? (Example: Rent is $1000/month, so 3x gross equals $3000. Does each adult need to bring in $3k a month? Or if 2 adults are going to live there, each could only bring in $1500, combined to make $3000, and qualify?)

Thanks!

Hello all,

Thanks a lot to the BP community, I am about to rent out my first property. I have learned a bunch here, and continue to do so, so thanks to all who contribute. Its not rented yet, but I met with a lawyer today to get questions answered and an LLC setup properly.

I called my credit union today, just to be safe, to see if transferring the property from my personal name (I have lived in this property for 3 years now, as my personal residence) to an LLC will trigger a due-on-sale clause. The nice customer service representative I spoke with on the phone did not know the answer to this question, and put me on hold to ask someone who knows the answer to this question. He returned, saying something to the effect of, "Sorry, we cant allow a transfer like this unless the LLC itself qualifies." In the past, I have shot this question at my loan officer and he seemed to think it would be fine to transfer, although he told me he was not 100% certain. I also called and left messages with 2 other contacts I have at the credit union to make sure what I was told is correct.

I assume my brand new LLC would not qualify for the loan? Or would it? Have any of you run into this before? Do credit unions have this rule? And if so, what do you do? Just move forward, without the LLC, and carry the umbrella policy?

Thanks all.

P.S. I have read many times the pros/cons of LLC vs umbrella, I know an LLC is not a must, and I know there are other options I can still use. I am letting you know this so this thread doesn't turn into an LLC vs umbrella war.

Jon Holdman or anyone else....

I know you mention to avoid dishwasher if possible, and I am sure there are others who agree, myself included. My question is though, how do you go about doing this?

I have a 30 year old townhouse that I have lived in the past 3 years(plan to rent it out in a month or so) and it has a brand new dishwasher from when I purchased the home.(I havent even used it once..) It is nicely installed in with the cabinets, where I assume they usually leave cabinets void for the installation of dishwashers. I would like to remove it completely and put in another cabinet, avoiding the entire dishwasher fiasco. How have you or anyone else for that matter, avoided the dishwasher?

Remove it completely and try to find matching cabinets?(or refinish all cabinets, to uniform color, after dishwasher whole is filled in with new cabinets)

Or leave the dishwasher hole open, and invite tenant to supply their own?

Hello everyone,

This is my first BP post. First of all, thanks to everyone on the site for the info, it is a great help.

I am just about to move out of my townhouse, into a new property I just purchased, and rent out the townhouse. The question is, nearly all the appliances are near the end of their lifespan, should I replace them prior to finding a tenant?

AC unit - Approx. 25 years
Fridge - Approx. 25 years
Oven - Approx. 25 years
Water Heater - Approx. 25 years
Washer + Dryer - Approx. 25 years

Should I replace them prior to renting it out? I just don't want to get a tenant in there and then one week the AC breaks, the next week its the fridge, next week the oven, and so on. They could last a few more years, or a few more days, and yes I have the cash reserves for replacement, since I planned on them going years ago. I hate to replace things that still work but I don't want the tenant getting in there and having everything break on them right off the bat.

Also, is it standard to include all appliances? I assume yes, include the oven, fridge, dishwasher, water heater and A/c unit. But what about the washer and dryer?

Thanks,

Zack