Property Manager · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2018 · 514 posts · 470 votes
Hi BP! I wanted to share my rookie mistake. We have purchased two SFH with inherited tenants. The first was in February and the second this past month. While we were closing on the second rental, we did a new lease for the first rental and know that lease inside and out. Upon inheriting the second tenant, she called and let me know that there was a roach and mice problem in the house. I told her I would take care of that right away. I also told her we would be maintaining the lawn. I got a feeling to check the lease after telling her these things and found that the lease she signed says she is responsible for lawn and for pest control! That's a savings of $120 per month!! So I had to go back and explain this to the tenant. Definitely a learning experience. Don't assume all leases are the same in terms of what the tenants are responsible for! Read them fully before answering any questions on them. Hope this helps someone :)
I am a DIY investor and a home improvement contractor, and that affects how I would have handled this, but I think I have some insights that can help you and other reading this thread.
While we also transfer lawn care duties to our tenants, we're always ready to swoop in with out own equipment if the yard goes to pot. You need to be able to do this because if the tenant abandons the lawn care duties, the municipality will write the landlord up, too. And sometimes the tenant just doesn't have the equipment to really take care of issues that just keep getting worse. We maintain a gas trimmer, a gas mower, a chainsaw, loppers, a brush saw, a pole saw, a gas chipper, and weedkiller concentrate and sprayer for these eventualities. These tools are also extremely helpful in our acquisitions business and live-in flipping, but we acquired them for the rentals, so we can write off the expense of buying and keeping them up on our taxes. If your case, if you decide to be hands-off for this, you should always keep a full-service lawn care/tree care company's number in your phone.
Here's the most important thing I can tell you: never, ever, ever transfer insect and vermin control duties to the tenant. There are plenty of tenants who are perfectly happy to live with roaches and rats if they need to pay to get rid of them, and don't see a need to make much of a fuss about it to their landlord. But vermin represent a health hazard and the onus is always on you, the landlord, to provide a safe environment. If a rat comes out and bites a child visiting your tenant's kids in your rental, guess who's going to get sued?
But that's not as important as the fact that termites, carpenter ants, mice, and rats can also do significant damage to a home. Rats are the worst in my opinion, because they love to chew on electric cables to keep their teeth sharp. That's one way electrical fires start. When I learn about a rat problem in one of my properties, Judgment Day descends on the rats. I go after them by any means necessary until I am absolutely positive they're gone. In your case, again if you decide to hire it out now or in the future, it would be wise to keep the most reputable pest control people that you can find in your area in your phone as well. They are incredibly cheap for the security they provide.
@Linda S. Agreed!! She asked my realtor "What happens when the lease is up? Do we have to move?" so that makes me feel like she wants to stay longer term, or at least another year after the lease is up. Definitely want to keep her happy if she's one of the good ones.
@Elenis Camargo out of curiosity, was there an inspection done during acquisition? I'm somewhat new to the process, but it seems that a roach problem would have been noted in that step. However, it may not have changed anything other than knowledge of the problem before the tenant contacted you.
Thanks for any input. I'm looking to get into some new acquisitions after being out of it for awhile, so information is helpful.
@Alvin Sylvain it’s all roses and candy canes when the tenant moves in, then a month later you find the property trashed and the tenant has had “family” staying for more than the term specified for guests in the lease and there’s food, clothing and trash everywhere. And you can’t say anything other than, please make sure you clean the AC filter each month. Most renters in my homes live the way they were raised, but then again it’s a choice.
@Elenis C.
Curious? Why would you purchase a property with insect and pest issues. I invest in turnkey single family homes(tenant occupied or remodeled homes).
This property may require major renovations once current tenant departs.
Curious? Why would you purchase a property with insect and pest issues. I invest in turnkey single family homes(tenant occupied or remodeled homes).
This property may require major renovations once current tenant departs.
Buying problems then solving them is a great way to create value & make money in this business.
@Greg Buenzli The roach problem was not on the inspection report. Either it wasn’t that big of a problem, which I don’t think it was, or they usually don’t include stuff like that. I think roaches are due to cleanliness issues, not to problems from the house. Maybe that’s why. The termites were included and they said it was a small problem so we went for it.
@Victor Hogan We purchase homes that need work so that we can get them at a lower price and add value along the way. We did that with our first property and made some money while the inherited tenant was there, then when she abandoned we rehabbed it and increased the cash flow. I wrote a blog about it if you’d like to read our experience with that: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/11360/78720-how-our-first-property-turned-into-an-eviction-and-rehab-5-months-in
What I would change in the next one is rehab the property fully up front so that we don’t have problems with the inherited tenants along the way. It’s much easier and quicker to get work done when the home is empty.
Curious? Why would you purchase a property with insect and pest issues. I invest in turnkey single family homes(tenant occupied or remodeled homes).
This property may require major renovations once current tenant departs.
Those are just small pests and are relatively easy to mitigate. It might only cost you a few hundred to a thousand dollars in exchange for thousand(s) of dollars in savings at purchase time. It can be a super deal if you are willing to deal with the problem. Retail owner occupants typically do not want to deal with homes that are not move-in ready give or take.
Either way, pests or no pests, if you are in the rental business you are dealing with the largest pests known to mankind on a daily basis: Tenants.
The home protection plan incorporates an assessment alongside your quarterly assistance. Our pest control and exterminator professionals set aside the effort to review the outside and inside of your home before treatment. We will likewise leave behind notes for you on anything we notice that is unique in relation to our earlier visit.