All Forum Posts by: Abdul Hassan

I went with the family. Hopefully it'll prove to be a good choice, only time will tell.

Update - Not sure the group of guys are going to work out, heard a few not so pleasant things from some of their references while going through their applications. There are still some prospective tenants coming to look at the apartment this weekend, but my current thinking, as a fall back, is to offer the place to the family of 3 at their requested discount. But to make it worthwhile for me, I'm thinking of increasing the lease term to a minimum of 2 years (maybe even 3). That way, I don't have to worry about another vacancy for a long while. Granted, it's a pretty popular area in a college town, so it wouldn't be that hard to fill given enough time in the summer, but that does mean less to worry about for a while, plus the added bonus that they may take good care of the place, which I assume they would with a newborn baby in the house. And if increasing the lease length doesn't work, I was thinking of shifting some responsibilities - making them responsible for cutting the grass in the summer, or shoveling the snow in the winter.

Just wondering what everyone's thoughts are. @Josh Bakhshi?

Hi Everyone.

I have two groups of qualified tenants looking to rent my 4BR apartment. One is a family of 3 - mom, dad, and newborn baby (parents are in their 30's). The other is a group of 4 young men in their 20's who are friends in a band. Both are financially qualified, but the family of 3 has asked if I could lower the rent by about $130 to meet their budget (although they make just as much as all 4 men combined). I live in a high rent area so for my 4BR/1.5BA, I'm asking $2330 - they're asking to lower it $2200. The group of guys are okay with our asking price. All things considered, I think I should go with the group of guys since they're able to meet our asking price, but is there any value to renting to a family with a baby as opposed to a group of friends? Are they likely to stay around longer? Are they likely to cause less wear and tear on the house? I feel like the guys are likely to make noise that could upset my other tenants (it's a 3 unit apartment). But then again, I know newborn babies tend to cry a lot as well - and you can't just tell a baby to stop crying. I also feel like having 4 separate incomes is better than 1, and so if one of the guys were to lose their jobs, the other 3 would likely pay his portion until he got on his feet. Whereas if things went bad for the family, that'd likely mean they couldn't afford their rent (I believe they have a single source of income, at least at the moment).

I want to make a decision not based solely on money, but based on the entire experience. I'm just asking for an experienced perspective on this.

Thanks

I just want to know why this was posted in the newsletter? This whole thread was very confusing.

@Michael Macklin How about New Jersey?

Hi all.

The issue has resolved itself, now that the guy has agreed to move out. I agree I need to do a better job at removing myself from the drama in the future. Going forward, I will make it clear what my job is, and what my job isn't.

Thanks all.

- Abdul

Hi Bigger Pockets.

What do you do if your roommate tenants don't "like" each other? I've recently offered a lease renewal to my 3 roommate tenants - 2 of which have been living together for years - and It's just now come up that the two (girls) that have been roommates for years don't necessarily like living with their newer (guy) roommate, and would prefer if he left. They're not happy with the noise and "lack of cleanliness" in the common areas, and ultimately don't feel comfortable with him there - I didn't know any of this before hand. I'm not particularly sure what to do with this situation. He hasn't broken anything in the lease, and I've already offered him a chance to renew - I offered it to the group as a whole. It seems kind of ****** to now rescind that offer, not to mention I'm not sure what legal ramifications it could have at this point. I wish I had I known before hand - I would have not asked him to renew - but now it's tricky, and I'm not sure there's anything I can do. ideally I'd like to preserve the two girl roommates and have them find a replacement. No real issues with the guy, but I'd much prefer someone who's going to keep the place nice, clean, and quiet and would much prefer my tenants get along. 

I should probably mention that I inherited these tenants, and this current lease. 

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,

Abdul

Hi @Roger Magan. The numbers looked good on paper, but after total consideration, I decided against it. 

Even though it was fully occupied, the house would’ve needed some repairs a lot sooner than later. It wasn’t in the best condition. I probably could’ve negotiated the price down even more since there was no other interest, but I lost interest all together. Even though the house itself isn’t in a flood zone anymore, the town still has a bad history for flooding. And because of that a lot of business owners are scared to open back up. There’s not much of a draw to the area, and I didn’t want to deal with the potential vacancy headaches on top of everything else. Another thing that came to mind was climate change - who’s to say things won’t get a lot worse in the future. I didn’t want to get involved in an expensive game of “hot potato”.

Instead, I invested in a 3 Family closer to Rutgers. A lot more costly, but a lot higher demand / higher rents. Only time will tell if my decision was right or wrong, kind of.

Cheers

@Kevin Schaefer I definitely would get the flood insurance! I'm just questioning whether my fears are reasonable. 

The question is more or less philosophical at this point - I think the real answer is, like most things, "it depends". I just want to pick the brains of some smart investors out there who've been doing this way longer than I have.

That's awesome @Robert Murphy. I've spoken to a few people who live in and nearby the town - all of them say it used to be bad but hasn't flooded in years, and the water level doesn't rise as much as it used to when it does rain. But as you said, only mother nature knows what will happen. Good to know flood insurance is that cheap - I've always heard flood insurance in itself was a joke, which also scares me a bit.

Good idea on recommending renters insurance.