All Forum Posts by: Anna Watkins

@Mindy Jensen - I'm all caught up on episodes and trying to get College Son to listen to some (I took a clue from some finance book or podcast somewhere, and offer his broke, dyslexic self $$ to read/listen!). Love the show.

My main comment is that on all the announcement posts like this:  make it easy to follow on to the show itself, and include a link to the show notes and podcasts.   As far as I can tell, the only link in these posts is the one in your signature (good show, but not the only one :-).  Cheers!

Depends on what you're calling a personal relationship.  Dating? Dinner?  Babysitting?  Nope.  Reasonable pleasant human interactions?  Sure.  I think there's a clear difference between being "friends" and "being friendly.'  I self-manage all my properties (7) and have friendly relationships with all my tenants. I have been told by multiple tenants that they chose my house over another because they wanted to deal with me.   This starts during the showing and screening process.

I also work to maintain what Shiloh called "appropriate boundaries."  We don't go out for drinks, but I do ask about their lives, share a little (the basics) about mine.  I consider landlording to be a two-way business relationship -- I have agreed to provide a decent place to live at a fair price (and have the responsibility to respond quickly when anything happens), and I emphasize (often) that the tenants have also agreed to follow a set of expectations and requirements, including paying the rent on time.   If things get testy, I consider myself  to be in the manager (or parent) role: "them's the rules, you agreed to follow them, here's what happens next."  So far so good.

@Nick Brubaker - saw you've already gotten some interest in the space. Good luck!

@Nick Brubaker - another idea, but I don't know the county codes.  Instead of a full sewer hookup, can you create a green "tiny house"  apartment in the garage with some sort of composting toilet and running water with  passive solar hot water (or small on-demand heater)?  Or for the artist studio, since it's not a living space, code requirements may not even apply.

Hey @Nick Brubaker -- It seems that you're mixing apples & oranges (homeowner vs investor brain) in the thinking in your last post.  Investor brain says $75k for a rental in Decatur near Emory? -- YES!!   Future buyer brain says, yuk, who wants to be a landlord when I really want covered parking for my Lexus? 

Homeowner brain says, I need a master bathroom with two shower heads, a Toto bidet toilet and custom tile.  Investor brain says HomeDepot tile, Kohler toilet, stock vanity.  Future buyer says, I like that expensive bathroom but I want a different color so I'll have to spend money to change everything, so why pay for the expensive bathroom??

You might well find a future buyer who's all over the rental unit add-on, but won't see it with investor eyes, and won't pay a full $75k extra for the bonus. That whole new/used thing is big with most retail home buyers.  As you think about it, factor in your own pleasure/convenience in living in the house in the location, any income you might receive from the rental unit, and balance the personal benefits vs the strictly financial aspect.

Can you make money from the garage w/o significant investment?  Kit it out with toilet & running water and rent to an artist for a studio (not a living space)?  Or just rent it "as is" to somebody with a weekend convertible Mustang, or a small boat, or some other toy that needs covered parking they don't have at their own house?

@Michaela G. -- Yay for comprehensive record keeping (and for keeping at it). Buy that closing agent a coffee!

@Noelle B. -- besides signing the Change.org petition, what other things can landlords do to defeat the Greenhaven proposal?  As far as I can tell, nothing is different from 2 years ago when I first posted against it.  I just haven't heard that anything in a city of Greenhaven will make life better for my tenants in Belvedere Park (and I'm hoping for the East Lake Terrace house to be annexed by COA eventually. What happened to that proposal??)

@Will Gaston, @Michael Lee and others with SFH student rentals -- in your properties, how many people do you have sharing a bathroom? I've got a 5 br house, 2 bedrooms have private bathrooms, while three of them share the full bathroom off the hall (which is also the "public" bathroom for guests). I'm thinking of putting in at least another half bath or a small full w/shower. With 5 guys cooking, I also got a second refrigerator. Just wondering what others do.

@Account Closed -- my kid would be living in the basement, working at the car factory along with your kid.  But he went to high school with kids raised like your former tenants -- they knew that whatever they did, mom & dad would cover.  Wreck the Rover?  Buy a Land Cruiser next time.  Drop the iPhone in the toilet? New improved model coming right up.  And that's why those students treated your place the way they did.  Because, why not??  Boggles the mind, but you got a totally refreshed house on dad's tab.

Thank you @Eileen Murray and @Michele Fischer.  This is helpful, and I am definitely going to create a form from Michele's info.  I did talk to the current roommate's parents, who didn't object to a dog in general, but verified that a heavily shedding dog like a Husky would be very bad for their son's allergies.   In my research I found a clause that covers this situation -- The request may also be denied if: (1) the specific assistance animal in question poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others that cannot be reduced or eliminated by another reasonable accommodation,

There's no way this dog can get to a private bedroom without going through shared spaces, so I think I'm on solid legal ground in telling the potential applicant "sorry."

I do have another property with an 'emotional support animal' in residence, but it's a single family house where pets are allowed.   The only difference with that one is that I couldn't charge the standard deposit and extra per month.  The form will be helpful for future situations.

I did hear this morning that airlines are cracking down on "emotional support animals" on flights!  Like every good thing, too many people have tried to game it and push too far (emotional support snake??). I'm sure federal policy clarifications are on the way.