All Forum Posts by: Austin F.

Quote from @Steve Vaughan:

Don't sweat the small stuff.

It's not worth changing banks to earn an extra .2% on your savings acct or deal with the  junk mail to earn points or miles on a new little credit card. 

Be generous with your security deposit refunds. 

Fix those smalls like clearing drains even if it may have been tenant-caused.  

People may not remember what you said or did, but they will always remember how you made them feel. 

I learned somewhat late that its easier to just deal with the sewer cleaning than argue about who caused it. I now say "first ones on me, but after that its all on you" I have spent zero time fighting with tenants and talking to sewer people after that.

Are you going to start paying for his gas next? That's getting expensive too.

Get the police report interview the tenants, come up with what you think happened and act accordingly. Accidental discharge happens, but there are a million ways to prevent it. If it was in no way malicious or purposeful, and prevention measures have been put in place to keep it from happening again (gun locks, gun safe) you may be throwing away a fine but stupid tenant.

The why doesn't really matter. It's also none of your business (although I too would wonder if it was the condition of my property). Provide a good reference if they deserve one, and move past it as it doesn't sound like the tenant is hostile at all.

Notify them of the procedures and penalties of breaking their lease, and start looking for a new well qualified tenant.

Good time to do any improvements needed, or bump up to market rents.

I just did this with a local bank. It is a business LOC opened by my LLC (which doesn't do much so this isn't a roadblock) secured with seconds on my rentals. The same local bank holds the first positions too.

The other locals I called were hesitant to put a second on without also holding the firsts. So best bet is to call the (hopefully) local lender and see what they can do. You could possibly refi everything into a bank that is willing to play ball, you have some leverage with that many properties. 

They also bumped me up from 70% LTV to 80% on the line which everyone says can't be done, so always worth a talk with the local folks, never know what you may find.

I have a student rental with knob and tube and it is insured by Auto Owners.

Absolutely repairable. Next time try starting with 13 grit on a cross grain pattern

Floor looks great! Awesome to see your hard work pay off, those floors will be good to go for many years, and are timeless.

I am using Innago and like it. Custom applications, screenings, custom lease signings, rent collect. All free.

This is an interesting dilemma. I assume you ask then for their SSN, references, pay stubs etc for them to apply, but when asked to prove ownership you balk at a DL request.

Not saying I'd do it, but it is quite the double standard. There have been a lot of issues with fake rental listing scams these days, so it isn't an out there request. I considered doing it for a property I rented recently, but the LL was fine with money changing hands on site when signing and handing keys, and that was good enough for me.

Edit to be useful: Could provide a tax bill with your name and address and the property name and address, or a utility bill. All with everything but addresses redacted. 

Maintenance. Finding reliable handymen that can deal with a problem without hand holding. Or someone who can actually diagnose and fix an issue with an appliance instead of just wanting to remove and replace.

ESA animals. Every tenant has an ESA these days. I used to charge a pet deposit of $500, but everyone would try to get out of that with their fake ESA paperwork.
So I upped the deposit at every property to the max allowed by the state (1.5x months rent) and everyone pays that ESA or not. Can't legally charge them for their ESA to stay, but I CAN pull from their deposit if their animal destroys something.

I also switched to pet friendly, I found that given the opportunity tenants will almost always declare and pay for their pets rather than try and skirt the rules.


Finally, I HATE increasing rent on people. I find every way possible to avoid sending that message, but it does get done, just part of the job. Made even worse when a good tenant or a family won't pay and non-renews. Gah.
Haven't found a way around this one yet, guess I just have to get older and grumpier.