All Forum Posts by: Bao Nguyen

@Wayne Brooks I'm not looking for personally identifiable information where I need SS# of the tenants.  Just looking to see if landlord/mgr did indeed run checks and what's the result of those checks: good credit/bad credit/no evictions/no felonies..etc    If I was the seller, I would give an indication of the quality of my tenants such as "yes, I do run credit checks on my tenants, and they all must have no bankruptcies or collections in order to qualify for my rentals" or "my tenants credit.score range is in the "600-650 range".    The reason why this information is useful is because I could imagine a lot of sellers filling up their multi-family units with less than perfect tenants just to be able to claim "100% occupied".   So yes, this would affect my offer  - since bad tenants = higher chance of loss of income.  But point taken, I wouldn't give out any personally identifiable info.

@Account Closed How do you think the seller would have responded if you came back after due diligence and said "I want to lower my offer by $6k to account for the high possibility that I might have to evict the current tenants because they don't meet my credit, background, and income criterias for this rental unit"?  Is that a valid reason to back out?

@Roy N 

Thanks for the comment.  I'll keep this in mind.

hello everyone.

I am about to make an offer on a duplex, and I asked the realtor for the rent roll, the credit and background checks on the current tenants, and list of expenses.  I was on the phone asking A LOT of questions to the realtor, and his response was "put in an offer, and you have a period before closing to do your due diligence, and if you find something you don't like you can ask for a lower price or back out".

Can I put in the offer contract that my offer is contingent on the current tenants meeting my standards?  I've not heard of this kind of contingency before (most contingencies are from home inspections revealing infestations or crack foundations..etc) and wonder if anyone has done or heard of such things.   

So is this realtor playing right or is he trying to get me to commit into something I can't easily back out of if I don't like what I find out about the current tenants?

Hi Ken,

The best way to protect yourself on this one is to get those issues fixed, and fixed properly by someone that's licensed.  Tenants are real people that are citizens just like any of us, and they deserve a clean, and safe home to live in.

You can charge higher rent once these issues are fixed, and you'll attract better tenants, which in turn makes the neighborhood nicer, which in turn increase real estate prices in your neighborhood and you have the option of selling your property for a premium price.  It's a win-win-win-win for all.  :-)  Don't be a slumlord.

I live in Florida, and I have a few rental properties in Michigan.  I get this situation a lot, and for me, I have my brother on site that shows the property.

To me, this sounds like scam for the following reasons:

1) If the landlord is in a different state, he will most likely get someone trustworthy to show his properties. His money is at stake, and he won't take a chance on this. If he can't do this, his house will be on the MLS for under market value so he can get it rid of it asap.

2) No landlord will get angry if you question their authenticity.  If any tenant ever asks me if I'm legit or not, I would tell them contact the city assessor to find out who owns the properyt, and it will match up with my name.  my name matches with my email and mailing address, and phone numbers.  

3) No landlord "spends hours" typing up anything.  Even during the very first rental I did, I got a template on the internet and fillout the blanks.  Since then, I've updated my lease agreements to add specific terms to fit my situation, and now it's a 5minute job to change the tenant's name and lease dates.

4) I make all prospective tenants give me a deposit to hold a property for them.  The most I charge is 1 months' worth of rent for the hold - it's like I've rented the unit for a month if the prospect cancels.  Unless your rent is $8000/month, this deposit is too steep, and unreasonable, to hold the unit for a month.  

Sounds like a scam, but I could be wrong.  Perhaps these investors are really that dis-organized and unprofessional.  I've not met too many disorganized and unprofessional investors that owns properties that commands $8000 worth in move-in costs.

But if you really want this property, I'd wait until the move-in date to sign the lease, and pay all move-in costs/first month's rent.