All Forum Posts by: Brett Jones

Originally posted by @Lee Bell:

It's July. It's 95 degrees out. Why am I reading this?

LOL.

 Winter is coming......

Originally posted by@Carl Hebert:

I prefer lease agreements to start with, I do a 12 month on all new tenants. I have started to put a couple on month to month and tell them it is a probation period for 6 months and if the problem goes away (rent paid on the first, trash not in hall etc) then we can do a new 12 month lease. The problem doesn't go away then I let them know that I will give them a 30 day notice and evict them. 

Has worked like a charm so far. 

Some of my tenants tell me they like the security a lease gives them. I like happy tenants :) especially if they are paying on time.

Carl

I like this method. It's the base reason I've been considering the rental agreement vs lease (frequent late payments). I assume you still have a formal signed agreement with them, listing out rules of the property, rent due date, etc?  

We've been using a lease since our first property. I've tweeked the document over the years, and added a rules addendum as things have popped up. I'm not unhappy with the system we use, however I'm going to have an attorney review our lease to make sure we're in compliance with current law. Before I do that I am interested in learning more about the pros and cons of a lease vs a month to month rental agreement. I have six properties, one of which is a duplex with the rest being single family.

I should clarify. I would need 2 meters per unit, for a total of 4 ($3200 at full retail).

I have a duplex that I originally intended to have serviced by individual heatings systems, but ended up installing a single system that's large enough to heat the whole building. One side is finished and has a long term tenant, however the other side is unfinished (other projects have taken priority). Given the single tenant, I haven't had to solve this problem, it is however on my mind. After speaking with my Plumbing/Heating guy he mentioned these meters and I was very interested at first, but was put off by just the price of the meters (MSRP of $800ish each). For my system I'd need meters for 2 zones and any controllers/monitors/etc plus installation. A second boiler would be $3500-$4000 installed. At this point I'm inclined to average fuel usage over the last few years and come up with a heat included number to add to the rent.

The idea of running a little water to keep things from freezing in the cold is common. It seems that practice was a contributing factor in this mess: https://amp.bangordailynews.com/2018/01/31/news/midcoast/maine-mobile-home-park-residents-weigh-lawsuit-over-water-problems/ I'd look into a thermostatically controlled heat tape system on all the under trailer supply lines, along with insulating the lines.

Thanks.

With Wednesday being the 4th, is the meetup still on that day?

If the lot was produce from larger lot via a formal subdivision, your idea to divide and sell land may not be possible. Also, town specific ordinances (min require lot sizes, min required upland vs wetland, etc) may make dividing the lot impossible.

Thanks for the reminder. Sadly for me, I'll be missing this month. Enjoy yourselves.