All Forum Posts by: Cali Skier

 Thank you, I feel like we are too new to this business to do something like this.

We have a nice 4 bedroom in a quiet, middle class neighborhood.  I got a call from the owner of a solar panel company based in another state and wants to rent the house for his technicians to stay.  They have a warehouse and sales office here.  It would be different people coming staying for different lengths of time.  He is doing air bnbs right now.  He is ok using his name to run the application but wants to put the lease under the company name.  I can see some pros and cons with the situation and wondering if anyone has any experience with this.  I am not sure if I should do this or not.  What are your recommendations if I should do it, and if so what would the lease structure be for this situation?  i.e. increase rent, different deposit

Nathan, Thank you Thank you!  very much for the post, this is how we learn.  I do believe it is mold, we had an inspector tell us it was unofficially, we are waiting for the results.  To your point about Tenants using this as a squeeze, I am savvy to that, but also why I come here to check myself.  And i appreciate you validating my concerns.  I don't believe its really that big of a deal, but I also don't think these tenants are trying to squeeze us, we have gotten to know them, they are just really meticulous.   I have a PM on my moms property and I see your point there she makes all the problems go away and for my situation with my mom and my family, that is the way to go.  Also I am watching that PM and learning about the benefit I get from having one and testing the stress level I have on my own personal 3 properties from not having one.  On the personal properties currently my wife and choose to DIY, its just our decision that works for us.  We do save quite a bit a year on fees for all of them.  The cost we pay (like in this situation) we have considered "tuition" and has helped us grow.  We do have 2 PM coaches, one local and one a step brother in California.  We also have BiggerPockets, (and you in this post, thank you!). 

I am the repair man and I have learned a lot about houses (and people) in the 5 years I have done this.  Has it been stressful? to your point, at times yes totally.  But it has also taught us a lot and given us so much pride in what we do and who we have grown into in this side business.  My favorite day is the first of the month.  :)

Mold requires moisture and a food source (usually dust). Treat the spot with a bleach solution, then paint over it with an oil-based primer which will seal it in permanently. Make sure the sink and faucet are properly sealed to prevent more water from leaking through. Then have the tenant look at it once a month to see if it comes back.

That is exactly what I thought I needed to do, but my PM "coach" said get a pro in there to appease them.  But I am going to Kilz it and calk it right after that just to make it go away.

Thank you for sending the link about mold, I did a quick skim and texted it to my wife for us to read while we watch football this afternoon, super nice of you and very helpful to us.  

 Yes, we had two contractors go out and to test it and we should get the answer back by Monday.

 Thank you sir, appreciate the insight.  I would hope you would not have to replace the counter bottoms to hold the granite, but yes it is heavy.

We have nice house where tenants found mold in 2 locations.  Well I think its only in one location

Questions... How would you handle the situation below?  I know nothing about mold or repercussions of dealing with mold and tenants.  

1. I am thinking of just replacing the countertop in the guest bathroom only

2. If I need to replace the countertop in the kitchen also I am not going to be able to match what's there, I am thinking of just doing granite throughout the house for $2,500 kitchen and 2 baths.  Its not uncommon for houses in this neighborhood to be upgraded to granite.  But wife thinks it wont attract tenants much

3.  I would like to just go in with bleach myself and scrub it and kill it but wife says these tenants will expect a pro to come in and is concerned about me disturbing it and getting in the air.

4. Is there anything else I should be worried about in this situation?

1st. Guest bathroom.  It appears that the mold is only confined to the underside of the particle board countertop around the sink edge.  

2nd. Kitchen sink, the black eaten away part 7:00 from the hoses coming down from the bottom of the sink.  Tenant thinks this is mold.  There was a leak at that location 3 years ago that I fixed.  I don't know or really think there is mold there. 

Thanks to you both.  What would problems be?  I know in Oklahoma if you can't justify why you held deposit they can get 3 times the amount you held.  But I would take lots of pictures, have receipts of the materials purchased and pictures after.

Our Tenants are about to move out.  

In all 3 kids bedrooms they mounted a TV and stuck sticky 3M LED light strips all along the perimeter seams of the walls and the corners.  In each room this adds up to about 75 feet of light tape for each room.  They pulled down the light tape in one room and it pulled off the paint, sheetrock paper, and some of the sheetrock. This is going to be a time consuming patch job.

I have new renters waiting to move in, I do not want to hire a contractor, they will not be fast enough, they will not do a good enough job either.

How can I charge the deposit for this?  Can I take lots of pictures and log my time and just charge a market rate?  I don't believe they should get this fix up service for free.
 

We just talked to a few potential tenants and they said they were using findigs and waned to see if we would be willing to pull their info from that tool.  Anyone have any experience with it?