All Forum Posts by: Colleen F.

Yes, it is and smokers are not a protected class. I don't allow smoking inside and prefer no smoking. One house is furnished and we had some challenging students there. I did not do the cleaning myself so imagine my surprise when my son removed the couch cushion and half of it was burned. A burn about 18 inches wide and into the cushion. I didn't care about the couch so much as the safety risk so that is why I don't allow smoking.. Sometimes what people say and what they do is entirely different.

what does the lease say? It is best if it says no pets without written approval of the landlord. I would then say to them you just moved in, lets see how this goes and we will discuss it (providing the property is suited to it ) in 6 months.

You've done what sounds like a very good job so I probably wouldn't agree to it. If you do you could hand her one of those neutral color pallets from the store and say these are the colors, nothing darker. When I have agreed it is because the room needed painting anyway either because a previous owner had a very dark color or we were showing something before we painted and they expressed a preference. I do advise when you let anyone paint be specific. If you don't want woodwork painted or you want the ceiling white you need to say so. (personal experience). Sometimes people say sure but you have to pay someone to paint it back when you leave.

Well those Colorado homes might be in designated flood plains when they try to renew their insurance...

There is a wealth of information on the flood zones and flood zone Map updates on this site. Remapping happens it seems after each natural disaster in an area. It is really important when in a flood area to understand your position and what you might pay for insurance as well as what you are covered for. http://www.floodsmart.gov/floodsmart/pages/flooding_flood_risks/map_update_schedule.jsp

I am not an insurance agent but have some personal experience in flood claims and insurance..

The minimum the oil company would deliver to us was 100 gallons so we put that in. We were planning to have the tenant reimburse us for what's left. The break I would give them is approximating in their favor on what is in the 240 gallon tank. So if it is slight more then 1/4 still count it as 1/4. That's fair and a little in their favor. After that they call the oil company for a fill. Most oil companies in our area will take a credit card but that is on them.

You could fill and go the deposit route but it is still 1000.00 in the tank and then it is your 1000.00 and they could walk away without filling and oil has gone up. For us, realistically we know we could be heating it all winter if we don't find a tenant so we have to keep some oil in it. I don't want to be running and getting a 5 gallon can of diesel all the time... If you have a duplex you could ask when they make the delivery for the other unit that they make sure you have say a half fill until the unit is rented. You would pay but the oil company for the other tenant might have less of an issue giving you a low volume fill. Hope that helps.

I would say aside from what has already been mentioned it depends on who you are marketing to. For the condo, if the condo association has a limit to the number of renters in the building and you plan to sell to an investor then keep it rented if the right to rent would transfer with the condo. If the percentage of condos that can be rented in the complex isn't limited its a non-issue.

Telling the tenants this far in advance might not be a good idea if you have good tenants. The only telling I might do now is to mention casually to the condo renter that you may sell in the next couple of years and see if they have interest.

Tenants can make it tough to show units especially if they have a good deal. We bought a NJ house that was rented to the step-daughter. I think we got it only because we were the most persistent. We waited on the porch for an hour until she got home to let everyone in for the scheduled showing because they couldn't show without her home. If you get a hint that it will be an issue to show terminate the lease.

On the other hand not all tenants are bad in this respect and we bought apartments recently where the tenants were immaculate when we viewed the place (and still are awesomely clean) so you can't paint all tenants with the same brush. Ask yourself how long have they been there? how difficult are they normally?

@ George Paiva I know we don't have to accept section 8 here but I never thought it would be discrimination if I didn't. In RI you have to have a lead cert and inspection for section 8 which we don't have. I was getting the lead cert anyway which is what most landlords don't want to do (although they are supposed to in all pre-78 housing). For me not accepting section 8 is more about the government then the potential tenant. How can CT tell you that you must take assistance and if they do how do you manage not to? Assistance can change any time. Another issue here is that it is starting to look like you can't exclude someone for growing medical marijuana in RI as they are disabled even though federal law is not consistent with that.

If you have a smoker on whom you can smell smoke now it will follow them. If you meet someone who says I am a smoker and you normally can't smell smoke on them then it is unlikely they smoke enough outside to stink up the inside of your house. I don't say it you will never smell it but for this person it seems like you could walk past them and say smoker. Probably not good if you want a non-smoking roommate.

Thanks, @ Steve L I had not thoroughly looked at the section 8 when I met this couple as it had not come up before. Reading the section 8 qualifying information to qualify for section 8 she won't qualify income wise for this house without it. The income page of the application wasn't sent and I don't know if that was my fault when copying or hers. I will just reject the section 8. If they want to prove they can afford without section 8 she can fill out the rest. They had a 7 year rental history at one location but their current rent is less then half this house so I don't think they really know they can afford without section 8.

@ Jeff Bridges I like dogs but I really don't want one in this rental unless I have to and then I will be picky . I was silent on pets in my ad but I had planned to consider them down the road if it didn't rent. Dog size isn't the biggest issue for us, it is really about disposition and barking and barking.. I was just concerned about this person coming back that we rejected their (tiny ) dog and now we are allowing dogs. They are local looking to relocate to a house locally so they will see the ad again. I guess we can set a policy without sharing in the ad. It would probably be best to reject on income now and not to address the dog.

This is not unexpected due to the cost of Sandy and preceding floods. There is also re-mapping going on and in NJ they had been rolling it out to people along with the flood buyouts and insurance settlements. Flood insurance is influenced by how far the living level is above the base flood elevation level and where the mechanicals are. You need to know what your Base flood elevation is and if they have remapped you and changed your zone. This is what is impacting a lot of people. There are also some building types that help you to qualify for better premiums since I believe they have changed recommendations on construction in flood zones. Investments and vacation homes are being hit the hardest in the premium area though. They just don't want to cover them.