All Forum Posts by: Dan Marl

Hello everyone. It's 12/28/21 and I am listing my house for rent (it's empty right now).  I have a person who is going to send me back the rental application and a few interested people to want to see the property.

This is my question. If you were in my position and you find a good candidate, when do you make them start paying rent? It's at the end of the year so I doubt they will move in by 1/1/22. If they ask to move in on 2/1/22, then I would be 1 month out of rent.

Do many of you compromise and start the lease mid-month like 1/15/22?  Or 1/1/22 or 2/1/22? 

Hello Nick. I was in the same boat you were as my house just closed in December 2021. Definitely get your own inspector as they will see more and are more stringent than the builder's inspector. Because they work for you.

I should have gotten an inspection before the drywall was put up but I forgot. That way you make sure all the electrical, plumbing etc are done right.

Optional: get another inspection 1 month before your 1-year warranty is up. That way everything covered by the warranty is fixed. I used the person below for my inspection and he did a good job. He was referred by my real estate agent. 

All Star Realty Inspections
Chris Coaty
7212 McNeil Dr, Ste 204
Austin, TX 78729
Allstarrealtyinspections.com

Good idea on the exterior garden hose bibs and setting the water heater to vacation mode. thank you

Good news everyone. The builder was able to grind the bottom to flatten the bend on the concrete. As you can see from the picture, they only had to grind the piece of concrete that is 2 feet by 20 feet. No more gaps between the floor and the garage door. Thank you, everyone for your help!

I am ok with the looks once it is ground out. I rather have that than have snakes, critters, rats, leaves, water during heavy storms, etc coming into the garage. I rather nip the problem at the bud. 

The builder said a weather strip will fall out after 6-12 months as this is what they do previously on other houses. 

Update: The builder says they will grind the concrete to flatten it out. But the closing date is coming up very soon!

Let's say it's not done by the closing date, what recourse do I have? Can I push out the closing date until it's fixed? 

Hello all,

The property is in the Dallas area. 

Thank you all for your advice! Seems like the consensus is to keep the utilities on except for the internet. The builder says they keep the utilities on for 3 days after the date of closing so I'll open new accounts with the utility companies then.

Merry Christmas everyone!

I searched through the forum but couldn't find the answer.

I am going to have an empty house to show to potential renters (it's a new build). What utilities should I open under my name in order to show to renters?

A friend told me it should be electric, gas, water.

Another friend said only electric because if gas and water are turned on, someone could accidentally leave it on and cause damage or run up the bill.

What do you all do? 

Thank you!

I think it's some material as the builder is not done building the house. 

Yes, the garage is 3 cm higher than the driveway (it's like a mini-step). So for them to grind it, they are just grinding a step that is only 2 feet wide by 2 cars long. I will push them to fix because it looks unsightly and you right, I have to think about future buyers.