All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

This is something I plan to do myself when I start renting, plus including an overlay showing from which angle each listing photo was taken.

Also one inside one of the kitchen cabinets to help illustrate what size the furnace filter is, what type of battery the garage door open, thermostat, and whatever else takes, where the water shut off valves are, etc. Also, what size the floors are and what size the windows and doors are.

I plan to have this information online as well, so if Suzy renter wants an area rug or curtains, she can see the size while she's in the store.

Seems useful for ANY house IMO.

"(last night the house was still messy and dirty from the previous tenants)." Maybe it's good no one did, sounds like you weren't ready. Your ad is too much, judgemental statements like "this home is not a mechanics shop" need to go.

I'm just starting too and I don't know much, but I do know you need to know a lot about a property, and you can't rely on Zillow and the current occupant to give you the information.

I didn't try this, but supposedly the trial is free for, I suspect, one report--who knows:

http://www.datatree.com/try-totalview

At the very least, there is a sample report that you can view that shows the sort of data you need.

Kudos on jumping in, but be careful!

I'm new to all this too, just reading for now. In my neighborhood a 2/1/2 goes for 1,100, a 3/2/2 is 1,200, and a 4/2.5/2 is 1,300. Clearly, I'd rather rent a 2/1/2, but renters are going to go for the 3/2/2 for a 100 bucks more. I know what I'm going to charge, I just don't like it.

Ah, I think it's just a Zillow glitch.

@David Dachtera If you close that $1.5M listing, all the listings on the right show "Sold: $5000". I think that's what Leon Chappell means.

I'm curious too...

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Poor tenant screening and/or the LL is not responding well to tenant requests for maintenance.

 Thank you for your response.

Do you have thoughts on what PMs do during the showing or perhaps in the lease that can turn tenants away before they rent?

On Zillow, in the Price/Tax History section, it seems like most homes in my neighborhood are listed for rent for about 4-6 weeks then disappear for about a year before they are listed again. That seems reasonable (though I'd love to see them gone for longer than one year.)

However, some of the listings of outwardly comparable properties in the same neighborhood list for two months or more, drop off the list for a month or two and then come back to list for three more months only to finally be picked up.

I assume that the property manager or landlord are doing something to sour the deal. Any thoughts on this?

Thank you for any replies.

Thank you for your response.

Hmmm, I feel like I'd just throw the main circuit breaker if I wasn't there showing it or rehabbing.

I don't see a reason to keep the power on otherwise, except I suppose for lights on timers or an alarm system.

Now I want to know if landlords typically have alarm systems on their properties...I have so many questions. I should search the forums first before posting.

Thanks for all the informative replies.

I'm the sort who'll fix a problem myself before asking for help from anyone, I'd be embarrassed to ask a landlord to unclog a toilet or replace a battery in a thermostat. So, much of this wouldn't occur to me.

That said, it seems like I need a list of little things to check between tenants, in addition to the big stuff that seems obvious. Such as, change the batteries in the smoke detectors, thermostat and garage door opener, and also things as check the operation of faucets to make sure they turn off all the way easily and run a load of laundry if my unit includes the washer and dryer.

The idea of putting who is responsible for exactly what maintenance in the lease seems like a really good one.

Finally, going over all of the lease during the initial walk-through and making sure they know how to get the utilities transferred to their name, etc. I expect to put together a welcome kit for my new tenants--I'll have it online in my website, of course, but I think a paper version is more immediate and would prompt quicker action.