All Forum Posts by: Dave G.

@Michael H.

If you choose to provide leniency in some instances, that is certainly your right. Maybe you have different circumstances being in a smaller city, I don't know. But I don't think expecting grown adults to meet their commitments means a landlord is a jerk. 

Is a tenant a jerk tenant when they file a complaint against me with HUD because I take weeks to repair an air conditioner in one of my Phoenix rentals in July?

Great - this is the last time a CPA gets on the forums....

IMO Forbes is the best among financial/business news sources and the only financial periodical I subscribe to (15 years and counting).

However, I do question their assessment and recommendations here. 

Perhaps Forbes should've just sent a survey out for opinions from their Forbes 400 list since many of them are RE investors and arguably all of them should have some state/national macroeconomic awareness.

More multi-tasking!

Like right now I'm trolling BP and watching the NFL! Super productive!

Sell it!

Another consideration, in case the previous posts were not convincing enough, is that high-end renters in an A property expect the property to be maintained as such.

Granite repairs, travertine wear & repair, wine coolers, 3+ toilets, 3+ garage door openers, wet bars, indoor/outdoor custom lighting, landscaping and the list goes on. 

A tenant paying $3 or $4k/month will expect all this stuff to be functional and beautiful all the time. 

Get out!

What does your competition do and if you deviate from that how will your market react?

My market demographic all but requires this so I provide them, and yes, the break and cost money to repair/replace. I think most of my tenant market would consider it a non-starter if I did not provide.

What is your competition doing? Look at it from the tenant's perspective? I have dishwashers in all my units and yes, they break and cost $$. But my tenant market demographic would generally notice this difference and would apply a decrement during their rental search.

@Jay Hinrichs

Jay - that's a great point - cost to prepare and no rent/holding cost during preparation duration. That could start turning into some real money that changes the equation to where it might make sense to sell with a tenant in-place or as a package deal. 

Anyone have suggestions for pigeon deterrents? I have a Phoenix property where, due to the next door neighbor putting up some kind of bird feeder, we have a flock of pigeons that now circle the area and spend enough time on my roof to crap all over the place. I've tried hanging flashy CDs from the gutters and the Bird-B-Gone fake hawk. The pigeons don't care about either of those things. This is a 2-level and I'm not big on heights, so if something like spikes needs to be installed on the crown of the roof where they always land) then I'd need to hire someone. 

Any suggestions are appreciated.

@Vlad Yunger - I agree with @Brian Ploszay

When the time comes for me to disposition my properties, I will want them all vacant and looking good. 

If you sell an SFR with a tenant in it, your buyers market will very likely only be investors. If you sell it when vacant, you will have the whole owner-occupant buyers market as well as investors.

Maybe a deal could be structured that results in lower commissions and closing costs selling them as a package, but I don't think that savings would warrant limiting your market.