All Forum Posts by: Debbie C.

@Sam Faas

I have SFH in South Scottsdale and we have an alley behind the house. I did go around to the neighbors and talk to them about the alley, I found them interested in keeping the alley picked up. I let them have my contact info, and they know my house is a rental. If they have any issues with my tenants, they can contact me. We discussed everyone doing their fair share to try to keep the alley clean,we all have a lot on the line because in the past our part of town had roof rats. When we do property inspections it includes the alley. If there are any issues that are not the fault of the tenant, we take care of it.

Also my lease has a clause about the tenants must follow the City of Scottsdale rules about the alley. If they don't, (meaning they are dumping items/trash improperly) I can send someone over to do clean up and charge the tenant. So far so good.

@Joshua Amezcua

I have SFH's in Scottsdale, we have removed all grass and re-landscaped. We knew the houses we purchased would be long term rentals for us, so we planned accordingly. Tenants will complain if the water bill, or electric is too high. And YES in Arizona tenants want a cool house in the summer and expect the A/C unit to keep them comfortable. Most of my tenants keep the thermostat at 78, however, some tenants want the temp lower than that, and we get a few complaints each summer if they think the A/C should cool the house to say 74 degrees when it is 113 plus outside.

I agree with Joe and Theresa, I would sell, then look for rental properties that will fit your criteria that tenants will be competing to rent and want to stay long term.

@Ryan Sawyer We own sfh's and have a great relationship with our property manager. They do inspections every 6 months. Sometimes I meet them at the property and go in with them for the inspection. This is planned ahead, and it works well for all concerned. I used to self manage, but respect my property manager running the show. I usually only do this when I have a specific reason for wanting to see the inside for myself.

I have sfh's and a PM, and this is how my repair requests are handled. When a tenant submits a repair request to to the management company it goes onto the portal, and I am sent an e-mail notifying me. I review the request and I am able to approve or deny that request and I am able to make comments about the request. Also I can have the PM handle the approved order or I can tell them I will handle it. (Several of our properties have been completely remodeled and I have many items under warranty, therefore I might choose to call whoever did the work, and it is covered). If a repair is approved, the order is left open until the repair is completed, and then notes are made on the order and it is closed out. I have had this set up for many years and it works very well for us.

Yes the PM charges us a fee if they take care of the repair. Yes we have 500.00 held back in our account with them for repairs. But the key thing here is that we have to approve the repair. We take very good care of our properties, and everything is checked before a tenant moves in, but things do come up. As Colleen mentioned, many times tenants don't know how to use something correctly, or it might be in our lease that if it breaks (like an ice maker) that we don't have to repair it, or they might be told yes someone will come and change your light bulb if you want, but you are being charged for it. 

One last thing, our PM does an inspection every 6 months, most times the tenants are there which is a good thing, and repair requests are a part of the discussion, and any questions answered.

Good Luck !!

@Ash S.

1. We only offer 6 month leases at a time and inspect before we renew each time.

2. I would never ask tenants to provide images or notes. That is not an inspection, it is allowing them to choose what pictures and notes they want to send to you.

3. N/A

4. Follow the laws in your state and give the correct notice. Here it is 48 hours, however, I do give tenants longer notice for an inspection. They can be present or not, I prefer it when they can be there.

5. There is no "not willing" to let us inspect. We do not enter the property without proper notice and only for scheduled repairs or an inspection, otherwise we respect the tenants privacy. However, when we send a notice we are not asking for the tenants permission, we are telling them when we are coming to the property and what we will be doing. Unless there is a very good reason to re-schedule, we expect them to comply. 

We don't have issues about this with good tenants, they understand they need to follow the terms of the lease. If we do have a tenant that is causing problems, for whatever reason then we deal with the situation and then do not renew the lease.

@Albert Blair

I am also going to agree with the comments above. In the past we had used a warranty company for our own property, with mixed results. We dropped them some time ago, and have good companies and handyman for our repairs on our rentals. My sister in law has several rental properties and had still been using the warranty companies. In the last year or so she has had way too many issues of work not being completed in a timely manor, trying to call the warranty company and never getting thru or cut off. Needless to say she has dropped them. In reading reviews of several of the companies, the same complaints are stated over and over.

@Henry Nguyen

It sounds like the tenant wants the 4 year lease. They have nothing to lose, you do. I have very nice homes in good areas in Scottsdale that I rent out, and I know in Arizona there are very few things you can evict a tenant for. The tenant can break the lease anytime and you are limited to what you can charge if the lease is broken. As @Bjorn Ahlblad mentioned, things can change, good tenants can start to cause problems. They already live in the house and sound motivated to stay. Just be sure this is what you want to do.

As far as what to charge, if you decide to go ahead, the 100.00 increase per month, for each year of the lease is a good suggestion. 

Good luck on whatever you decide.

@David P. 

Very sorry this happened to you. Think very carefully about what you are going to do next to deal with this situation. I agree with @James Hamling not to let it go. So what if they say the dogs are gone, maybe in a month they are back. 

When there are no consequences for the tenants actions, they will continue to ignore the lease and do whatever they feel like doing. Talk to your Insurance agent. Speak to an attorney, give them all the information and see what your options are, then decide.

Best of luck

@Joseph Beilke

I have sfh's, I have self managed and also have had a great management company for several years now. 

Here are some of what is important to me.

Screening of tenants. They do a very good job screening, and I understand/ agree with the criteria they use.

They have a maintenance department that is reliable and can handle emergencies. The vendors they use are good.

They show my property in person. I would not sign with a company that only did remote showings. 

@Justin Kerstetter   Please post an update once this completely plays out. Many of us deal with this same type of situation, and I am interested in what ends up happening.
@Justin Kerstetter