All Forum Posts by: Deb L.

I'll be renting out a condo soon; the prior tenant was a relative, great tenant for many years. I self-managed, no extra fees, etc.

I've recently hired a property manager. Here are their fees to the tenant--

$150 administrative fee
$75 application fee (I think that is per person)
44.95 per month resident benefit package (includes renter's insurance, monthly air filters, credit building, I.D. protection) --mostly a cash grab 
Plus our condo charges $100 application fee.

 I might be $50-$100 high on the rent I've set which I can of course change if I don't get a potential tenant. 

Their monthly charge is 7% whereas the standard seems about 10%.  So the tenant is basically paying the difference on a $2K rental.  

Are these fees going to scare off potential renters or is this the norm?

Thanks!  

I'm having the master bath remodeled starting in January-cost about 9K. It continues to be occupied by good tenants.   I gave the contractor 3K deposit this week for cabinets, etc and I will also be buying some lighting, toilet, etc in December.  Do I start depreciating this in 2020 (the 3K plus lighting, toilet, etc) or do I start in 2021 since nothing has been "done" yet?

Also, about four years ago, I had a handyman redo the same shower (shower only, about $2500) which I was depreciating.  It has failed/leaked so this is why I'm getting the shower redone again, plus doing the rest of the bathroom this time.

Can I continue to depreciate the first shower redo in addition to the new one?  Or do I stop depreciating the first shower and start with the new bath?

Thanks! 

I'm having our first floor condo master bath remodeled.  Should I add a grab bar?    The demographic is typically 30's-40's, some younger since it is close to a college.  It' a whole lot easier to add one now than later.   And would it have to be installed by another type of specialist rather than our contractor (due to liability/ADA considerations)?

Thanks. 

Just to compare, I had this done to my home (where I live, not a rental) July 2017 for $3450.  This is on one acre--Plus they cleaned up everything. 

• aggressive elevation and trim of 3 live oaks in the front yard in middle of drive way and road.
• Clean up sweet gum tree next to driveway
• Trim turkey oak next to driveway.
• Aggressive elevation and light trim of two large live oaks on the left side of driveway by the road.
• Trim and elevate two small live oaks to the left of pool screen in the back yard
• Remove 5 palms surrounds left corner of pool screen.
• Reduce crape mirtle to 10 feet.
• Trim 3 Chinese palms in the center of back yard
• Trim beard of washitonian palm. Also cut pine tree back away from palm.
• Reduce crape mirtle on right side of pool screen to 10 ft.
• Trim drake elm.
• Cut back willow tree away from house
• Aggressive elevation and trim of live oak on the back side of driveway near garage.
• Reduce lagustrum to 12 feet.
• Remove dead pine tree in back yard.
• Trim and elevate drake elm.
• Total 3450$

Now you've got me thinking... I thought the condo owners owned it all along.  We pay a monthly fee (about $300) to the condo association for upkeep of all the common grounds, roof repairs, maintenance of the parking lot (was recently resurfaced), pressure cleaning of the outside. It is not a co-op, just a standard condo in the suburbs.  

But the individual condo owners are responsible for the interior walls, etc.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to this!  

So do I need to find the condo documents to determine who owns the condo roof (the homeowners or the condo association?)  

Do you know which situation is most common-the homeowners own it or the condo association and whether the cost is expensed or depreciated? 

Homeowners (condo owners) own it.  Total cost will be about 170K, around 4K per condo owner.  Property manager runs it and we have been advised by them that there will be a special assessment.

I have owned a 30-year old condo for about five years that I have rented out the entire time I have owned it.  The roof is original, has been patched but still not fixed.  The condo is doing a special assessment of about $4000 per unit that has to be paid in full.  I'm not sure if this will be paid in 2018 or 2019.

Can this be expensed in the year that it was paid (the entire $4000) or does it have to be depreciated over 27.5 years (or some other timeframe) ?

Thanks!

It depends on the situation.  I probably would not but my son did.   He had just graduated with his masters in computer engineering. Applied for jobs in Silicon Valley.  Six interviews and six offers (sorry, Mom gush).  He was 2500 miles away and checked places online.  He found a place (of course $$$$ in Silicon Valley) and they required his job offer letter and first month's rent.  Everything is fine.  (well except that it is 700 square feet and 4x the cost of a rental here!)  

My rental is in a college area (very large college) so there are plenty of people (and their parents) who will want to see the place so it is not an issue here.  

Yes, I have received the report from my property manager.  It is from Trans Union and says National Eviction Search.  The prior eviction (2007) and judgment (2013) are not on there.  I would think they would still be on it.  The judgment still has not been  paid. 

My tenant started paying late/short three months into the lease.  I am hopefully in the last stages of eviction through my PM's attorney-hopefully I will get possession next week. 

 PM told me that that this tenant had no prior judgments or evictions but that the credit score was in the 500s last month when I started the eviction. PM said they do not rent with prior judgments or evictions. 

I went onto the sheriff's office site to find the status of the eviction and this tenant has a judgment in 2013 for a $2000 bad check (closed account) and a prior eviction in 2007.

I asked the PM about this and he said that they use a "professional company" to do background checks and neither of these showed up.   Is this possible?  I was able to find it "accidentally." 

PM is taking their 10% plus the late fees, fee for going out to post notices, etc.  My contract with the PM is through January.

Do you think they would let me out two months early so I can get another PM and get it back rented to a paying tenant?   It could also be an error and omissions issue for them but I'm not up for the fight.