All Forum Posts by: Steven Maduro

Wow I completely never thought about incompetence or negligence

I saw a PM mess up royally today in court

he forgot to attach back rent to the current case

So he missed out on two months rent for his client.

The judge would not allow it.

even though the tenant was not there.

What should have been a slam dunk swish from the 3 point line

ended up being a one out of two free throw shot.

poor guy (both landlord and PM) neither will be happy with that outcome.

So what do people do when they live out of town?

One thing I did was to reject anyone who took too long to get back to my phone request.

I felt it was like already starting out on the wrong foot.

it is four properties S.F.H altogether

two in dekalb and two in fulton.

you are right this last tenant was not screened properly at all.

I hope to be able to get away from the area for a time

so managing the properties makes sense to me.

Hello Backpage

I have come to the realization that I am terrible at tenant relations.

I get too emotionally involved and too friendly.

I have decided to turn over the property to a property management company

thoughts on what I should look for in a management company?

I would hate to jump from the pan to the fire.

Ok things happen right?

unexpected expenditures may mean that your renovation is off schedule by about 6 -8 months

What do you do?

You can leave it vacant until you have the money to renovate.

You can do a cheaper renovation which may save a month or two.

or you can do what I did.

you can rent it unfinished. at 60% of your normal asking price.

There are many people who would love to save a few hundred a month

all they need is a working toilet and a microwave and a small refrigerator. and hot plate and toaster oven.

I floated this idea a year ago and I have learned some things about the process that make it a lot more do able.

What is entailed?

you should have a place that is at least structurally sound and safe.

take care of leaks, faulty wiring.

you can rent the place to a handy man or contractor type dude

you can even let them work off their first month rent

by painting the entire place. A job that is easy enough for most handymen.

You are looking for a person who is moving into town and needs to get a feel for the lay of the land before committing to a lease. or someone who is content with living beneath the status quo until they get back on their feet.

The advantage is that you get to earn some money toward your renovation and your property is not vacant and exposed to vandalism or looting

The disadvantage is that you will run into a pyschological phenomenon that is difficult to get around. No one wants to pay more for something they have enjoyed at a discount no matter how much improvement has occurred.

Basically you need to keep this sort of rental as a month to month deal.

This is very important because the tenant is a short term tenant.

They are usuallly too smart for their own good. if they are clever enough

to spot the advantage to this situation they think they are clever enough to

get more from you than you are willing to give.

They will end up problematic in the long term. but in the short term they work out really well.

Keep them to 6 months maximum.

especially when you go to increase the rent after the renovations are complete.

To me the good out weighs the bad when you are in a cash strapped position

I have employed this strategy four times.

I have found that at bare minimum I have managed to pick up a few thousand to put toward a renovation.

I never found a great tenant that I would want a long relationship with.

I managed to improve two properties using this method

and I will use it again.

this is what I have learned.

Do get people who know a thing or two about building houses.

always be there to inspect anything you let them do.

let them know that you will be around to inspect the job

during and after its completion

go over all of your details prior.

Never let them do any repairs without your consent.

let them know this will be grounds for immediate eviction.

Always set time tables

never never make promises about what you will do

never make statements about you want to do

never make statements about what you wish to do.

keep the lease to a month to month

or 6months at a maximum.

Do attach a rider to your lease that

releases you from any liability in case they get injured on premises.

Thats all people.

this is an emergency solution not the ideal solution.

I am not recommending this as a first course measure.

but in those situations where you may have thought about leaving a property vacant until you can get around to fixing it up

Let me start by saying this is not a post that is going to give you magic formulas or wow your market and potential renters into renting from you.

This post will be a seed a prompter, if you will, to get you thinking about things that are abstract, yet will still have a major impact on how fast you get rented.

Buyer behavior the bum and a meal syndrome

If you were a bum had no money at all

you could ask a thousand people for a meal and you may get a few mcdonalds burgers for your trouble.

On the other hand, if you were Donald trump you probably would get many invites to some real spreads. why?

because people pay for and honor those who already have it. Honor and money

Turn this to your advantage.

your places should look top shelf at least be clean from corner to corner

you may not have the latest and greatest but it should look impeccably clean.

Splurge in the kitchen and bathroom put little design elements where you can.

the trouble will be worth it in shorter vacancy periods

Schedule showing times,

strict teachers are more loved than lenient ones

when I taught elementary school I noticed the kids loved the strict teachers

the rules helped the kids know they were valued.

when setting appointments even if you have all day

narrow the window of showing availability to two hours show time each day.

you get the added benefit of possibly getting two prospects show up at the same time.

People like to save

People would rather save a buck as much as make a buck

so offer rebates and coupons instead of penalties.

move in specials,

I offered a summer electricity rebate coupon on one unit in my duplex because there was no central air.

I was going to replace it but decided to do the coupon thing

the tenant is very happy to save for the four months

although he is sometimes hot

HE loves saving the mo

There is a lot more on this subject i havent learned but I did discover these two quite by accident.

If anyone has more please share.

I didnt wet sand I had some sand paper that
3m makes
They are sponge pads they are squares of sponge with sand grit on one side.
Worked really well.

Thanks for bringing that up
because the sponge allows you to follow all the contours of the sink.
without making extra gouges where your fingers are.

Using a flexible block (also available at body shop supply stores ) would be really important if you never did body work before.
I repeat use a flexible block or get the 3m sponge pad sand paper. otherwise your job will not look as professional. the un-eveness of your palm would show in the final product.

The flexible blocks or sponge pads
allow you to get a real even brush stroke look.

They are meant to be used dry.
although I probably could have gotten similar results
with a flexible block and wet sand paper.

Hello bigger pockets

I am a newbie in the land lording game
and I tend to do a lot of remodeling and rehabbing on my foreclosures

I always have an eye to make things look really nice. Hoewever, I do not always have the budget,

Recently I bought a beautiful faucet for my Girlfriend I told her to get a plumber to install it because I hate crawling under a nasty sink wrestling with a 50 year old faucet. and connection,

The plumber she hired stated the faucet is brushed nickel and her sink was a shiny cheap type sink and they wouldnt match. But he would install it if she wanted but suggested she buy a new sink to match the look of the faucet.

I dug in my tool shed and found some body shop sand paper
800 grit and 400 grit and 600 grit

on her sink I opted to use the 800 grit and it came out really nice
I kept the sand paper going in the same direction so you could see the brushed look
I sanded the entire sink including the bowls and outside edges
It came out really beautiful

I then did a sink in one of my rentals
this sink had some bad scratches so I chose to use 320 grit sand paper
again making sure I kept my strokes going in the same direction,

the sink looks brand new.

it took approx 10 minutes maybe 15 I am not sure I wasn't timing it

but it was certainly less time then replacing the sink.

Anyway thought I would share. my experience.

The closer to average you are the longer your house sits

the closer to average in price the longer your house sits
the closer to average in terms of amenities the longer your house sits.

You will no doubt rent your place if it is clean and tidy and not more expensive than the rest

I have found that testing the waters in order to find that perfect balance between interest and rent price is worth the investment in time.

If you get too many calls on the first day
you are probably renting too low
if you get no calls all week you are too high

find your sweet spot

I live in Georgia
I am not sure this issue is covered in the hand book I figured I would float it here

I had a unit for rent in the first week of july say july 2, man came and said he wanted it immediately
he had a good job drove a nice car was well put together. he had income verification statements

He made a partial deposit of 300 no paper work just a receipt
he was supposed to move in on the 15th of july
on the 15th he came with another 200 which was the rest of the deposit but he said he didnt want to move in until august

this didnt make me happy and as he stated there was nothing in writing
forcing him to a july 15th move in date

now he states he doesent want to move in at all
and wants his deposit back.

I basically held this apartment for 30 days and now he does not want it,

there was no written agreement but the rental application does state

The following deposits are required:

- security deposit of the first month's rent of 550.00 payable upon move inThe deposit will be returned to the Applicant if the Premises are not rented to the Applicant.

when I wrote this I was under the impression that it meant if for some reason I decided not to rent the unit
but upon reading it
It seems like it states he is entitled to his deposit back.

Did I just mess my self up?