All Forum Posts by: Mike Franco

getting them out by the summer could be good for you. That's when the rental season starts.

If you warned them and emphasized these issues before signing the lease, then you charge them.

I always try to tell my new tenants that my old tenants had such and such problems, and if something similar happens, you're responsible.

After looking further into IRS depreciation rules, it would appear that if I can freely trash a 5 year old carpet, then I can completely trash any 27.5 year old rental property and get away scot free, since the property would be worth zero by then.

Wouldn't it be nice to destroy a house short of burning it down on its 28th anniversary and find out you owe nothing to the landlord?

Seriously, IRS rules are tax rules. They shouldn't be used to assess damages.

There is no legal code that I know of that says all carpet, no matter how expensive or cheap, shall only last 5 years.

I think you should still have the carpet patched at least and charge him in full. It will only be a fraction of the cost of new carpet. Do not just write it off as normal wear and tear. I would never consider pet damage as normal wear and tear. I don't care what kind of personality your cat has. If it scratched up the carpet, you're paying for the fix.

You already have a 2 week head start now that you have the keys. Get all the contractor estimates

That is such a ridiculous standard, but I'm not surprised. Just for fun, I would like to ask judges if they replace their own carpets every 3 years.

The three year standard presumes all tenants live like animals, or that it is perfectly ok for a tenant to live like one. It gives them the right to piss all over it and not pay a cent, and potentially cost the LL more money than he received in security.

No wonder everyone around here is using tile or laminate these days.

I hope you have documentation and 'before' pictures.

carpets are usually warrantied for 10 years, so use that to prorate the cost. Dog damage is not normal wear and tear, so I would charge tenant full cost.

If it's less costly, you can replace just one part of the carpet with a similar carpet. I don't think it's necessary or right to change the entire house's carpet if only one room has damage. Tenants are more willing to pay for partial repairs.

It sounds like the tenant expects you to cut the carpet out of the closet and patch the damage. Then you can patch the closets with similar new carpet.

I'd imagine having a few bids is just a courtesy, not a requirement. The only requirement is when we landlords order repairs, we are supposed to provide receipts to corroborate security deposit deductions.

If you have records showing that you had blinds, such as a move-in checklist and pictures, then you can charge him material cost for similar blinds.

I would also confront him in person and say "you and I both know the blinds were on the windows. Where did you put them? What would be your idea of fair reimbursement for all the missing blinds?" Of course, this is only to try to make him feel guilty. You obviously charge what is fair.

Get an idea of what he is willing to pay, and let him know that you are willing to go to court if the costs exceed the deposit. He told you to keep the deposit because he knows the damages will probably amount to more. Don't back down.

I don't have access to such public records on google.

Every public records repository wants some kind of fee to access such information.

oh, and 3x rent, 2x security up front is not legal. you'll never collect that even if they did have the money.

in socal, it seems quite common to include gardener. I do. Back when I didn't include the gardener, tenants just let the yard turn to sh

bedbugs are my biggest fear. so far, none of my tenants has brought them in.

But who pays for extermination? I heard bedbugs are very difficult to get rid of, and it sounds like it costs a fortune. One case would probably wipe out a good chunk of the yearly revenue.

I bet you'd get a bunch of 500 credit scores even if you dropped the rent.

Many years ago, before craigslist was popular, my rent was lower than others and I still got a bunch of people with mid to low 500's.

It seems 500s credit scores are the norm for renters.

I've always wondered what an agent can do that shoppers can't do themselves?

In my area, there's another realtor's listing that has been vacant since june. Price is $4200 for a 2400sqft one story house. Property looks decent. But the rent is too high. Having a realtor doesn't help here.

check out youtube videos. They use kerosene and a blow torch to burn off the oil. no scrubbing required. You could probably even light a match. Just have a water hose at your side in case.