All Forum Posts by: Eric V.

Great article. Thanks for sharing your story. Hands on it all! Love it.

Yup Pics make it look like a beginner is in charge. Take new ones with landscape (horizontal) mode. Some tenants may not like carpet and prefer the other places with hardwood. Much easier to clean. Lower your price and get someone in. Much better to get 100-200 less a month than be vacant and get nothing while you also have utilities, yard upkeep, etc to pay in addition to everything else.

Thanks, Thought there would be a bunch of "Early" starters, as well as many who got a "Late" start.

OK just curious here, how many guys/girls start super early or late. I bought my 1st at 16 (my grandfather put 95% in, i put in all my "paper route money" and everything else saved, about $3000 in 1983. Still own that house today.  

purchased 35,000 

reno 40,000

all in $75,000 (in 1983)

After a bunch of upgrades including for a 2nd time new kitchen,baths,hardwood, roof, landscape, etc. 

Rental now $2,500

Value 500,000ish

Newest SFH is 1st long distance rental for me - 2000 miles away.

others 5 minutes from home. i do everything reno/repair/manage.

ok so you are not a builder or renovator and won't be able to see some things that many others here with experience can see or anticipate. You want an inspector to pick up things you probably won't see or know to look for. 

Like

plumbing not up to code - improper venting, wrong pipes or sizes used, galvanized pipe, copper pipe in slab etc.

undersized framing, spans to long, dry rot, termite damage

foundation cracks, settlement, sill plates rotting

asbestos in tiles, plaster, popcorn ceilings, pipe wraps, vent wraps, old furnace insulation. 

electrical grounds missing or improper, overloaded circuits, old panel, undersized panel, outlets not to code, aluminum wire, nob and tube wire

mold in crawlspaces, basement, attic

bad drainage in yard, water intrusion spots on house and foundation.

oil tank in ground, radon test

These are just a very few things that you may not pick up if you don't know what to look for.

And as previous said any findings are used to negotiate on price and/or save you from a big ticket item like asbestos removal, structure, water problems etc.

@Thomas S.

If i do get into apt rentals i will definitely go M2M. You make perfect sense and yes i agree many tenants will move at anytime.

But for SFH rental, it's more of a pain to move a family and a whole house of their stuff as well as jacking kids out of school. The times this happens most is loss of employment and they are forced to move. Otherwise over the last 35 years the yearlys have worked pretty well.

Originally posted by @Thomas S.:

"equal to 150% of the rent"

The purpose being to discourage tenants from going M2M. Landlords believe term leases control tenants.

Nope the purpose is to get a problem tenant out when he pays rent but is still a problem. (late payer, police being called to property, property damage, stressful tenant with constant issues)

In Nj Non payment of rent is about the only "easy" way to evict.

@Thomas S.

I get your point and experience, it sounds like you are dealing more with apts that SF Homes? 

I agree that yearly lease helps only with "Honest" tenants who abide by the rules.

I've had a case where a problem but "honest payer" tenant did follow the lease and pay late fees and also move out when he wanted to stay because of the 11/2 times holdover clause.

I've also had many yearly's leave early. most do try to use the security for the last months rent. 

if a yearly saves me 1/2 the time from re renting in winter than its worth it to me.

Here is what i use:

In the event Tenant remains in the property after the expiration of the term of this Lease

without having executed a new written Lease acceptable to both Landlord and Tenant, Landlord shall have the right to(1) treat Tenant as a Tenant who has not removed at the end of his term,and

be entitled to all the remedies against Tenant provided by law or,in the alternative,(2)consider

such holding-over a tenancy from month to month at a monthly rent equal to 150% of the rent

payable for the month immediately preceding the first day of such hold-over term,subject to all the terms and conditions of this Lease,except duration. Landlord's right to elect to treat Tenant as a hold-over Tenant or otherwise shall not be effected by acceptance of rent in any amount (including any amount less than the amount provided in this paragraph).