All Forum Posts by: Rosa Regier

Hi West! I encourage you to read through your PMA as there may be fees associated with the termination. The PMC will deliver lease, tenant info and security deposit to you. Don't expect a copy of the report as there are regulations about authorized viewers.  In case you haven't already, read through the local property code especially the handling of security deposit & move-out. Actually, everything in the property code and landlord/tenant laws are important to read through & refer to. Best of luck & congrats on entering the world of self management!

When I owned a PMC (a decade ago), I used allpropertymanagement.com for landlord leads. They didn't have a very sophisticated matching method as it was simply done by zip code.  I have no idea if that's changed.  If you're a landlord, you might do better by reading online reviews and interviewing the PM. 

I believe a new development is required to meet a minimum owner occupancy rate. I don't know enough to provide the details. However, around here it's a common practice to offer a development to owner occupants prior to opening it up to investors. Consider a scenario where the market drops & lots of investors pull out of a development all at once. This would have catastrophic ramifications for the remaining owner occupants who can't pull out as quickly as an investor. Hopefully a developer will respond to the thread and confirm.

Also - yes, you will need to honor a lease contract already in place through the termination date. If the tenant is on a month-to-month lease, then you have more flexibility.

I've been contacted by June Homes and Staying Infinite offering these types of co-living/rbtr arrangements. I don't have any experience with either, but they're a couple of leads for you. 

Does your lease agreement state that the tenant cannot make repairs?

Hi @Isidoro Leon!  I believe the price of $377k is per side making each duplex $754k assuming both sides are the same. You'll be trading gross rents from your current $5600/quad for the new $4600/duplex. Going from a 1980s neighborhood probably means that you don't pay any association dues. It's possible that you'll have to pay them monthly in a newly constructed area.

The 1031 exchange is a great vehicle as Dave stated and I plan on using that myself. Best wishes.

An important topic for aspiring DIY PMs is preventing/reducing these evictions.

1. Know the Landlord-Tenant laws of your state.

2. Actually verify everything in the prospective tenant's application and all adult roommates. 

3. Make use of a comprehensive lease agreement with proper notices included.

4. Stick to the lease agreement. If you make an exception due to extraordinary circumstances then you've effectively modified the lease so put the one-time exception in writing. Exceptions can potentially snowball into another exception then another and another.

5. Be honest and consistent with the treatment of all your tenants.

6. If you find you can't do the above or continually allow ordinary exceptions because you feel bad about it, then get a professional PM. Not everyone has the capability of holding a tenant (and/or an owner) accountable to the lease terms. Yes - PMs do have hearts and they are professionals.

(what does it take to be (what systems do you need/characteristics of) a PM would be another topic)

Definitely, from our POI,  DIY PMs don't know what question is the 'right' one to ask. It's the nuances and follow-up that makes us wonder if they are asking the 'right' question. However, anything they don't know the answer to is the question to ask.  I'm glad to know that there are plenty of active professionals here that provide assistance - good job BP!!

@Esther C. Ah - I missed the electricity issue. Mold affects people differently as some are more susceptible and I hope it was remediated properly. I'm glad you offered the hotel stay. I'm rethinking the discount. One way to quantify it would be to pro-rate the rent for the number of days that the tenant had to be out of the house, but you also need to account for the ongoing electricity issue. The $500 discount might appear to be more reasonable even if it's a little higher than your calculation. Bottom line is that it seems that you don't want to lose the tenant? If that's not the case, then let them out of the lease (no early termination fee), fix the house & start fresh. Keep in mind that the tenants have had a rough living experience so if you want to keep them, work with them. Best advice above is to put it all in writing.

Thank you all for your responses!