All Forum Posts by: Heather Rodden

Seems small, but did you change the furnace filter? I change mine and spray febreeze on it. But carpet does hold smell :( sprinkng baking soda, and leaving it for about 24 hours to absorb some of the smell can help too. We have the same issue in a house, after our short term tenant moves out we will be ripping carpets and putting hard flooring down.

I recommend you read up on your states laws. Mine has squatter laws, and we have to go through a formal eviction. Whenever I have a vacant property I always have window coverings and have them closed.  I usually leave some decor on the door or porch, and I never give the address in my listings. Anything to make someone think it is not vacant. All of my properties are less than a mile from me though. 

Originally posted by @Mark H.:

I'm just curious. I situations like this can you evict and also sue the squatter for lost rents?

If they are squatting, I doubt you will get any money. In a perfect world yes the court could tell them to pay, but if they don’t have the money, then it’s not worth the time in my opinion. Usually squatters are pretty educated on all the ways to get around being a functioning piece of society. 

@John Underwood I’ve been interested in this for a while. Can you recommend where I could find more information on this? And what do you mean about the 110%? I’m sure I’m over thinking it, would you be able to clarify? Thanks :)

@Heather Rodden pretty much in the middle of corn fields in Illinois, I have friends in Indiana getting pretty much the same for their $$

You do not know about my childhood, but I am not going to spill about it here. I gave her a place to stay, but that doesn’t mean I need to pay for her to live. She is an adult and makes her own decisions whether they are good or bad. You really shouldn’t assume everyone has the same childhood.

@Aaron Arthur I evicted my mom (nothing I’m really that happy about doing), and that is what ended my renting to family. If you are able to talk to her, and explain To her that you have to have income coming from all the units to succeed, otherwise you will be forced to sell. Or hopefully since you are far away, another family member could help you with this. Possibly pay her deposit to get her in somewhere else (if possible)...it is cheaper than losing money monthly. Good luck! I know it is a really hard road.

@Aaron Arthur then if it was me I would keep it, market it and get good tenants in there to start making some money back. Maybe find a real estate agent or a good property manager to do the tenant search for you. As long as you run your numbers and are making a fair profit in the end to me it is worth having.

@Aaron Arthur you mentioned it needs work, how much work? And if you are not going to be local I would recommend a property manager. I know many that manage the property they live in...and take discounted rent as payment. I would still pay, so you can use payment for tax purposes, but the payment would wash out.

@Aaron Arthur starting with our rentals we actually bought my mom a house and she was going to buy it off us when she got back on her feet...well that never happened. It was a very emotional issue because you have the business side and the family side. So we don’t rent to family anymore. My husbands cousin called last week and needs a rental closer to her job and she hates the one she is in and blah blah blah. I said I’m sorry but we don’t rent to family, because it adds feeling to the business side of it. I don’t think she was too happy, but she understood.