All Forum Posts by: JD Martin

Not sure I would do it on private property. My first stop would be to discuss with my insurance agency regarding liability, both of my tenants and of anyone passing by (attractive nuisance). Large apartment complexes do it, but they also have better access to, and more ability to pay for, insurance protection and maintenance/upkeep on the equipment. 

How far is the nearest public park from your property? That would be where I would direct the children. Municipalities have a lot of immunity against lawsuits that you don't have access to in the private sector. 

Unless he/she has copyrighted it, I don't see how they can prevent you from using it if you like it. I like boilerplate leases specific to the state that are used through real estate companies and other professional outfits because they usually have pertinent information that someone not experienced in drafting language, such as myself, might miss. For example, in Tennessee tenants have the right to 30 days of notice for evictions, but landlords also have the right to ask tenants to voluntarily waive such rights, and that is contained in most TN leases that I know because it gives immediate relief to landlords for non-paying tenants. If I was drafting my own lease, I might not know to put that information in. 

So if I were going to use a custom one like you have, I would have an experienced professional (attorney or real estate property manager) review it for thoroughness. What I like to do is just use a standard one for my state and put additional information in an addendum contained within the body of the lease. 

I use simple Excel spreadsheets that I made for each property. I work in executive management and it would be easy to spend a lot of time buying, learning, and working through custom software, because that is my nature. However, one of the best pieces of advice I ever heard was this: "spend the bare minimum of time and money on things that don't make money". Administrative work largely falls under that heading, so I have a less fancy tracking system and try to spend more time looking at and negotiating deals, finding renters, etc. 

PS: My system was essentially free, since I already had Excel. 

I agree with the others - it doesn't hurt to ask. If the flooring was old when you moved in, it is probably time to rehab anyway, and if it's a good quality laminate the landlord is getting something of value out of the deal. 

BTW, when you want to move, come south. I'm an ex-Jersey'an myself (grew up in Orange) and I'll rent to you and your dog :)

I would not provide this information unless something is still under warranty, it's a special system that the contractor has insider knowledge on repair/maintenance, or there is still more work to be done and it could be worthwhile for the buyer to use the same contractor. Otherwise, the contract was between you and the contractor, not you, the contractor, and the buyer. Let's turn it around for a second - how would the buyer like to provide all of their past tax returns and W2 statements so that you can verify the money they are using was legally obtained?

If work was done under permit, let the buyer research that themselves. It sounds like a fishing expedition to me. Do they ask for this information from a developer in a new home? What developer would provide such information? 

Welcome! You learned a hard lesson - friends is friends and business is business, and ne'er the twain shall meet :)  . Rent it for whatever you can get, and make no apologies. 

If it is not a high end rental, the short answer is (I assume it's a combo microwave/vent hood) not to provide a microwave, but to install a regular vent hood. Outside of that, latches break over time and it should be obvious if the tenant snapped off the hook by prying it open. What's the tenant's track record? Pay on time? 

It's a good article. Of course renting make sense in many instances, lucky for most of us here! If you stay put for a long time, buying makes far more sense because you are eroding the purchase price with inflation, while rent will (theoretically) keep up with inflation. Eventually owning the asset allows one to do other things, whether it is borrow against the asset, rent the asset to others, have an (almost) free place to live, etc., whereas renting forever leaves one bereft of assets at the end. 

Neither approach is "right". There are only scenarios that work for each person depending on the situation. 

Congratulations!

I don't look for such information. I don't want to know why they are selling, short of something wrong with the house. It's a business transaction, and that's all it is about. I might feel that way if I was researching the owners like that, but the extent I might look at is the note on the property or how much it was purchased for, things like that. I don't look for any personal information about the seller, because I am going to throw my offer out there and if it takes, it takes, if not I have a number I am willing to do regardless of the situation.