All Forum Posts by: James DeRoest

 Wow, you really are the reason we have tenant friendly states.

I've highlighted the bit that could be considered theft.

 Awful advice.

If anything is wrong, tenant calls landlord, landlord fixes.

You start charging for little things like this, expect nothing to be done. When you get the house back you'll find small problems that are now much bigger problems, especially leaks rotting out all sorts of things and mold. 

You are also ensuring that your turnaround will be that little bit longer as you are fixing lots and lots of little things that the tenant overlooked because the $150 repair charge in your lease.

Also, the last thing you want is for a tenant to be fixing some of this stuff himself. Tenant electrocutes himself whilst changing the dryer receptacle. Not a good place to be. There are too many stories of tenants hurting themselves, and the landlord getting sued for a lot.

Professional tire kickers. 

When someone does that I instinctively think that they don't have the money to back it up. They are able to do so few deals that each deal must be absolutely perfect and then some; because they lack funds.

I take the personal view, you'll only kick a field goal if you're on the field.

Close the downstair ducts and see what happens.

The AC guys could be correct, as a guess, too many vents downstairs will just allow the system to pump all the air to the lowest vents. The air will need to have a back pressure to push itself into the higher parts of the house, and they wont get that pressure if the lower vents just let all the air go. Imagine filling a bucket with water, the bucket has a bunch of holes at the bottom, so the bucket never fills with water. In essence you are doing the same thing.

So close downstairs and see if the air gets up to the top.

I have a feeling this is why a lot of 2 stories have 2 systems, one for upstairs and the other for downstairs.

Call me cynical, but of course the other landlord is going to give a glowing reference, he's about to get rid of his problem tenant!

Pass.

Split deposit? Nope, application denied. Can't afford the deposit, can't afford the rent.

I believe the property manager is correct.

They will have a power of attorney from you that allows themselves to represent you in all matters of being the landlord.

A power of attorney is more than just a bit of paper. I work away for 3 months of the year, and whilst I'm away my wife has my power of attorney (which covers just about everything). When she signs as me, her legal authority is not that she is Jane DeRoest signing for James DeRoest, she is James DeRoest. (Although there is wording to show a PoA was used).

Suggestion: kill the gas to the house and replace with electric. Not sure what your AC is running though as that'll be the expensive bit. Stove and water heater would cost around $700 to wire in, check your local electric company for a free water heater (ours are free on conversion), and find a stove.

I hate gas in rentals.

We had one quote to repair a leaking gas line in one house, and our plumber flat out refused to sort the leak - he would fix the leak if he was allowed to redo all the gas lines in the house. He (and many plumbers we discovered) detest gas. For the amount of the repair to the gas lines (the plumber was $1700 and the gas company was $4000 (they had the same rule), it was only $3,300 for a brand new electric heat pump AC system and hook up).

Bite the bullet.

I would not offer free wifi. Not for any other reason than it's just another thing to go wrong and you'll get calls about it. I'd maybe offer it as a gratuity, but not as part of the lease. 

The other downside is that you'll need a property manager, so for the first 3 years you are going to be raped every single month by them. It's an old property, in a run down area (you can tell from the price), it'll be heavy on management, and doing that from 2,000 miles is just going to be expensive.

Plus the Facebook ad? So...the seller couldn't find anyone on MLS, Craigslist, Zillow, and now is advertising or at least mentioning this property on Facebook? That just smells.

I can put you in touch with a realtor selling a triplex, (three townhouses) for $60k. Doesn't mean you want to buy them.