All Forum Posts by: Jeff B.

Wanted to give a quick update on this situation. The tenant moved out and, just as I expected, left the place a mess. I knew they were "sloppy" housekeepers, but I didn't know they were FILTHY!! 2 rooms of carpet were totally ruined and had to be replaced, there was dirt and cobwebs in all of the bedrooms, windows had been left open and rainwater allowed to come in and stain the walls, hundreds of gouges and anchors left in the walls, oven dirty, floor and wall behind stove and refrigerator had a half inch of dust, dirt and food, etc, etc, etc.

So, needless to say, I've had to spend a considerable amount of time and money getting the place back into rentable condition. Just the expenses have exceeded the $1000 security deposit. That doesn't include the charges for my time to do the cleanup. Now I need to send the tenants a letter explaning why they are not getting any of their security deposit. Does anyone have an example of the letter they use when itemizing security deposit charges?? I can come up with something, just thought I'd ask for some guidelines. Thanks for your help and guidance!!!

+1 on getting other renters to increase the cash flow. If you sell for 3500, you're locked in with that small chunk of cash (I would be very surprised if someone would buy it, giving you the right to buy it back if it appreciates). If you can get 2, 3, or more other truckers willing to pay the $75/month to park, you're sitting on a nice cash stream that, while it won't make you rich, it will definitely buy some groceries. Plus, then you have the potential appreciation.

There are too many good agents to have to suffer through having to teach a bad one what to do.

Perhapsr he sells what he can to reach a certain profit number, then stops paying taxes on the others, they end up being foreclosed by the county and the cycle starts anew??

Thanks Jon!! I hadn't really thought about the additional charge being considered the "rent" for the pet. But it makes perfect sense. I agree with your thoughts about how to calculate the cost of replacing the carpets.

I plan to try to clean the carpets, but I wanted to determine my plan of action if cleaning them does not get rid of the smell.

I appreciate your feedback!!

I have a tennant that is scheduled to move out at the end of September. They have been in the house for 16 months and part of their rent has been a $50 monthly charge for 2 pets ($25 each). When they move out, I will likely need to replace the carpet that I put in 16 months ago due to their cat urinating on the carpet.

Question is, how should I calculate the charge for replacing the carpet? They have paid $800 total additional for the pets. Does the replacement come out of the security deposit or is the additional charge to be applied to the replacement carpet only.

Thanks for your help!!

LOL!!!! I guess I deserved that!! Hopefully neither! And definitely not the second! Loosing my mind is up for debate.

I keep trying to see the value to me in making this work for them, kind of a "pay it forward" type of thing. But the facts keep smacking me in the face saying don't do it and don't put my money at risk. There's not enough of a return to warrant the potential risk of crap hitting the fan. I think I need to listen to the facts and keep my money in my pocket.

Thanks for the sanity check folks!! Sometimes I need one!

I have a pretty unique opportunity that I'm having a hard time saying yes on. I have a tenant that has been an "OK" tenant for a year. I say "OK" as they have been late on their rent, but have always be very forthcoming about it and have paid the late fees and/or bounced check fees (3 times in the last year). They have had some health issues that have been at the root cause of the late payments. The wife has a pretty decent job and the husband is on disability. They have had their daughters living with them for the last year and are now moving out. That leaves my tenants unable to afford the $1000/mo rent. Their credit is messed up and can not get a loan for a home of their own, but are slowing working to clear up their credit.

They came up with the idea of having me buy a house they they pick out and they rent from me for a year, then they buy the house from me. Either via a conventional loan or I finance it. I agreed to the concept, but told them it would depend on what the return on my money would be.

They have found a house that they like. It's a short sale priced at 66k. It is in good conditon and comps are coming in at about 78k. Rents in the area are in the 800-900 range. I would probably rent it for 850. That would give me a net of about 350/mo after PITI but before any long-term expenses.

They are asking me what price I would sell them the house next year and I'm not sure I know right now. There are just too many variables that might crop up over the next year to be able to agree to a price right now. They want it close to the original purchase price and I, of course, will want it closer to market price. My fear is that I will need to put more money into the house (i.e. water heater, furnace/ac, etc) that will eat up any kind of profit that I might have.

So, finally, a couple of questions. Is it realistic to put a price on the house now that it would sell for in a year? Also, does this even sound like a workable deal? I see the potential for a little profit, but it certainly doesn't seem to be a slam dunk.

Probably has to do with a bad ground in the circuit. Check the wires at each connection to ensure the ground is handled properly.

But a bad GFCI is certainly a possibility. They do go bad from time to time.

I use CitiCredit for my reports. You have to get pre-approved to run the credit reports, but do not have to have the tenant fill out the information online. I have the tenant fill out my application and I pull the info from that application. I think the cost is $20-25 per applicant.