All Forum Posts by: Jennifer L.

Have you checked with your insurance agent about landlord liability with a pool existing on the property?

Like others said, it depends on your goals. Speaking as one who went the 15 year/negative cash flow route, it can be very tough and there are sacrifices I have made as a result. But my goal was to pay it off before my son graduated high school, and it will be paid off after his junior year. So as college savings investment, it has been great. Good luck!

@Jim Shepard.  That is an interesting approach.  I usually balk at 5 year guarantees, but other than potential regular hassle to tenants, it makes sense.  Hmmm.  Food for thought.

@John Thedford GMTA.  I was doing that too.  I was also looking at SearsOutlet.com  It appears that they have multiple returns on certain models.  They have multiple Maytag machines of a certain model.  I figure that is probably a bad sign and avoid that model.  I'm not saying that you can't get a great machine at a scratch and dent, but if they are overloaded with one model, it is probably a lemon.  

@John Thedford  Good advice.  I bought a one month subscription to consumer reports and have read the reviews posted.  The interesting thing I've noted is that a lot of the actual customer reviews at CR skew negative, even on the highly appliances, which makes decision making difficult.  I'm starting to think that the only time someone bothers to write an appliance review on that website is when they have a complaint.  Or CR subscribers are just super picky and hard to please.  ;-)

LG is one of the poorer performing brands when it comes to repairs on dishwashers, according to CR. So your experience is corroborated by what I've read.   

Thanks for everybody's input.

@Dan Schwartz right now my tenants are just dealing with the non-functioning dispenser.  They set a timer and then add detergent later in the cycle.  Otherwise, the unit works.  But my tenants are new and I'd like to keep them happy so they stay for a bit. :-)  

Thanks @Barbara G.

 Apparently Whirlpool and Bosch have to lowest repair rates for dishwashers per Consumer Reports, so I'm going to go with one of those.

Congratulations @Tyler Hardie. You have gotten some good advice. I recently re-rented my property after a 15 year tenant vacated. I learned a lot about marketing. Take really good pictures that have good light. Make sure you add those into your listing.

Consider taking applications through Cozy.co.  You can market your property through them and place a link in your craigslist ad. It is a free service. The bonus is that they can do credit and criminal/eviction background checks at the applicants' expense. If you choose, they can facilitate automated payments from your tenants account to yours, though it is ACH and the process is a bit slow. And no, I don't work for Cozy.co, I'm just really impressed with their website. 

Good luck!

I purchased a cheap Amana a few years ago and the detergent dispenser no longer works. I've priced out the fix and it is almost as much as I paid for the machine. So I've decided to bite the bullet and purchase a new one. There is a decent sale on Sears and an extra discount code online.  So does anybody have a recommendation of a brand that doesn't give them problems?  I'm thinking GE, Whirlpool or Maytag as they all have machines in my price range.  

I would contact my insurance broker to find out what liability I would have for the AirBnB sublet scenario.  If additional insurance is needed, which I'm sure it is, I would contact the tenants and demand at a minimum that they have proper insurance coverage for the above arrangement.  If not, then I think an eviction is in order because of the increase potential liability.

I do think it would be fun to serve the notice by renting out the place personally for a night and having the tenant show up with the keys to your own place.  ;-)