All Forum Posts by: Katie Rogers

There are agents who will not submit so-called low ball offers even if the comps, repair cost and other info support the offer.  I have noticed that sometimes these houses sit on the market for a very long time, until that same low-ball offer is finally accepted....from a buyer other than you.  Even if your offer was submitted, if the seller rejects it, their pride will not let them come back to you, so they often end up accepting an offer even lower than yours.

I understand charging a bigger deposit for a pet.  If there is no damage, the tenant gets it all back anyway. But charging extra rent?

According to the law cited in one comment, the tenant is responsible for damage committed by tenant's guests.  The boyfriend was refused entry, so he is not a guest, right? Or will the argument redefine guest as former guest?

I manage a vacation home on behalf of the owner.  We list only on VRBO.  We have never been asked to verify ownership of the home.  However, I have found the home listed on lots of other websites besides VRBO.  When I come across these listings, I contact the site and demand they delete the listing.  They have always complied.  On the plus side, we have never been surprised by a double-booking, our true one and a fake one.  The only guests who have ever arrived at the house are guests we expect.

I can understand why he wants to repaint.  Orange is an awful color.

If a landlord wants a tenant to cut grass, not only should the lease so state, but also the landlord needs to provide a lawnmower that actually works well and a place to store it out of the weather, along with any other landscape tools the tenant will need.  One of my pet peeves is lawn mowers that won't start no matter how many times you pull the cord, or push mowers (which I generally prefer) too dull to cut the grass.  

It sounds like you have no idea what you are doing in this case.  I suggest passing on this deal, and waiting until you have more fully educated yourself.

Also running comps solely by using a computer has problems because you have no idea about the condition of the house, or whether for some reason the property was overbid.  Remember, running comps fueled the pre-2006 bubble.

Storage is always at a premium, and there is never enough in most rental kitchens.  You usually have to wash the dishes before you put them in the dishwasher anyway, so I vote extra cabinets.  On the other hand, I know some people who use the dishwasher as THE cabinet for dishes.

I am not blaming the bubble on comps.  And you are right that homebuyers (not investors) made plenty of faulty assumptions.  These faulty assumptions were often encouraged by their buyer's agents even though the  agents knew very well that the fundamentals did not support the comps they were seeing (and despite the fact that agents have a fiduciary duty towards their clients).   It turned into a vicious circle for homebuyers as seller's agents ignored fundamentals in favor of higher commissions and buyer's agents went along with it.  In the deepest part of the down-cycle, sellers still anchored on 2006 bubble values as the "true" value, and believed they were selling their houses at steep discounts.  In many areas, houses prices never did come down to where fundamentals suggested they should be.  My town is a prime example.  

Generally speaking it was homebuyers, not investors, who paid too much (if comps are the true measure of value, there would be no such thing as too much), and ended up defaulting to the delight of investors.  In many areas, houses prices (according to comps) have exceeded 2006 levels with no improvement in the fundamentals to support those prices.  Thus many investors on BP these days lament the dearth of deals where the numbers will work.  Who is buying now?  Homebuyers, the same group (although maybe not the same individuals) who got in trouble before and for the same reasons.