All Forum Posts by: Laci J.

I use eRentPayment on one of our homes and have had no issues with it whatsoever. I would recommend it. I pay the $3/transaction fee for the convenience but you can also set it to where the tenant pays it. I like the fact that you can block partial payments if an eviction should arise. I also turned my home off once so the tenant couldn't pay at all until the issue was resolved. Very easy and user-friendly site. 

Another one of my tenants uses direct deposit right to my account. That works well too. But I have never had a single issue with them and they pay weeks early. 

Thank you all so very much. I appreciate it

Does the 3 days include weekends? Since they are out of town until Friday - it really doesn't do me any good to put it up during a time when they are not even home. So I am trying to decide when is the best time - that will actually give them a chance to comply, and therefore working in my favor of not having to proceed. Wishful thinking - I know.  I'm thinking if I put it up on Thurs - would that allow them all weekend to get out? Or does that actually run me into next week?

Sorry, one more ...

4) I am being told I cannot hold their deposit for use as unpaid rent. True, or false? It would pain me to have to give them money back when they haven't paid their rent. And at this point, I can only hope they do not do any damage to the house and need to use their deposit for repairs. Lease also states they are required to have carpets professionally cleaned and turn in a receipt or one will be hired at their cost. And house has to be turned in looking as though it was professionally cleaned, or one will be hired at their expense. 

1) On the 3 day notice to vacate - the amount listed is RENT only. Correct? As in, I do not add on utility charges, late fees, NSF charge, etc....

2) From my understanding I am allowed to post this 3 day notice on their front door in a sealed envelope with "IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS" written on it - correct? And I will take a picture with date/time stamp for court, should we need it.

3) If I have accepted a partial payment in May - do I have to wait until June 1 to do this?

A bit of background .... they were late in April. I allowed them set up a payment plan. They did not pay as agreed on this past Friday. I sent an email on Saturday for clarification, no reply. I sent an email on Sunday, no reply. I call today - they have blocked myself & my hubby's cell phones. It doesn't even ring. However calling from another number, it goes right through. They work out of town (like 6 hrs away right now) and will not be back in town until Friday.

My goal is to get them out. Forget the money, clearly they don't have it. I just want my house back. Moving on .....

Any Texas landlords that have gone through an eviction that wouldn't mind answering a few questions please?  El Paso County to be exact but I don't believe that will matter. I have not had to do this before so feeling a little anxious.

Yes, I know I should get a lawyer, but really hoping to avoid shelling out $1k plus to get our tenants to move out without paying. I have resigned to not seeing any more money from them and having to pay the mortgage myself, so trying to stop the bleeding.

In my experience, the alarm system doesn't offer that much of a discount and I am not sure if would matter on a vacant property. That would be a great question for your insurance company though. I would be interested to hear the answer.

Sorry, I don't have any realtor recommendations for you. The realtor we used to purchase out latest EP home has moved to Central TX. 

Best of luck to you!

You should be able to set up an account online and start utilities that way. It's pretty easy. More than likely it'll be Texas Gas, EP Water Utilities and EP Electric. Unfortunately I didn't have any luck getting them to waive the deposits, even on a home that we own but switched back from a rental. We were paying for two homes for a couple months - the home we live in, and our vacant rental while we did some renovations to it. The water/sewer/trash bill is actually pretty high, in my opinion, for a vacant home. The other two are very reasonable, and obviously depend on usage. 

Other than that, have your insurance  in order and you should be good to go. Are you trying for a fire policy (building only)? Be aware that a lot insurance companies will only cover a vacant home for a short time - possibly as short as 30 days, before they want to charge you for a vacant home with an increased risk and cost. I believe, if I remember right, our insurance company allows 60 days but I don't think that's the norm. 

Are you buying with a mortgage - escrowing the insurance and taxes, or cash? 

As far as managing from afar - I can understand that hesitation. We actually waited a month to start renovations on our rental so that we could be here instead of trying to do it from 16 hours away. That being said, it can be done. Feel free to PM me if you'd like some help. The company we used was recommended to me and we were pleased with their work.

Have a great day!

I agree, in that his offer sounds like a bad deal for you. Great for him. I am not a fan of owner-finance. Why would you consider that? Are you not able to get a conventional loan, with 20-25% down? Being a straight investment, unless you'll be residing in a unit, you're looking at probably 25% down. I also would never buy it without an inspection. An inspection has saved us numerous times. If he's not allowing it, I'd say there is a reason and you need to walk away.