All Forum Posts by: Nathan Miller

Garages are full of dust, which sticks to grease.  You just end up with sludge all over your door if you use lithium grease.  Hence, the recommendation by most of the garage door people around here (Southern Oregon) to use WD40.  Maybe it's different on the left coast. :)

The deposit should be transferred to you from the previous owner, make sure that happens when you close the transaction.  It's perfectly normal for an owner to collect a deposit on a month-to-month rental, just like a longer term.

Check with IL law, but if the rental is month-to-month and not rent controlled, you can raise the rent any time you please with sufficient notice.  Many states require 60 days notice now if the tenant has lived there more than 1 year.

Consulting with a local property manager about the local laws might be a good idea.  It would be one hour well invested.

Not saying this is exactly the "right" way (consult a professional), but if you don't record the document with the title company/county, the mortgage company will never know and never call then note.  You are trusting that the other party never records it too.

Hi Sonya,

I would recommend instead of using a spreadsheet, consider using a software application designed for landlords - there's a lot recommended on BP or just google it.  For example, if you put all your expenses into a property management system, you can then just print out a report at end-of-year to provide your accountant.  Saves loads of time and that's just one example of the time savings. 

You can contact your local housing authority in St Louis and they generally will be happy to walk you through what is necessary.  Locations may vary, but usually Section 8 offices are very pleased to bring on new landlords.

Here's their website:  http://www.slha.org/

The good:  Guaranteed rent as it's tax-payer subsidized.

The bad:  You're renting to tenants who sometimes feel entitled to free stuff.

In general, we see far more complaints from landlords coming from those renting to Section 8 than to those not.  In Oregon, landlords cannot choose whether they want Section 8 or not, it's now law to accept Section 8.  It could be the same in MO.

I think allowing a garden is a great idea.  It speaks "long term tenant" to me.  Maybe they could even co-op with their neighbor (neighbor willing of course).

As for when they leave.  I would suggest doing a short addendum stating that they will return the garden area to it's original condition if they move out, otherwise there will be a $xxx refurb fee to restore it.

+1 to what @Shanequa J. said.  Your tenant is responsible for their guests and is responsible for 100% of that damage and the total labor + material costs to repair it.  I hope you are able to collect! 

 Since the damage was intentional, I would be surprised if your insurance would even cover it unless you have a specific provision that handles tenant damage.

The original post here looks like it's solely for the promotion of that blog.. neverless, if anybody comes here looking for the answer, it's WD-40!  I've had many professional garage door repair guys praise the stuff.  You just generously lube with wd-40, then cleanup the mess on the floor when done.  The garage smells of it for a few days, but your garage door will love you!

@Mark Douglas - I sent you a PM, please let me know if I can help out.

@Jason Hartley - Thanks for pointing this out!!

@Account Closed - Our clients who provide ACH and promote it get about a 50-70% take rate.  It might take 5 minutes to setup, one time, but once done tenants consistently praise the system for saving them time and being convenient.  A side benefit for the landlords is they end up with longer term tenants too.

When a tenant has to write a check each month for their largest monthly expense it makes them think every month about "what could be better or cheaper out there", or "should i move in with my cousin to save money".  Every month they are considering their housing alternatives when they write a big check or pay in cash.  ACH on the other hand happens automatically, like a car payment, and it's much less on a tenants mind.  We see ACH enabled tenants stick around almost 50% longer than non ACH.  It's a very powerful trend for those landlords who love high quality tenants with low vacancy rates.