All Forum Posts by: Louie Gabriel

I agree with comments above on not including utilities in the rent. I've only had one Section 8 tenant and they paid their own utilities. Personally when I was a renter I was guilty of not being as conscious with consumption of any utilities that were included. More reason that my tenants will be paying all of their own.

Some Landlords find it easier to pay for these utilities. If tenants in your area are used to the provision it may be their preference. You can increase rent to off set difference. An example I owned a rental out of state, tenant fell behind on lease and I had them leave. I was planning to sell property and went to get utilities switched to my name and found the tenant had utilities shut off for gas and water due to not paying. I also had to pay the fee to have water turned back on. Unit had gas for furnace and was middle of winter so I was trying to get the house heat on to prevent pipes from freezing. Tenant was using an electric space heater. Had a rough time bc you need to let the gas company in house to inspect for gas leaks after turned on. Also had to fight city utility over me being responsible for tenant's water bill. You can stream line between tenants if these utilities stay in your name, and you can keep an eye on usage. many utilities require a deposit so tenants may be discouraged having so many deposits to pay up front. Just personal experience.

Housing voucher can be great if you get the right tenant. HUD pays a certain portion of the rent, tenant pays the rest.

Some cons are: the annual inspection where they make you fix certain things, the voucher pool consists of 90% bad tenants in my opinion so finding the correct tenant can take long. Voucher tenants generally don't upkeep the property as well because they are financially strapped. HUD prioritize parent with children so most voucher recipients are single mother and children cause more wear and tear and moms need more maintenance requests. Court eviction can take longer for voucher tenants because if they are in California or New York they qualify for free legal aids and can drag the case for months while forcing you to fold because you cant afford your own attorney fees.

@Gabe Christiansen Would suggest Innago for leases and payments as well. Great price for small landlords. It's not quite as extensive as appfolio or buildium, but it's really easy to use, has a surprising amount of flexibility, and their customer service is great.

Kangaroo Plumbing , Have had nothing but great experience with them on of my rentals.

Always make sure to locate the valves to stop flow to outside water lines and drain/turn them off before winter. You probably had a pipe freeze and rupture on you.

We recently able to get rid of the only bad tenant by offering them cash for keys plus forgiving a couple of months of past due rent...my attorney and a couple of other attorneys I consulted with advised me to take this route because the deadbeat tenant demanded a jury trial after I filed the lawsuit...these tenants who’re taking advantage of the current situation don’t realize that moving forward it’s gonna be much harder for them to find housing: more strict screening, higher rent, and less listings as some rental owners are choosing to leave their rentals vacant until the moratorium ends.

If you look at your purchase agreement, it should stipulate that you are using VA financing. The seller's agent should have caught that and understood the owner-occupant requirement. Seller's agent dropped the ball. From a legal standpoint, the seller and seller's agent essentially said "I agree to sell you this property that you have indicated you need to owner occupy, but I am not going to do it in a way that will allow you to fulfill the legal requirements of your financing." You can make the case that they were at best negligent and possibly not dealing in good faith.

What is your agent saying about this? He or she should understand that the seller screwed up and the seller's agent screwed up. Can he/she push them to make this right? That is what your agent gets paid to do, so put them to work

Sometimes you have to remember your business has expenses, think of it like having a car and having to change the tires or the oil. It just goes with owning a car, same for owning a rental. Some of these things are the cost of doing business as long as it is wear and tear and not something maliciously done to your property to damage it.

I would plan on ripping out the shower and correcting the problem the first time. No use investing in a band-aid temporary coverup. I would sit down with them and tell them your plans for fixup. Then spring on them that the rent will be going up with the upgrades.  

I'd then put them in a hotel while the shower is being repaired. The hotel bill would be cheaper than turnover.

One tip--if you end up including in the rent, make sure you've looked at a few years of monthly charges so you're familiar with how it may fluctuate and come up with the right # the first time.