All Forum Posts by: Marcia Maynard

Try Cozy.  They do a good job and we like their reports.  You'll get the information you're seeking in a matter of minutes (not days, not weeks.)

You can also contact folks in your local rental association and get recommendations of local screening services.

Congratulations on your purchase! 

Yes, use a month-to-month rental agreement.  Switch them over to your own agreement as soon as you can.  This is a good opportunity to introduce the current tenants to your management style and your expectations.

Consider sticking with M2M rental agreements. We prefer them over long-term leases. Much more favorable for landlords, as you can change terms more readily as the need arises instead of having to wait until the lease ends. We can raise rent or change terms with simply a 30-day notice. Also, with a M2M agreement no need for the lease renewal dance every year, it automatically renews. Our longest term tenant has been on a M2M agreement for 30 years!  If a tenancy is not working out, we can more easily terminate the tenancy. It also serves to keep tenants on their toes throughout the year.  Tenants will move when they want to move, even if they have a long-term lease. I've seen many landlords fraught over tenants breaking their lease. M2M rental agreements eliminate that concern.

The terms that are necessary in a lease or rental agreement can vary by locale, so check with what your local rental association has to offer. There are some sample documents in the BP File Place too that may interest you. Search for "lease agreement" and "property rules". Private message me if you'd like to see the M2M rental agreement we use.

We use Quicken too. Our tax specialist wanted us to change to Quickbooks, but the return on investment didn't seem in our favor.  We own and manage 17 units.  The key of any program is in setting up good categories that track what you want to track.  If you use categories that match what you see on your tax return forms, it makes preparing for tax season a breeze. You also need to be diligent about keeping up with your bookkeeping.

We print our rental agreements on paper, one-sided, with large enough font for the tenants to easily read. No fine print. We also set 1 inch margins because if the documents are ever used in court, the court in our jurisdiction requires it.

Thanks for the additional information.

So does the Oil Boiler supply both units via a hydronic system? What's the user interface? Radiators (steam, water, glycol, mineral oil) or something else? Or did I understand you to say currently one side has the oil boiler hydronic system as a heat source and the other side has electric baseboard as a heat source? So the oil boiler can't be easily accessed and you don't want to deal with it if you get a no-heat call in the middle of the night, right?

I'd consider having an HVAC expert take a look at your property and lay out the options for you.  I'd give more consideration to the end user interface... the devices, how well the rooms heat up, air flow, and thermostat controls. Avoid electric heat if you can unless it's cheap in your area and the units are well insulated. I'd aim for using the same type of HVAC system for both units and separately metered if possible so each household pays for their own heat.

For now, I suggest you invest in a few oil-filled portable electric heaters to have on hand in the event of a no-heat call. That way you can immediately attend to no-heat calls without the pressure of accessing the boiler or getting it fixed after hours.

Is there a question here?

Where is the property located? What weather challenges do you have?  What's most economical and common for your area?

We prefer forced air heat/cooling as the air movement provides even heat and helps prevent moisture problems. Natural Gas furnaces with filters that can be easily accessed for periodic changing/cleaning are the best in my opinion. We have one house with an Oil furnace and it's harder to maintain, let alone dealing with an oil tank buried in the ground and making sure it's filled.

We took out the baseboard electric in some of our places and replaced it with pocket electric fan wall heaters by Cadet, their best model, and were quite pleased.  Saved energy and provided better heat control.  The electric baseboard heaters are problematic in rentals, as tenants are prone to place flammable things too close to them, children's toys fall into them, and rarely do tenants vacuum them as they should. We had two tenants disable baseboard heaters (so they could place their couch along that wall) and they set up their own portable heaters, which opened up a whole other can of worms!

We've considered the new ductless systems, but until their price goes down, we're not prepared to move forward with that.

On another note... consider the impact of your heating choice on your property value and hence your property tax.  Our 8-plex was incorrectly noted in the county records as having electric ceiling heat. The property was built with forced air gas furnaces and I made the mistake of trying to get the record corrected. That raised the appraised value on our property and led to a higher property tax bill!  Lesson learned, some things are better left uncorrected in the record until the day we decide to sell.

Everything's negotiable. You need to have a meeting of the minds.  I suppose it would depend on how you word it in the rental agreement... "rent + utilities" or "utilities included".  I wouldn't consider it a rent increase and would opt for "rent + utilities" and not allow the property manager to take a cut.  Does the property manager take a cut when tenants pay for other items too, like pet fees, damages as the occur, etc.? How are other utilities handled?

Find yourself a great insurance broker!  Someone who has the knowledge, insight, and integrity to help you find the right insurance for your needs. Make sure they have access to a wide variety of products and insurance companies.

I'd allow them to continue to use the space until their lease expires in a few months.  This will not upset the apple cart to soon and will give you both time to adjust to being neighbors. Invest some time in establishing and maintaining a good landlord-tenant relationship, as well as set the stage for being good neighbors. Then tackle the rental agreement later. It will be much easier.

I'd also put the entire agreement up for renegotiation.  I would introduce the tenants to our own rental agreement, which is month-to-month. M2M rental contracts allow landlords to make changes to the agreement more readily as needs arise.  M2M also spares us and our tenants the tension and work associated with doing lease renewals every year. Being in such close proximity to your tenants, you'd be better off if you can make changes to the rental terms as you wish and when you wish, and not be tied to the time line a lease imposes.