All Forum Posts by: Marc Winter

Most investors turn to management companies when they no longer can or want to manage the investment(s) themselves.  Many companies charge 10%.  Be sure that that is 10% of collected rent.  If a tenant is not paying, the manager should not be charging, imho.  Some companies will charge a lower rate, say 5-6%, but will charge it whether the unit is rented or not.  That doesn't provide much motivation for them to fill vacancies.  Most importantly, speak personally with the people in charge of the company.  You must feel comfortable and have a sense of confidence with them, and check references.

Good luck

Check the lease with the tenant you inherited.  Is there an 'escape' clause?  Do they pay on time?  Did you discuss raising the rent?  Think about sticking it out till end of lease and not renew if they bother you that much. 

However:

You'll find that 20% of the tenants will create 80% of the problems.  That's just the way it is.  Three ideas--you can expect it will happen and get used to it, or you can hire a manager to deal with it, or you can get out of the rental business. 

Landlords that manage their own properties need to be business people with rather thick skins.

Good luck.

We avoid carpet as much as possible.  Rather use hardwood, ceramic, or our new favorite, vinyl, wood-looking solid plank flooring.  It by far outlasts carpeting, easier to care for/clean/repair.  Let the tenants put down their own area rugs if they wish (and take their dirt with them when they vacate).  Found that many tenants have some sort of allergies and they are pleased there is no carpeting to aggravate those types of problems.  Good luck.

Ericka,

Unfortunately, this is not that uncommon an issue.  When that happens to me, I feel like I dodged a bullet--better a vacant unit than a unit with a bad tenant in it.  Let him out of the lease, get the keys and keep the rent. 

Going forward, perhaps think about finding someone closer to the unit to open the door for new prospects.  Also, we try to group prospective tenants in a time frame of one hour, and pay a trusted person in the area to be there, unlock the door, give the prospects feature sheets and an application with details/instructions on our rental process, which we supply.  Then they lock up after, and report back to us.

If that trusted person is not a licensed real estate professional, they should inform the prospects to contact you, the owner, with any additional questions, and how the application process/screening works--they are not there to answer questions, only to open the door.

Hope this works for you as well as it works for us!

One key point here is to make sure you are knowledgeable on your state landlord/tenant law.  That being said, keep in mind--a judge can use wide discretion on adjudicating a case. We have found that just because it states something in the lease, if a tenant (or ex-tenant) decides to bring a landlord/tenant action, a judge may strike that point of the lease.  Of course, one can appeal any decision, but that is costly. 

Personally, our policy is to follow the letter of the law AND our lease clauses--no exceptions (l/t court aside).

We also have a lease clause stating forfeiture of deposit for early termination without 60-day written notice.  So, if your state allows, retain the deposit, send the proper notification (if required) to tenant's forwarding address, and move on to find new tenants that (hopefully) will be better. 

It will also put the remaining tenant on notice that you running a business and are fair, but firm. This kind of thing happens more often that any landlord wants, so screen, screen, screen and hope for the best, but be prepared. 

Best,

Marc