All Forum Posts by: Mary Joe

David T. and Mattie Covatch you are right. Landlord101, has to be FIRM and enforce every terms and conditions on the lease. Hate to say this but leniency will only invite more headaches for the landlord.

David, good point about charging a penalty or fee for refusing entry. That's another point I need to include on the lease agreement.

Had an infestation problem years ago, it was not fun and till this date I am still not able to completely eradicate of the roaches in the unit.

I have a hard time networking with small landlords in the NYC area. Primarily looking for landlords who own condos or multi family homes in NYC, Queens or brooklyn areas.

If there are any small landlords out there, feel free to contact me, perhaps we can compare notes about which contractor or attorney to use etc etc.

Thanks
MJ

I would like to know how people handle this too.

Sounds like a very small request but the problem is that if you give in to her this time, then she will probably come to you for every tiny little things that bothers her.

Personally I think I think you should stay firm and NOT pay for the carpet.

In the future, it maybe a good idea to take photos of everything including the flooring/carpet before the tenant moves in so that it will be helpful to substantiate your case.

OUCH ! It is not unusual for commercial space to go vacant for years. Every human being needs a place to live but not every one needs to run a business.

Were you only looking for car dealership tenants during that time? Is that why you were unable to secure a tenant in 3 years?

Extermination service.

It spells out on the lease agreement that the tenant agrees to let exterminators service the apartment monthly. I just realized that the tenant has been refusing the exterminators entry to the unit for months now. He said he is not home during the day and he does not feel comfortable letting the exterminators enter when he is not there.

I can understand that. Besides, I don't want the tenant to blame the exterminators for stealing his belongings and demand compensation from me.

I am concerned about roaches infestation in the unit. What can a landlord do under these circumstances?

THANKS Brandon !

Can someone tell me what is hml? I too have some savings that I can't decide how to invest.

My goal is to have a passive or semi-passive income stream for life, and I am risk averse.

I don't mind being a landlord although I am starting to have doubts if I really want to deal with tenant issues for the rest of my life. I am open to other passive or semi passive investment ideas too if someone has a good idea, it doesn't have to be real estate.

I have checked many options already, including annuity that promises a lifetime of income at age 65 or 70 with a lump sum investment now. By far, this is the only option I found that is truly passive and relatively low risk but I do not feel comfortable with the idea that I will lose all my initial investment the moment I die.

Of course many suggest putting the money in large cap dividend paying stocks or ETF, but I consider the stock market extremely high risk.

Yes, I always assume the worst and that's exactly what I am worried about, that the burglary could have been staged just so that the tenants can a claim against the landlord, renter's insurance adds an extra layer of protection for the landlord against these instances.

If your tenant didn't have renter's insurance, it is possible that he might blame the landlord for the break-in citing that the doors were unsafe and demand the landlord to reimburse for all stolen items.

I think renter's insurance is a must-have. I look at mandatory renter's insurance as a way to weed out undesirable tenants. Those who refuse to get renter's insurance are not the type of tenants you want anyway.

BTW, did your tenant put up a fight when you insisted mandatory renter's insurance?

I agree, solo 401K is probably the best out there for self employed, I believe you can have profit sharing contribution of up to 25% of your earned income, this is huge compared to other plans.