All Forum Posts by: Sam Leon

Treat with Termidor on the outside perimeter.

On the inside, treat with Phantom, around pluming drain and supply protrusions, window sills, behind electrical plates, door thresholds.

Phantom: http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Termiticide-Insectic...

Termidor: http://www.amazon.com/Termidor-SC-Termiticide-20-o...

This one two punch is very effective.

I just installed a new central AC system at a rental unit.

The install cost me over $3500, and Florida Power and Light offers a pitiful $91 rebate.

I heard in some other states the power companies offer a significant rebates to a new AC or furnace, or even energy saving appliances.

Anyway in order to get this $91 rebate my AC installer asked me to provide to him the FPL account number of my tenant living there.

When I asked the tenant about the account number they questioned whether that rebate should be going to them or me.

I paid for the central AC system.

Yet FPL is offering a rebate and requested an account number for the rebate, giving them an impression this is the account which should be reaping the benefits.

What say you?  To me I don't care it's $91 it's not even worth the time for a conversation but I suppose this could come up again with other units and appliances.

Thanks @Stephen Bell, I just amended my lease to include a maximum allocation of one vehicle per bedroom per unit unless with prior written consent by Landlord.  I also added in a clause to prohibit parking or storage of boats, Recreational Vehicle (RV) and Camping Equipment (CE) in the form of a pick-up camper, travel trailer, tent trailer, camp trailer and motor home etc...I had meant to add that for the multi-family leases but forgot to do so.

My lease is 16 pages long too, but that includes a 10 page lease, a one page early termination addendum, a two page pet addendum if applicable, a one page special clauses, and the original 2 page application form which I integrate as part of the lease so if they lie on the application it becomes a lease violation.  That totals 16 pages as well.

BUT I don't have a parking allocation clause.  Would love to see how that clause read as this is not something the standard FAR residential lease addresses.

For a multifamily building with limited parking spaces, how do you allocate parking spaces?

I have a fourplex with six spaces, all 1/1s, so I limit 1 space per unit with two guests.  Thinking if necessary I can allocate two spaces for a couple if necessary.

Well, I have an applicant who works for the city's public works and has two vehicles, one personal and a city truck.  He is apparently allowed to drive it home at night.  So that's two vehicles.  Then he said his girl friend might move in one day and she also works fir the same department with two vehicles.  That is 4 vehicles!

First of all his GF would have to be screened, that aside, the possibility of needing 4 spaces is going to be an big issue.

Do you have a clause in your lease with a parking space limit?  He said he can work out the parking space issues amongst the other tenants when the time comes, but I think by then it would be too late.  Thoughts?

There is no street parking.

I have a tenant applicant who answered YES on my application form whether he/she has ever petitioned for bankruptcy.  Year was 2012.

I have zero experience with this, a quick search on public records seems to suggest it was done to delay a foreclosure.

I haven't ran a credit check yet, will do it today.  But wouldn't a bankruptcy put a significant strain on the credit scores or will it "reset" after a few years?

I probably will have a conversation with the applicant about it before I decide, I just need to educate myself on the subject so I know what I am talking about.

@Justin Repp

You would need to really have a good idea of how the house is currently wired to have some good estimates for your decisions.

Like I said before breaking out electric involves new meters and panels. and the cost to relocate a bunch of existing wiring to the new panel locations.

What could also be problematic is depending on how old your home is you could be looking at rewiring a lot of circuits.

For example there may be a time where a single circuit was ran from the panel to a common wall between two units.  That single circuit may be connected to two receptacles (one on each side) and two sconce lights (one on each side).

To redo that property today you would need four circuits.  You need to split them up because those two receptacles are for two different units now.  Further, new code most likely say you cannot put receptacles on a lighting circuit.  So all of a sudden you need to add three new circuit just on that wall.

If you have a basement/attic where pipes and wiring conduits are easily accessible it may be easy to make an assessment.  If it's like us in Florida with no basement and a lot of time we are dealing with supply lines and conduits embedded in concrete slabs, it could be cost prohibitive.

@Steve Babiak yes that was the thread I was searching for but couldn't pin it down, thanks for posting the link so I can revisit the discussion.

To those who feels renting to a lawyer is not an issue as long as you don't break the law, the argument against renting to a lawyer is that a lawyer typically (here is that generalization again) would use the court system to resolve the smallest issue to their advantage.  So if you ever have a non-paying lawyer you are trying to evict, they are familiar with all the loop holes and know all the tricks to make your life hell.  This is not to say every lawyer would do that, but it is a valid concern from a landlording business perspective.

Cops also know the law inside out and could take advantage if it.  But cops are held to a higher standard, and as some stated, having a patrol car may help the neighborhood if you are in a neighborhood that needs it.

I understand this is a passionate issue for many, and rightfully so.  Just like many other topics such as would you evict a pregnant woman, would you kick out a handicapped squatter after you bought a foreclosure, would you rent to a sex offender who was 16 when he was charged statuary rape against his girl friend who was 15-1/2? etc etc etc...we all have to struggle when making tough decisions.

I have always given preferential treatment to those who were in the armed services.  Yet my only tenant who abandoned the property was a retired marine.  He didn't have enough to move in as I required first, last and security...but because he's a retired marine, and because he gave off this impression of - to quote Jerry Maquire "my word is stronger than oak" I signed a lease with him without requiring the deposit and last month's rent.  Four months in he disappeared.  No notice, nothing.  A neighbor called me and said did you know Jack left last weekend?  What?  I had his application form and his emergency contact.  Called his daughter.  His daughter didn't know either, but eventually she got back to me and said his dad didn't have money to pay rent so he left, he was too proud to tell me to my face or call me...so now, no more special treatment.  We are all shaped by our own experiences.

when you say utilities do you mean electric, water, gas or otherwise?

Each has its own complexity.

If a property was not originally wired with each unit in mind, electric is very hard to break up especially in older properties.  Breaking that up typically mean separate electric meters, disconnects, panel for each unit as well as a common meter for landscape lights, walkway lights, fire and smoke alarms, common laundry, pumps etc...in addition to the rewiring that is necessary to break it up on the inside.  The worst part is it is close to impossible to get an estimate for such an item without first tearing into things.

If you are talking about water, it might be easier.  I like to at least install individual shutoffs for each unit if possible but most times it is not. If you have adequate attic access it may be possible to replumb the entire building supplies with pex.  One issue you may run into is water billing is usually tied to sewer, trash collection and such...so you might have a tenant saying why he is being charged a "sewer surcharge tax".

Another consideration is to check with the city.  In the city of Hallandale Beach they no longer allow tenants to open utility accounts.  Must be in the name of owners.  So you get the bill and pay, and charge your tenants anyway.  Same hassle as getting one bill and breaking it up.

If you have an average water bill amount, you can prorate and sort of divide up the bill based on a variety of methods.

I have seen some use the number of occupants in each unit, which assumes two people use twice the water as one.

I have seen some use the unit's square footage, so a 1000 SF unit would pay twice the water a 500 SF unit.

I have also seen some use the number of bathrooms.  So a 2 BR 2 BATH would pay twice the water usage of a 2 BR 1 BATH.

You also need to take into account the common usages, like washing machines, car washes, lawn sprinklers.

I would just pick a method that seems most fair and work out the flat fee from that.

Curious, is there any advantage to charge a flat water fee of $25 instead of just increasing the rent by $25 and say water is included?

Are the tenants more receptive to paying a "water fee" but not if their rent is higher?

Or are you considering the water fee as part of operating expenses and not income?