All Forum Posts by: Roy Gutierrez

Thanks for the responses,

Minh, that was I was leaning at for house #1, house #2 I'll go with white appliances.

Chris, the service plan at that price, covers all appliances if I'm not mistaken but if I get newer appliances I wouldn't do the service plan. I also got washer and dryer from craigslist for my house and my initial property, cost me $200 for one pair and $250 for the other, no issues for 2 years (lucky me!), all whirlpool , washers and dryers seems like it's a good gamble on craigslist but a fridge/range I probably wouldn't take the chance.

Hi Rob,

I'm looking to buy granite for a kitchen, what company are you buying from?

Thanks!

I'm just curious why "Two counterparts, with the binder applying as the first month's rent." is not mentioned in the binder agreement? Also nothing mentioned about this "hold" deposit being non-refundable.

Thanks.

Hi Steve,

Thanks for the feedback, I reread Colleen and Jon's posts as well. So basically I need a "hold" deposit to reserve the property for them, this "hold" deposit is non-refundable, correct? And I could charge the entire 1.5 deposit for the hold deposit but it's probably more accepted and fair to charge 1 month deposit for the "hold" deposit.

So basically I should write to their realtor and tell him that they should bring a cashier's check for one month's rent for me to hold the property for them and in the meeting tomorrow we will go over the details, once I get the details and everything is good I collect the "hold" deposit and then go home and incorporate these details into the rental agreement and once I finish this agreement, I'll send this draft to the realtor for double checking, once everything is good, we meet to sign the agreement and they should bring a cashier's check for first + last + deposit - hold deposit.

Does this sound the way it's supposed to be done?

Thanks!

Hi,

I have 2 properties in Oak Park MI that I'm about to rent for May:

House 1: signing lease tomorrow, in the better part of this small city for $1,700/month (rents for a similar house go for $1,400 - $1,600), market would have been $1,500/month in my rookie estimation but I cut a deal with renter to put in new cabinets and granite in the kitchen and a 2 year contract, with that being said, I need to decide on the appliances, would you go with stainless steel refrigerator/range/dishwasher? flattop range (electric)? I already told them that I will also provide washer and dryer.

House 2: not in the best part of the city but in no way a bad area, it's in a service drive but centrally located, no basement, rents around the area for that type of house are from 800-1000, I threw out a feeler for $1,100 (which I would be VERY happy with since I've overspent big time on this house practically fully rehabbing it!) and got positive response even though the house is only 70% rehabbed. It seems for my limited knowledge that landlords are supplying washer and dryer, seems no AC would be ok, I think I would definitely need to provide refrigerator and range, not sure if I should include a washer and dryer, I can include and I do repairs, I can include it and put it in the contract that tenant is responsible for repairs or I can do a maintenance plan with the local electrical/gas company to cover the appliances (about $25/month) and I can cover that or I can gamble and make the renter pay for it.

Ideas/experiences?

Thanks!

Hi Rolanda,

Thanks for the response, so I should be asking for 1st + deposit? or 1st + last + deposit?

I imagine if I need to make minor revisions to the contract (which will probably happen), I guess I can't ask for the deposit until I make the changes and meet again with the changes (even if small), correct?

Thanks!

Hi guys,

Thanks for the advice to my ignorant rookie self! His realtor emailed me, everything is good to go, they're ready to sing the lease (which would start May 1st). The lease was increased to $1,700/month with the condition that I change the kitchen cabinets and put granite countertops, So it would be first + last + 1.5 security deposit so 1,700 + 1,700, + 2,550 = $5,950. I still need to put new flooring on the second floor and some painting and some cosmetic stuff, so the house is not in its final condition yet.

We are meeting tomorrow, what would be the standards steps in this situation? We are meeting at the rental property and then probably all of us to dinner.

- Have them sign the lease

- Get the full deposit only? or deposit, first, and last?

- Is it standard to tell them that if they back out they lose their deposit 100%? or maybe partial? Have to make sure this is clear in the contract.

- So I imagine I have to add some wording about the countertops to protect me in case my cabinet guy/granite guy are late for x reason (past may 1st) to install the cabinets and countertops.

What else do I need to do?

Thank you very much!

Sharad, I have another property 3/1 and most didn't have pets but it seems once you get to 4 bedrooms your chances double that someone will have pets so I actually had to change the wording of my ad from "no pets" to something along the line of a case by case basis. I wish I could get away with saying no pets in this house!

Yes Lori, I already took out the carpet, don't really want to deal with cleaning or replacing.

Marcia, thanks for the advice about protecting the floors, my floor guy put 3 coats of water based (streetshoe I think). Unfortunately this is the second time I wasn't able to be there to see him put the 3 coats and staining he claims to do in the space of 5-6 hours, sometimes I think he's not putting the 3 coats but it works out that I just can't be there, the floors look great though. How many coats do you recommend for a rental? It seems the normal is 3 coats.

George, if I could get away with not having pets I would consider hardwoods for the second floor as well but now I'm leaning toward the wood looking luxury vinyl planks (maybe the trafficmaster Ultra?), but now I have to see if they're good/not good for sound absorption, man, what a headache to pick a floor! lol

Hi,

I'm renting a house and I accepted verbally a couple that is moving from out of state. They won't be able to sign the lease until they come back from out of state next wednesday, in the mean time I'm still showing my property b/c they could change their mind but their realtor asked me to send him an acceptance letter. Is this standard practice in my situation? Any legality that I should be including in this letter?

Thanks.

I do plan to keep it as a long term rental (it's 4 blocks away from my house), I just don't like that almost all the applicants have pets (only 1 didn't have one) so that being said I would hate for a cat/dog to ruin my brand new hardwood floors with their pee but maybe I'm being to paranoid and maybe it's worth the risk and make it a high end rental and hopefully keep the high rent.

I still haven't put in the granite, this was one of the conditions for me to charge $1,700/month, I haven't done a good job on doing my homework about the type of upgrades on the rentals in the area, I do remember seeing a couple that mentioned granite, I definitely need to be sharper and get to know my market real well, I was thinking the best way to do this is to become a "prospective" tenant and go check out all the inventory for rent in the area.