All Forum Posts by: Pam R.

Hi John. I can't speak authoritatively for the rents in the area, although I suspect $950 is a push. There are a ton of complexes in the area - you shouldn't have a problem talking to them and finding out their rents and amenities, to at least give you a better comparison point.

However...I haven't been to that area of town in a while...for a reason. I question your characterization of the neighborhood. How close is the house to Tamarack Blvd and Northland Arms apartments? There were several murders in that complex in 2012, and that complex is considered to be a war zone.

There are definitely better and worse parts of that neighborhood, but in general the Northland/Forest Park area is considered high crime, so you definitely need to factor that in to your equation. $950/month renters in that area will likely be people whose credit/background info don't qualify them for better parts of town.

On the plus side, that is a huge multi-ethnic area - I'm talking off-the-boat immigrant communities (hence all the ethnic groceries in the area). Not just one ethic group either - it is truly an immigrant destination. So I suspect there are populations of people seeking to live in the area.

Is Section 8 something you would consider?

@Justen Ashcraft - Not a student housing area.

Happy New Year. Good luck.

Is this a second job? Or primary job? Some options:

1. Night clerk at a hotel (usually gives you time to study)

2. IT Help Desk/Customer support

3. Computer operator (entry level type of position, watches monitors, runs jobs, calls on-call people if something breaks)

My experience -

I rented to a couple of young ladies this year for the first time - 19YO college students moving out of their parents' houses. The only problem we've had is their adjustment to us not taking care of them like mom and dad. Every time they got a couple of bugs, they'd call. Literally, two bugs. And there was a leak - they weren't closing the shower curtain well enough, and water was splashing on the floor and leaking down to the kitchen underneath. I'm glad they called when it happened (3x), but they wouldn't believe that there wasn't a leak under the tub, even though we even showed them the position of the plumbing. On the third call, me and hubby went together, I wore a bathing suit, and got in the tub and showered. I actually had to demonstrate how when the curtain wasn't pulled tight, water would splash onto the ledge and drip onto the floor. And I explained they needed to use a bathmat. And for goodness sake - how long is her shower to actually cause it to pool up enough to run through the seam of the floor!?! Glad they pay their own water bill.

They broke an outlet by jamming their dresser against the wall, against a plug, and broke the connection. We had to explain that you cannot jam your furniture against plugs.

We haven't heard from them in a couple of months, so I think they've finally settled into things. Nice girls, pay rent promptly, just lack any experience in how things work in a house.

So I guess that's what I'd watch out for - things that are commonsense to most of us are not so obvious to those newly on their own.

I don't know the legal ins and outs of putting an employee on payroll, but I will say good dependable help is hard to find. If that's how you can keep him, and keep him happy and hardworking, and you can make it work financially, do it.

I agree on investigating the stream as a priority. I'll share my experience with water issues:

I have a "stream" on my property...it's really a drainage ditch put in 75 years ago. I'm at the head of it, so I see the drain tiles feeding it, but I guarantee everyone downstream thinks it's some babbling natural brook. Nothing natural about it. And when we have "wrath of God" rains once every year or two...well, let's just say both a lake and river on my property form and feed that thing for 24 hours. Literally, I'll get knee-high flowing water, 30ft wide, draining I don't know how many hundreds of thousands of gallons of water into that ditch. All the people north of me, their water flows under the road into that ditch. My ditch drains at least 300 acres of land, only 9 of it mine. I don't know what happens to the people downstream from me, or if there is overflow downstream.

The county "abandoned" the ditch/stream 50 years ago, so they don't maintain it (good), but it is possible, albeit highly unlikely) they could show up one day and reclaim it, and the riparian waterway that has formed around it. The county's idea of maintenance does not include tree buffers.

You really need to research water laws. In Ohio, water is legally considered the enemy of the people.. I have zero concerns about conservationists coming in (I would actually welcome it), as they would preserve my tree-edged waterway and animal habitat. As it is, the most possible future event is for people upstream from me to want the water to drain from their properties FASTER, requiring more and deeper ditches running downstream, thereby further inundating the downstream folks. In Ohio, my upstream neighbors can actually petition the county commissioners to solve water overflow issues by building these ditches on the downstream properties (like mine) - and actually make the downstream people pay for it as well.

So, my two cents - water in the US is very complicated. Not all laws are like Ohio (I can guarantee there are people in the west who would love my water issues). The more you know, the more you can assess the risks.

@Kim H - Wow. Sorry to hear that. Guardian is based out of Columbus, so they must be willing to work with smaller properties here.

As far as how much to bill - It's funny to see the difference in how much water/sewer tenants use. I had a couple who used $40/month, and a family of 4 next door who used $25. I wondered for a year whether there was a problem with the metering, and then the family moved out and the couple asked if they could move into the other side (more sun). Well, the $40/month bill moved with them, and the new couple who took over their apartment barely hit $20/month. And bear in mind, there is a $4.40 surchage included in that $20.

Here in Columbus I've seen apartments with a water surcharge by the person - $20/person per month.

Our leases have a clause (that we've actually never used) that we will come by monthly to inspect smoke detectors. With notice, of course. This way if we felt that we need to check out our property, we can. Our tenants thus far have always been prompt in notifying us of issues, and we've had good tenants, so we've never used that clause. I like to leave my tenants in peace too.

Some people use the furnace filter clause - that they'll come by and change furnace filters regularly - the thing I like about the smoke detector clause is it allows us to go upstairs into the bedrooms if we need to.

If they are dropping off their rent to you, I would ask if they have any problems. We see our tenants during the summer when we mow grass and such, and we always ask pointed questions: Any dripping faucets? Leaks? Holes in the screens? Need any furnace filters? If we don't see/hear from them in several months, I'll drop a quick e-mail just asking if everything is going ok.

In Columbus we use Guardian Water & Power. I don't know what states they work in. They sub-metered our duplex - I can't remember exactly how much, but I'm guessing less than $500. Guardian reads the two meters and sends a monthly bill to the tenants, and the tenants send the payment to me. There is a $4.40 per month surcharge per unit from Guardian, and that is tacked onto the tenant's monthly bill. I use the tenant payment to pay Guardian the surcharge, and pay my quarterly water bill to the city. We did this 4 years ago, and it's great. Numbers between Guardian and the city always match up.

My two cents -

I would see it as a good sign for local rentals. But I don't know your area. In Columbus, where I have a duplex in a 1920s neighborhood, I would not feel threatened at all by a luxury complex being built close by. It would make it a more desirable area, and since my rents are lower, I'm targeting people who probably can't afford the luxury apartment, but like to live close to it.

I also have a duplex in Delaware, OH, a smaller community. There are several large local apartment complexes - pool, garages, the works. My rent is comparable to theirs. I have no problems getting tenants. Some people (including me) have no interest in living in complexes. They'd rather live someplace more "house-like", with a yard and a neighborhood.

I think your primary competition is the other duplexes in the neighborhood.

Are you talking about leasing to a group of 3 roommates ("hey, let's all live together"), or 3 individuals who are each essentially renting their own room and then sharing the kitchen and don't necessarily know each other?

Is there a rule where your property is located that only related people can live together in a single house?