All Forum Posts by: Wesley W.

This paragraph definitively sold me on NOT RENEWING this tenant's lease.  Any tenant even threatening legal action against me gets targeted for a termination.  This business comes with enough inherent risk without someone tying up additional resources and ulcer stimuli with this kind of nonsense. 

With all due respect,  I think raising the rent to something unappealing to her is absolutely the wrong tactic.  What if she pays it?  It sounds like you and/or your PM are just trying to avoid conflict.   Just send her a proper notice of non-renewal at the end of this lease and, having learned from this experience,  get someone better in there.

+1 on the notion the PM is not efficiently managing your asset

This is a learning process, and you're doing the right thing by seeking the collective wisdom on these forums,  as I have done many times myself. 

Good luck!

@Samantha Klein Seems like a good way to build rapport provided you let them know this is a one-time courtesy.  Don't feel bad about being "greedy" as others have mentioned.  Your time is a finite resource and you have a written contract that essentially demonstrates that.  Do you consider your plumber greedy if he charges you for his services even though it was "just this once"?

My lease states I charge a $50 lockout fee.  I am running a business and time spent running over to an apartment is time spent away from my family or other work.  Train your tenants to be responsible by charging for their lack of planning.  I encourage them "make arrangements" for a contingency plan in the case of a lockout.  I leave it up to them to come up with their own plan, lest they come back to me and try to deflect responsibility:  "you told me to hide a key and someone found it and entered my unit and stole my TV. It's your fault - you owe me!"

Good luck!

@Luka Milicevic made every point I was going to make, especially about carrying concealed.

My lease says they have to pick up ALL dog waste in the yard.  This eliminates them saying, "it wasn't our dog, it was the neighbors/stray dog/etc."

Any violation of the pet addendum gives us the right to rescind permission for keeping their pet.  All tenants must sign each paragraph of our addenda.

I would check your competition in the market and see what requirements they have and if yours are congruent - things like pet fee (do NOT call it a deposit ) and pet rent, application fee, etc.

When I started, a charged an application fee, thinking it made good business sense, but after 35 showings and not a single application,  I discovered that other landlords serving my demographic were not charging.  Once I removed that requirement,  I rented it in short order.

GOOD LUCK!

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My lease stipulates boats and other vehicles may not stored on the premises.   I suppose if I had the space and desire, I would draw up a lease addendum,  outlining the conditions by which they could store the vehicle and what the compensation would be for providing that service.

Remember,  you are running a business and this request comes with some risk, time, and hassle.  You should charge for this.  Your property is a commodity. 

Good luck!

Not to be cynical, just prepare for her not to follow through.  I learned pretty quickly not to pay much attention to what a tenant says, but what they actually do.

@Nicole H.

Net cash flow with both units rented is, conservatively, $250 positive monthly. It might be a challenge using a PM for this property (we self manage at home) but we could do it and probably would (built into pro forma) and in our long term plans of moving south we would be turning our entire portfolio over to a PM or selling it, which is also an exit strategy here.

The tenant base would be non-traditional graduate students, or white collar commuters to two nearby MSAs (the property is a tenth of a mile from the Interstate).

@James W.

I did not include that.  However, if we sell (see above) there would be recapture.  If we held, it would be an extra tax shield as you mentioned.  I also neglected to account for the tax deductions on 50% of the expenses as well.

So, the purchase is looking better given those factors, but I guess what I am attempting to answer myself (with your help!) is it good enough to be worth it given our mid and long term plans?

Thanks for your continued feedback!