All Forum Posts by: Nancy P.

@ Justin Ellis:

Sold it four years ago but we had a property in Park City, Utah (ski resort) which we converted to LTR from STR because ST renters were the WORST. Throwing furniture off the third floor balcony, vomiting all over and not cleaning it up at all, vomiting in public areas, breaking stuff, stealing stuff, and the straw that broke this camels back, BURNING their initials into my 1 month old carpeting. Wasn't AirBNB so no million dollar coverage. Changed both management companies and lease length. Now we own mostly condos, all of them forbid STR, as do my leases.

If coffee makes you sharp,  great.  But coffee is $2 at McDonalds and $0.50 at home...

I grew up poor and have been watching expenses my whole life.  Sure we have lifestyle creep,  most people do,  but we THINK about where the money goes.  And have no debt other than mortgages.  I think a lot of spending is mindless,  and marketing is working to get us to spend even more mindlessly..  Just being mindful of where the money goes, and if things are really worth it...goes a really long way.  New clothes and gourmet foods don't make me happy,  but travel does. Realizing and cutting down the spending on the one frees up money for the other.

@Brian Plosay

Your post reminded me of something. Before we officially became REI, we rented a small house in Houston after moving to a larger one. They people that rented it had sold their own house quickly, and were building a house just five houses down from our new one. They rented for only 5 months, but when they moved out, found the husband had installed ceiling fans in two bedrooms, touched up the paint, and serviced the a/c. We gave him his money back AND a $100 Home Depot gift card for his trouble. They never became our neighbors, because they found out the new house was made by complete idiots. They turned on the water for the first time and it poured out of the walls---the pipes weren't even connected within the walls. Also within the walls were dozens of empty beer bottles, and cockroaches (German kind) are attracted to beer...so hundreds of those. All three tubs were completely nicked up, no one had protected the tub while they tiled. On and on. They sued the builder and the builder settled very quickly, they moved somewhere else---to an older home. Never buy a new build in a housing boom in an unregulated place like Houston!

Daryl Luc,  I know two people who got into trouble with the Feds by setting such limits,  as it effectively violates the family status portion of the Fair Housing Act.

But I will say...my mom was a widow with 7 kids....we were damn hard on that house.  (which we owned, but still.)

I'm with those who like to refund everything.  I want to be the opposite of what my kids experienced in college,  jerk landlords who nickeled and dimed them to death.  Watered down their paint so it was impossible not to ding it.  I kid you not,  a cardboard box set gently  AGAINST the wall dinged the paint.  Crap like that.  I've had an eviction,  and a run away tenant,  and they lost all their deposit.  So did the guy who set some oily car parts directly on a light gray carpet,  turned off the AC in August in Houston (despite signing a document saying he wouldn't), and then left wet towels hanging in the bathroom,  where the drywall molded in the 8 days before I got in there.  But mostly I return 90-100%.   I expect clean but I still pay someone to super clean it.  Tenants are charged only for extra dirty,  or dirty ovens and refrigerators,  or trash left behind.  They don't get charged for a "normal" clean.  Have never charged for carpet,  but I am trying to get away from carpet.    I don't charge to clean the carpet,  or change the locks (as that's required by law anyhow). Haven't charged for touch up paint/caulk.  Have charged for broken door, broken blinds, and that's about it.

James,  this is IF THE OWNER LIVES IN ONE OF THE PROPERTIES.  Or in a roommate situation.  This is a massively important point. I'd hate folks to misunderstand this law based on your erroneous post.

And to the OP,  the Fair Housing Act speaks to advertising as well:   "When advertising housing, it is illegal to specify a preference or limitation or to alter the terms and conditions of housing based on someone’s membership in any of the protected classes."

You seem to have missed the part where she knows the woman is single, how many kids, their names....etc.

Dennis claiming someone ELSE has to have the last word is about the funniest thing I've ever read.....

Tiffany Roberts nailed it---I would add getting overly upset at being told you were bullying the seller.  Emotional people make you crazy?  You are the picture of rationality?  Dude,  you are kidding yourself,  but not us.  I say this gently,  and it has  almost nothing to do with real estate,  but with life,  which is pretty important:  Figure this part of yourself out.  May I suggest a book such as the following....

by David Kundtz 

Peace.

The most interesting things.  (Can't compare to some of these finds here!)  1.  Clean place left by couple torn apart by his drug use and infidelity.  Place was quite clean (due to her) but he asked for their framed wedding photo and then smashed it to bits in the sink,  destroying the garbage disposal.  Since I'd seen the place after she turned in her key,  I knew it was him,  and it came out of his half of the deposit....2.  Cabinet full of liquor left by a guy who had quit drinking.  And a blender,  which was cool,  mine had just died.  He also put a greasy engine on a gray carpet,  and turned off the A/C in August in Houston,  causing some damage in a bathroom.  So the liquor eased the pain a bit lol.  We currently live in Germany for husband's W-2 job,  here in the industrial steel-capital of Germany (which had the holy CRAP bombed out of it in WWII),  rarely does anyone ever build a house, or dig a hole for ANY reason, without finding a bomb.  It's happened four times this year alone in our city on street repairs.   Berlin (or Munich,  I forgot) found a big one near the main train station.  We Americans still get excited about them,  although they almost never explode.  A German friend last month told me it was like walking with a three year old who gets excited about every stick he sees.  She said "You want to be kind to the three year old,  but it's a STICK,  THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!"  LOL