All Forum Posts by: Thomas S.

Sara C. "she asked if she could stay until the end of May so her grandson could finish out the school year. So, here we are in May, and she's had over 7 months of notice." This is where you created the problem. When your tennat asked to extend her lease you agreed even though you intended to sell. You gave notice then withdrew it by extending her lease. That was a major mistake in judgement on your part. If you had said no you would not be where you are today.

Tenants may not, in most jurisdictions, withhold rent for any reason. In some cases they would be required to deposit it in a escrow account if there are maintenance issues. In your situation late payments and required repairs are completely unrelated. The reason he is paying late is because you allow it to happen not because there are maintenance issues. Had you issued a pay or quit notice the day following rent being due you would not likely be facing repeated late payments. Do necessary repairs and get rid of this tenant.

It is a very poor investment as a buy and hold. I would not hesitate for a moment. It will not cash flow long term. Short term not worth the aggravation of dealing with tenants for peanuts. Sell it and move on.

You would be wise to think of this as a personal home purchase as opposed to a investment property. You will avoid being disappointed.

Use a standard M2M lease and charge her full market rent or higher. You do not want to be tied into a long lease encase she turns out to be a nut job. If you have the skill set to operate strictly as a business you may be OK otherwise don't do it.

You must strictly follow your state landlord tenant regulations in regards to sending notices. The codes will outline how you are expected to do it. Do not take any advice from anyone that is not a landlord in your state, familiar with your state codes. You need to take the time to learn your state codes if you intend to stay in this business.

You created the problem not your tenant so you should probably just list the place as is and see what happens. I don't see an issue with keeping the tenant based on your selling criteria.

Cash for keys will not work. Squatters, especially this type, do not want money they want a place to live for free. The amount you would have to pay them to leave, as opposed to them getting 6 months free rent, would be astronomical. They are extremely professional and will not leave until evicted and removed by the sheriff. Sad that our legal system enables and encourages this form of criminal behaviour.

double post

I do quarterly inspections on all my properties without having to makeup an excuse. My tenants are trained to understand it is to their benefit. Smoke/fire alarms are one of the checks I do. I do not rely on tenants primarily because if there is a fire and the smoke detectors are found to be faulty it is the landlords fault. Tenants also remove batteries to prevent cooking from setting them off. By doing inspections, checking detectors and having tenants sign off I am not responsible if someone dies and there is no battery in the smoke detector. Never allow tenants to be responsible for anything important (everything is important).