All Forum Posts by: James Park

Here is the track record so far with my tenants: They were on contract for 2 years for $2200/month.

Received $2000 rent for August on the 3rd
Received $2000 rent for Sept but came in on Sept 8th - I was ready to sent the 5 day notice.
Received $1800 rent for October on the 1st day - This showed me that the mother was willing to cooperate. She told me that with her single income of $50,000 she can only afford $1800 and I told her that i receive her rent on the 1st of the month I will take the $1800, but it will go up to $2000 after the 1st. She seemed to encourage me to actively seek a new tenant as its seems that the rent commitment is weighing on her. I was a little concerned as she told me that would be going to Asia from Nov 2 - Dec 3. She assured me that I will not need to worry about rent as it will come on time. I guess I will have to wait and see. She requested that I can give her 2 weeks notice if i find a new tenant and wait until she is back from Asia for the new tenants to move in. I had no problems with this request.

Thank you for reading about my situation. I hope at the very least that new landlords can learn from my mistakes. After this experience I want to own all my rental properties close by to where i live and screen tenants very carefully just like I would when hiring an key employee for my small business. The right tenants can be diamonds to your rental business, but the wrong ones can literally make your life miserable.

Does anyone know of a reliable property management company in the Chicago suburbs that they can recommend?

Thanks everyone for your advice. Vic. L. Yes, I did get the basement fully restored two weeks ago. I made a mistake of going with a contractor that my tenant recommended who was a helper for the DEMO. He told me he could restore the basement at 1/2 the cost I was receiving quotes for. I had to baby sit him from Atlanta by calling him every single day to see when he is coming to work. The work he did was poor and I fired him (looking back was the best decision) when he was no where near completing the basement and hired a more expensive reliable contractor to finish the job in 6 days. This was also a valuable lesson learned.

The mother seems to be the only one somewhat responsible. She was on the lease contract with me with her son. Her credit is in the 500s and I don't think she cares much about her credit, but her son has a credit of 750. When they were paying games with me by not returning my calls in September, I emailed her that i will proceed with the eviction process and this can damage your son's credit score. That is when I got a response from her.

Her W2 showed $90k and her son just got a job that paid him $45k. She is divorced with 3 adult children living with her. The children were causing a lot of problems for me early on as they were trying to claim that the contract can be void as the basement was not finished fast enough. The son sent me an me an email 3 days before the September rent was due stating that their rent should be $1500 since the basement is not finished.

The daughter said she saw a **** roach in her room and tried to say this made the home a hazardous place to live. This was the type of crap that was going on in late August and early September.

I flew out to chicago to see the progress of the basement and speak with my tenants. It appeared that they wanted to move out and look for a cheaper rental. I don't think the tenants are bad people, but they can't afford the rent. The mother told me that she can pay me $1800/month without her son't help.

I wrote an addendum contract that I will agree to a $1800 rent if they agreed that I can list my property to bring in a new qualified tenant.

When her son recently lost his job, the mother called me that she is now at my mercy, and please don't throw her family out in the street and she will cooperate to pay me $1800 a month on time while i look for a new tenant. I asked her where she would go, and she told me she has family in the area.

I am a christian and I do have a big heart. The weather will be cold in Chicago and most likely it will be difficult to get a new tenant in here until next spring. Though $1800 rent is $400 less than was contractly agreed to receive, I would consider myself worse off with the home vacant with a $2200 loss on a monthly basis or going through the eviction process paying a lawyer and my travel expenses to show up to court. Another thing i need to consider is that they are paying for my utility.

About a month ago, the grandmother had flooded the toliet to caused dry wall damage downstairs, but my heart softened up a little when they brought in a contractor to fix the damage which the grandmother paid. At first, I thought they did this intentionally so that i cannot show the unit, but now know that this was an honest accident.

Due the high property taxes in Cook County, my carrying cost is around $2175. By collecting $1800 from my tenants my losses are around $400 a month.

I brought in new tenants to my townhome in the Chicago burbs three month ago, before moving to Atlanta.

Long story short, in July, I had an unusual storm in Chicago that put 6 feet of water in my basement. I have spent $15,000 in fully restoring the basement for my tenants. The tenants used this as an excuse not to pay the full rent amount of $2200/month that they signed a contract for 2 years.

Recently the mother told me that her son lost his job who is the co-signor on the lease. She told me that all she can afford is $1800.00. Though we had a situation where we were very close to the path of eviction, the tenant did pay me this rent amount on Oct.1 2011. She had agreed to allow me to show my home to bring in new tenants at this discounted amount.

What are options when my tenants cannot pay the full rent amount that they signed the contract for? Did I make the right decision to collect the lower rent amount $1800/month hoping to find the right tenants? I figured I would be worse off collecting $0 rent while looking for a qualified tenant. I really learned my lesson to be more careful in selecting tenants. I will also never purchase rental properties more than an 1 hour away from my primary residence. This property and tenant experience really has been a thorn under my skin.

I would appreciate your advice.

Thanks.

I had a major flood in one of rental properties in the northwest suburbs of Chicago on July 23, 2011 where I had to get a contractor to DEMO and restore the basement for my tenants. I had recently move to Atlanta, GA and it has been a very difficult process to manage the contractor from out of state. I was wondering if anyone has any experience rehabbing a home from out of state and can give me some sound advice. My contractor has left the job unfinished with my money where the work was about 80% finished. Does anybody have a good honest contractor in the northwest suburbs of Chicago they can recommend to finish the job?

Thanks

J Scott,

I recently moved to the metro Atlanta area. The only way i can see RE agents becoming obsolete is if anyone who is not licensed can upload their own listings on the FMLS and MLS themselves.
Do you know if there is any service like this in the state of Georgia?

In Illinois I've seen a brokerage provide a $297 transaction fee to up load listing on the MLS for anyone. This type of activity i can see hurting the RE Agents real quick.

J Scott, I took your advice and recently joined Solid Source Realty for the transaction side as an agent as well as for my personal investments.

Thanks.

I am afraid they are going to tell me that they have no money. I almost gave them the 5 day notice for last month's rent. It was emotionally very draining on both parties as I told them that i am speaking with my lawyer. We had a major flood in my basement on July 23rd and they were trying to break their two year lease contract stating that I didn't restore the basement fast enough making the contract void. I restored the basement as soon as i could. This is one of the games they were playing.

The mother admitted to me last Friday that her son is not paying his half of the rent. Their W2 showed the mother making $90k and the son told me he was making $45k. The mother admitted to me last Friday that her hours were cut to half and only making $45k. I then realize the core issue is that they are cannot afford the rent and looking to find a new place for $1700/month.

This is why we made an arrangement where we can go month to month until i can find a new qualified tenant, then this thing happens to me today. I already spent $15,000 to restore the basement and reduced my rent for my tenant from $2175 to $1800 and now this. I currently now live in Northern Atlanta and this has very emotionally draining for me and my family. I have learned a valuable lesson to keep all my rental properties within a 45 min drive from where i live.

Last Friday, my tenant calls me to tell me that it is difficult to afford the $2175/month rent. She is on a two year contract. In order to not have my property empty while looking for a new tenant, I agreed to let her to pay me $1800 a month/month (which she told me she can afford) until i can find another qualified tenant who can pay $2175. Today her mom overflowed the toliet by flushing it twice where the water has caused damage to the dry wall on the ceiling. Who is responsible for the cost of repair the landlord or tenant. Now I cannot market my townhome for a new tenant until the dry wall is fixed. At first I thought the tenants intentionally did this so that I cannot market my property, but my gut is telling me it was an honest accident. Any advice is welcome for my situation.

The water was 6 feet high for 15 min. The issue is that i don't have flood insurance, but i am pushing for violent storm claim which it was where the the wind and heavy water from the rain pushed in my windows. Would this be tough to claim? My contractor believe my chances are less than 25% successful. I read my lease agreement and it does protect me from the tenant's belongings. I will supposed to collect the first month's rent in August 1st, 2011. Will I have any problems collecting this? I am estimating that damage is in the upwards of $15,000 and my deductible with allstate is $5000.

I am asking for advice on how i can deal with the tenant in terms of his rent.