All Forum Posts by: Daria B.

Daria B. has started 151 posts and replied 1921 times.

Both agents are sort of new (2-3 years). They both work in the same office. The listing agent is sort of lazy and didn't want to do any works. She doesn't want to communicate any back to the seller.

I am being firm. The seller needs to get the permit, get the garage up to do, get a sign off from the town or no closing. They are now working on to get the permit.

Agent wasn't happy with the appraisal because it came back with a few safety issues. They kept on insisting that I got the FHA loan but I didn't. I got a conventional loan at 3.5% rate.

Thanks all for your responses

-Chi

Just hang in there.

For future reference you may want to understand the relationship of doing business with an agent that is supposed to represent you that also works in the same RE office as the listing agent.

I've only purchased one property that was the actual listing of the agent representing me. We had looked at a few properties and I believe she knew what I wanted.

I don't completely understand still how that works if the agent is representing both parties. Yes, it was told to me after my 1k questions on this topic that no information other than what's to be presented to both parties from the other party is done. But we are human and not robots without emotion so I don't think truely that emotion isn't removed out of that equation.

It all worked out for me and what I wanted as I was new to this method of "getting" a property by this method - also I was comfortable with my agent as she did work hard to help me. Because I also stood firm with the agent when the seller started waffling and came back within unreasonable "well I think I want to rent it now and I need to talk to my daughter". Unreal?!? I told the agent that I'm not playing this game. Either the seller sell to me or I walk. We went to closing and it all worked out for me because I was willing to walk away.

Good luck to you!

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Can someone explain how this feature works when inside a posted thread?

If I choose this to ignore a user does it mean in that post and lol others the user will not show up in my view?

Thanks

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Originally posted by @Robin Grimes:

Stupid things Tenant Applicant’s say.

I had renovated a nice 4/3/2 and put it on the market for lease. Here are some of the comments from people who toured the property during the open house or called me from signage.

#1
Young single mother with 3yr old in tow. “My boyfriend will be paying the rent, he said to just go find a place, but I want to rent it in my name, so it will be mine alone.”
I’m thinking: I’m not renting to someone without the verified income to pay the rent. Sorry but a promise from a boyfriend just won’t do.
I’m saying: Here’s a rental application. The application fee is $25 but you should know that I will need to verify income and whoever is paying will need to be on the application and lease.

#2
Middle aged couple with no kids. Wife says “I don’t like the wood floors. If you can put down carpet and repaint to something brighter, we’d be interested. Also you will need to replace the stove.”
I’m thinking: The wood floors are new laminate that I just spent $1400 and two days installing. The paint is all new also. If you want to remodel a house, go buy one yourself.
I’m saying: Here’s a rental application. The application fee is $25. The property is being rented in its newly remodeled condition.

#3
Family. Made appointment and met me at house. Husband says “I need a 3 car garage.”
I’m thinking: The 2 in 4/3/2 stands for TWO car garage. Plus the photos show it’s a two car garage, so why are you here wasting my time and yours? Did you think I was hiding a third garage bay in the back yard?
I’m saying: Here’s a rental application. The application fee is $25. This house only has a two car garage.

#4
Very young guy, young 20’s maybe, called me from sign in yard. He’s parked at house. Says: “ I need a big place for my girlfriend and our 3 month old since we want to have more kids. Could you help me out and rent it to me for $xxx” (about ½ the rental rate).
I’m thinking: So you’re requesting that I contribute half your rent so you can have more kids that you can’t house and support.
I’m saying: I’m happy to provide an application. The application fee is $25. Sorry the rental rate is firm.
.

LOL I love the "I'm thinking" "I'm saying".....

3 Votes

If you don't feel comfortable with any part of any transaction you should not move forward just because someone else says you should.

With that said, there is always (I believe) a solution that everyone can or should agree to.

Your agent should be working in the best interest of you and your goals. All to often someone says, "you can do this or that without it". You are ultimately the one in the end that will have to deal with the fall out - if there is any and at what ever level or degree.

If your lender is requiring it (permit) then they are pretty saying you can't close without it - are they? And how will you close (as per both agents) if your lender, who is the one that is lending and will have the underwriting to closing and not any of the RE agents.

Regarding the seller walking away, your contract dictates each parties responsibilities and obligations. Something your agent should be informing you on at every step. If they aren't, then they are not doing their job to help you.

Push back to your agent and tell them that the lender wants this permit as their requirement and help you get through this transaction.

Have you called the permit office yourself - this is something you may have to do as evidence of what is or is not on file if your agent is not guiding you. It may not be for the agent to "do" this but they should be guiding you on these matters.

My opinion from my own experiences of a seller or lender asking for something and the other side of the equation not wanting to comply.

Good luck!

1 Vote

Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:

Originally posted by @Daria B.:

Originally posted by @Marcia Maynard:

I don't operate in California, so can't respond to your question directly. However, we've found it beneficial to do periodic inspections during the tenancy (at least once a year, but preferably every 3-6 months), to document the condition over time and to charge for damages and address issues as they occur.

I've seen some standard forms that have a place for tenant signature, but if the tenant choosing not to be present for the final move-out inspection, then the signature would not be required. Just be sure to keep good documentation that demonstrates you've done your part.

Have you ever been in a situation where the entire sec dep was claimed due to damages - all documentation in place like photos (pre-move in, move out) and sign off sheets by tenants, etc.

Did the tenant disputes and what was the outcome?

Thanks

Tenants who cause significant damage to property usually owe us money for other things as well. A few times we kept an entire security deposit, mostly because of unpaid rent and sometimes because of some damage too.

We only kept the entire amount one time for damage only. In that case, the damage was indisputable and the tenant did a final walk-through with us. We maintained a good relationship with the tenant, but his daughter had smoked in the unit in violation of our property rules and in so doing ruined the tub surround too. After using up the security deposit, he still owed over $1,000 to us, which he paid in full within 30 days of moving out.

In over 20 years of landlording and now with 17 rental units, I can think of only two times when tenants have challenged my accounting and final report about the return of the security deposit. We made an adjustment to one report in the tenant's favor. We stood by the other report, kept all of the security deposit plus invoiced for more. That time, we never saw the rest of the money due to us, but we did send her account to collections. It wasn't enough to bother taking it to small claims court.

At the end of a tenancy, when we send our final report, we keep it brief. An itemized list, that is to the point, is all that is needed. We don't send the tenant a copy of the inspection sheets and photos, but we keep them on file. We don't require tenants to be present for the end of tenancy walk-through, but we encourage it. Often we don't see all the damage until we are making the unit ready for the next tenant. So, even when we do a final walk-through with a tenant, it's not our final look at the property. We let the tenant know that. If we find something more during the turn over, we will tell them about it.

It's our goal to return 100% of the security deposit. At the beginning of tenancy we let tenant's know that if they follow the terms of the rental agreement, keep the unit clean and don't cause damage, they will get a full refund of their security deposit. We re-emphasize that too when they are ready to vacate.

If a tenant doesn't want to do a final walk-through, it's a red flag. Every time when a tenant showed no interest in meeting with us at the unit for the move-out inspection, we found significant damage.

Here in Florida it isn't common for the tenant to do the final walk-thru but I can see merit to doing so as it clearly identifies all the damages, whether the tenant was responsible for them or not it's about documenting them while they are there. Afterward the documentation used for the move-in can then easily dispute one way or the other if the tenant is responsible. A current situation puts this in perspective having all photos prior to move-in with a written inventory list of condition (all in good shape no holes in walls and having clean walls and all appliances condition to almost new from store). The tenant is challenging the security deposit that doesn't even cover all the work. Painting is always debatable but with pictures showing how bad the walls (holes, excess dirt and grease) condition were after the rental period, it's clear that their eyes don't see or want to see what they left. Not one but two stoves were damages, the first had to be replaced and the 2nd is not in much better condition. It was cleaned up and band aid and if it were me coming in to rent, I would not want to use it. But those are my standards. I've had to keep a full deposit once and when the tenant challenged me, she was shown the lease she signed and backed away. She want against too much in the lease she was then called on to prove she "didn't" do.

0 Votes

Originally posted by @Samuel Lynch:

@Daria B. and @Carl Fischer

Thank you for the information. That gives me a lot to begin the research process.

I would do the "transfer" to have it rolled over directly to the new custodian and never touch the money. This way you are completely out of the loop and never personally receive it thus avoid any IRS mishap of them thinking you took the money out. We are buried in forms and I know of someone whose outgoing IRA company sent the check to that person and they narrowly escaped the issue of the IRA thinking they received it because of the time required to put that money into another custodian. They (outgoing custodian) were supposed to "transfer" the money, not send it to the person. That person then was responsible for getting it to the new company and making sure at tax time the correct forms were sent to them to show it was a transfer and not a distribution or close out.

1 Vote

You need to find a company (looks for fees and services that you understand and are comfortable with) and tell your existing holder of your Roth you want to transfer. They will have the paper work and it begins with them to transfer your money. You should ask them what the costs are for doing so, they normally have fees for transferring (partial or all $, closing accounts, wire vs check to the new company).

There are so many companies like QuestIRA and MidlandIRA, a couple that I hear quite often but are so many more. Search BP I believe there are several threads that talk about custodians.

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Originally posted by @Vitaliy Merkulov:

We're completely FCRA compliant, we're Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) as defined by FCRA, we abide by very similar regulations as Credit Reporting Agencies (TransUnion, Experian, Equifax). I'm not an attorney, but our attorneys did a lot of work to make sure that RenterInc reports are flawless. The only way that landlord would get sued if they provided false information, and in this case they should be sued for that. @Brooklyn A.

@Shaun Patterson Landlords who deny their applicant based on the information found on our database, landlord must notify the applicant that they got denied based on the information on our database. We provide a form that landlords can use to notify their denied applicants. This is the same law that requires landlords to notify applicant whom they denied based on their credit report.

@Daria B. "The idea and database of information as it were, would be pointed factual based questions requiring a yes/no answer. And be simple like have they been late in the term period. If so, how many times." That's exactly what kind of questions are asked on our database. Here is a sample report.

What areas do you cover ? Actual areas that have been recorded not just that it's available ?

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Originally posted by @Joe Splitrock:

Originally posted by @Daria B.:

Originally posted by @Joe Splitrock:

@Daria B. there are databases in addition to Renterinc that other people have started too, but nothing has gained mass traction. The problem is that any angry landlord could put someone on a list. The proof is often he-said she-said, so that is why these lists face potential legal problems.

The best system we have as landlords is the US legal system. That means when someone damages your property, stand firm on the damages. Either they pay or take them to court. Bad tenants will often have judgement against them, so when you run a credit report and see "XYZ Property Management", that is your best clue.

The other side of the argument is that some tenants are falsely accused or over charged. I have seen charges that are so high, it would be considered illegal. For that reason I wouldn't trust every landlord to rightly be placing people on lists. Court systems are there to mediate.

The other side of this is that there are also websites for landlord reviews, like reviewmylandlord.com so we all run the risk of getting put wrongly on a list.

I'm going through answering several posts so hopefully this is not a repeat answer.

The idea and database of information as it were, would be pointed factual based questions requiring a yes/no answer. And be simple like have they been late in the term period. If so, how many times. Was the same excuse given.

If like any survey the questions are open to the participants written ideas, then yes it's going to be a she said he said rather than using the yes/no method.

How is answering yes or no not open to interpretation? Was the property left in same or better when tenant moved out? You answer no and the tenant says you are lying. It is not a fact, it is an opinion unless you can provide proof. Lots of room for dispute and retaliation by angry ex-tenants. Watch them review you as a landlord and see how their version of the facts plays out. I am not saying it is right, but you have to understand how people think. They will lie and retaliate.

There is no substitute for following a good screening process. Credit, criminal and references. These lists only contain a tiny fraction of the renter population anyways, so are pretty much useless.

I guess I shouldn't assume but I do assume that photos and written documentation are done. I just didn't say it - sometimes these threads just get too long and I thought that to be obvious. :-)

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Originally posted by @Shaun Patterson:

Originally posted by @Daria B.:

Originally posted by @Shaun Patterson:

This is definitely a wish for alot of people but as said before any sue happy tenant will have a field day when they find out why you denied them. My motto is the best offence is strong defence. One of the things we look for when we screen is the ability of the tenant to pay and pay on time thats just one of the 20 things we look at when we go through our screening process.

Agreed on the screening but what specifics are in your tool box: how do you determine solid "ability" to pay and pay on time.

Any credit report that doesn't have sporadic (and do they report these anyway) payments won't tell you if he tenant pays on time.

What other things do you look at that gives you concrete evidence the potential tenant has been late paying.

For example, the former tenant was late 3 times all of which they had to be hounded to pay. This started after 1.5 years of already renting. Clearly something changed from when they were placed in the lease.

Unfortunately nothing of full proof.

This is all very correct there is no full proof system to find out if a tenant will pay on time or not. Without going into our systems that much we get banks statements, tax returns, W2's look at credit reports just to name a few and gauge based on this information. all of the metrics are the same for each tenant. I know its a little overboard but for our clients we want to take the extra time in the beginning to find out what type of tenant they will be. You also have to keep up to date with what is going on with your tenants. every year is the same process again.

Those are the same collection of "data" that I see and know it's heavily scrutinized - some PMs I'm seeing are thought-minded as "it's collateral damage" if they placed a not-too-good tenant. They rely on security deposit paying for in part or all damages and just think that the borderline DTI and all encompassing information about the tenant suffices what "they" think is a good tenant. Well the "collateral" damage ends up being me who now has to deal with the fall out.

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All Forum Posts by: Daria B.

Daria B. has started 151 posts and replied 1921 times.

Post: Agent said to skip asking for the permit

Post: Ignore User option in the posted threads

Post: Tenant Applicants say the dumbest things

Post: Agent said to skip asking for the permit

Post: The 3 Rental Inspections

Post: Transfer Roth IRA to a SDIRA?

Post: Transfer Roth IRA to a SDIRA?

Post: Bad tenants - we need a database :-(

Post: Bad tenants - we need a database :-(

Post: Bad tenants - we need a database :-(