All Forum Posts by: Robert Lei

@Ryan Proffit

@Sue K. and a couple other people pointed out the tenancy at will. This excerpt is from the South Carolina landlord tenant act:

“If the tenant does not sign and deliver a written rental agreement which has been signed and delivered to the tenant by the landlord, acceptance of possession and payment of rent without reservation gives the rental agreement the same effect as if it had been signed and delivered by the tenant”

Unless I am mistaken, if this case was in South Carolina, her paying the new rent after you’ve delivered a signed lease would effectively bind her into the new lease, even if she didn’t return the lease signed. So she wouldn’t be on a month2month, she would be on whatever was written on the lease. Unless I am just reading the SC law wrong. Worth checking out your state’s law to see what’s up.

@Shain Ismailovski

Are the forms free for pro members? Or do we still have to pay the $100 for whatever state we are in?

@Luis Rodriguez

I went through this same problem. My upstairs tenant had kids, and would stomp/jump/run around on hardwood floors and bother my downstairs tenant. As soon as upstair’s lease ran out, I kicked her out because “I wanted to do some renovations,” DEFINITELY NOT because her kids were disturbing the peace. We as landlords can’t discriminate against a family, but we have other reasons why we aren’t renewing a lease, or there are better suitable tenants to rent to. This is why tenant screening is so important.

Also, I am laying down laminate floors with the best soundproof underlayment underneath the laminate floors to help with the next tenant. Not only did the last tenant trash up the hardwood floors, I don’t feel like fixing it and I need an extra barrier against sound. Consider doing that.

The thing is that she isn't paying market value; I believe she is underpaying by $150ish. The previous owner told me the unit's renovation took longer than expected. When he was done with the reno, he was desperate to fill it and went with the first option aka this one. Based on my conversation with the tenant, she hasn't been able to find a comparable unit at the same price that wasn't in a bad neighborhood. I didn't want to renew in the first place because I can add a little more to the unit and command a higher rent. 

@Mike Franco I will actually need to use some of her deposit for repairs though, since I know she is a smoker. As far as I understand, damages from smoking doesn't fall under the "normal wear and tear." I was planning on refunding her deposit as fast as I can to help her out, but I didn't expect to be TDY for so long. Hence the 1 month extension.

Thanks for all the replies and insights.

I rechecked the laws in SC and proper notice is "is delivered in hand to the tenant or mailed by registered or certified mail to the tenant at the place held out by him as the place for receipt of the communication." I definitely fell short there.

Everyone is right in that I should get her out ASAP, but let me throw in a little more detail here. I am self managing/house hacking the triplex. I am currently out of state on TDY and do not have a reasonable timeline for getting back home, other than mid-September. Based on the type of tenant I am describing, would y'all feel comfortable expecting her to leave on her own while you are away? That is my biggest concern here, not being able to supervise her departure. This is why I suggested the M2M, so that I can see her out myself after another month.

I do like the idea of some sort of exchange for rent as suggested by @Anna Sagatelova, at least short term. Again, I appreciate everybody's advice, I definitely have news things to consider.

I am sure I am going to get a lecture about being "soft-hearted" and not firm enough with my tenants, but hear me out. As I am typing this narrative out, I've realized there's a lot, so here is everything in sequential bullet points:

*Bought a property and inherited tenants

*Tenant's lease is ending, September 1st being the last day

*Appropriate nonrenewal notifications were sent to her via email and text on August 2nd

*She knew I didn't have plans of renewing based on our face to face conversations

*She hasn't paid August's rent yet

*I called about August's rent, she said she "need to save the money to apply towards the next place, since local rent has increased"

*I explained she still owes rent, and her security deposit can't be used as rent

*She gives me a sob story (3 kids, new school year, low paying job [all true]), wants to sign on for another year

*I cave and suggest to her a different option: best I can offer is m2m, but will have to sign a new lease(I was thinking with stricter language, possible rent increase)

*She is concerned with how long the m2m would extend for, to which I have no answer

I know there are red flags, but I am only considering the m2m because:

1. I am currently TDY (military) and won't be back till mid September

2. She has paid all her rent up to this point, so I know I will get the money

3. The cost of eviction is too much and takes too long considering I will get paid the rent

4. My plan is to install carpet and a washer/dryer in the unit after she leaves. I can't start the reno until I come back in September, so the unit would sit empty for a month or so

5. She hasn't really caused any issues leading up to this point, so I am not so quick to kick her out

As far as I am concerned, I feel like I have the upper hand because I am lenient on the lease, but not to the point where it is hurting my business. Obviously the smartest thing here is to show her the curb, but what's the next best thing I can do? If she leaves by September, I won't be around to make she leaves quietly. Also, I can't start the renovation process and finding new tenants, which will cut into my bottom line.

tl;dr: inherited tenant can't move out due to some finance issues, but pays rent. besides kicking her out, how can I help her and help myself?

I personally use a credit card to track my spending. I use my checking account for all the major bills such as phone, rent, utilities, etc. My credit card has a limit of $1100, so that’s how much I have to spend every month. When I get my end of month check, I pay off the entire card and start new. I found that $1100 might not be enough for my area, so I might bump it up to 1300. Whatever money is left in my checking is applied towards saving. Main goal is to get at least 5k in my checking before I start dumping the rest into savings.

I also use Daily Budget, an app to track what I am spending my money on.

@John Vietmeyer

Thanks for the insight! I've realized that despite my desire to protect/provide the best environment for my downstairs tenant, there is so much I can do. I would hate to push away my good behaving tenant over something I can't control. Once the upstairs is gone, I am going to give it one more try on fitting a W/D somewhere in there. I wouldn't be adding a 4th bedroom, just converting the 4th room (got no closet) into a walk-in closet and a laundry room. The walk-in would be connected to another room, creating a master bed. 

Hello BP,

My name is Robbie and I am a new "investor" in Charleston, SC. I work full time on top of "real estate investing." I am a military pilot stationed in Charleston. I just closed on my first deal last Tuesday! It is a triplex, with 1 main unit and a 2 story duplex. I thought I would be knocking it out of the park with this first one, but now I am having some doubts and minor set backs. Here is the deal:

Listing Price: $315k

Offer Price: $305k

Final Price: $311k (closing cost rolled into loan)

~2400sqft split between main unit and duplex (1200 main, 600 each in the duplex)

Financing: Used a VA Loan through a local bank, after all said and done about ~$2200 for mortage ($1500 P&I, $700 escrow)

Found off of Zillow, inherited 2 tenants in the duplex, top floor B (2br/1b) paying $850 rent, and bottom floor C (1br/1b) paying $800 rent. The owner lived in the main unit A (3br/1), and that is where I will be moving to once my current apartment lease ends.

The plan is to live in A, and renovate it gradually until my 1 year required residency is up. I will be renewing C's lease, and will not renew B's lease. When B moves out in September, I will renovate it to get better rents.

For those that like to analyze deals, the rents will be $800+$850+$1650. I plan on paying myself rent, all of my housing allowance, for the year I am staying here. After utilities, my cash flow should be around $900,

$500 of which will go towards Vacancy/Repairs/CapEx. I am planning on putting ALL cash flow into the reserve bank until I hit $10k, then I'll cut the $500 to $250/month. After I leave, I'd expect unit A to command ~$1300 in rents.

First problem: Supposed unit B is noisy and heavy-footed, which is driving unit C crazy. There is only 1 sentence in the lease as far as noise goes, and its the "will not disturb other tenants' right to peaceful enjoyment of premise." What else can I do? I've talked with downstairs, and will meet upstairs for the first time today since taking over. Beyond the "please be respectful," what else can I do? When they move out, I plan on putting down carpet to absorb some noise.

Second problem: Unit B (upstairs) does not have washer/dryer. The current tenant uses a laundromat. When they move out, I would like to offer W/D, but realistically there isn't much space left. Would a W/D "discount" work? Considering average 2br/1b rent in the area is $1200, a $100-$200 discount would be fairly attractive, and would still make my math work.

Third: Unit A has 4 rooms, 3 of them have closet. I plan on putting up a wall in the room that doesn't have a closet. One side will be a walk-in closet thats connected to another room. The other side will be a laundry room, and I will be able to move the W/D out of the kitchen. This would keep the 3br/1b configuration and 1br will become a "master bed". Would this be a worthy value add?

BLUF: What do I do about noisy tenants? What options do I have as far as not offering W/D to the top unit? Would a master bedroom option/cleaner kitchen configuration be a good value add?

Thanks in advance, pictures included, none yet of unit B

Main unit front, duplex in back:

Kitchen of unit A, notice W/D next to stove on left:

Main unit layout, planned wall in red:

@Maximilian Glodde

Thanks for the insight! I honestly thought as landlords we have more power and responsibility to help mediate disputes between tenants. I guess not. The upstairs have 3 young kids that run around the unit. In addition, it seems like the downstair tenant is the good behaving one, so I have an incentive to keep her around.

The other option I’ve considered is somehow ending the upstairs lease early (ends in September) by essentially buying her out ie giving her security deposit + 1 month of rent. This would get the renovation train moving a lot sooner, which could potentially mean higher rent. It would be a fairly drastic move though, and might not be legal?