All Forum Posts by: Ronda R.

I agree with @Karen Sanders . Get more bids.

Called my bottom floor tenant and he assures me his sister is not living there. He has been gone because his girlfriend, who lives somewhere else, is having a baby. His sister has been picking up the mail and they keep getting someone else's mail in his mail box so she has been putting it in the other tenants boxes thinking it is theirs. They keep putting it back in his. He has been asking me for a while to let him know if I buy another house because they want to rent it and move in together. 

2nd floor tenant not sure what to do but let it be for now.

@Jeremy Hua Furnace filters are in the basement, LOL. You reminded me though that they do need to be changed.

I got a call from my 3rd floor tenant (triplex) that one of my tenants seems to have moved his girlfriend in and I have been suspicious of it for a while. We have crossed paths a few times and she won't even return my greetings but gives me the evil eye. I have been weighing my options but really don't want her on the lease because I really don't want to deal with her. I like him and he has been paying rent on time. He is respectful, she looks at me like she wants to kill me. I had a friend with me one time she was leaving the building and she said, "Wow that girl is scary mean." So I don't really want to give her legal right to be there. 

Now I just got a call that the bottom floor tenant seems to have moved out and let his sister and boyfriend move in. I don't have proof of either. What would you do? I want to get on the phone right away but want to get advice first.

@Cole Johnson Congratulations!

@Jeshua Patrick thanks for the explanation. So much to learn.

Maybe if you talked to them and told them what you plan to do and ask if they would 

1. like to refinance for you instead of you going the portfolio lender route or 

2. like an early cash out on the balance owed them, you might be surprised to find a win win situation.

I know my hard money lender (parents) don't want to invest in real estate but they love the 5% (yes I know, my parents rock!) interest rate I pay them. It is low risk and they make more than it sitting in a savings account.

Does anyone in the Akron area have a reliable landscaper, yard maintenance company or person they would kindly share with me. I have a small lawn that probably needs bimonthly mowing, small garden that needs weeding and hedges along a driveway that need trimming annually. I have gone through Craigslist and do have one person that will be going out to give me a quote, another doesn't service the area but was super expensive and others don't answer or return phone calls. I live out of state but while I was in town,  I hijacked someone working on a neighbors yard and took them to my property and they did work for me. They are not reliable while I am out of town though. Haven't shown up. I would also like to have work done on properties I am flipping. Any referrals would be much appreciated.

So my question is how do you screen student tenants? most have lived with their parents and this is their first time away from home. Do you screen the parents? Would anyone mind giving their requirements or what they look for?

Okay I just found a new tool on Realtor dot com that has me really excited. If you are searching an area using their map view, there is a little "Crime" button in the bottom left corner. If you click on it it will overlay a color coded crime map on the area you are looking in. I am so stoked about it! I don't know how long it has been there but I just noticed it and thought it would help some of you in your research too.

I have a friend that absolutely loved the place she was renting but moved as soon as the lease was up because the cost of heating in the winter and suffering through the heat in the summer was too much. It may help you to keep your tenant longer.

If it were me I would replace the windows now before they move in. Depending on how many windows and if they are off the shelf, it shouldn't take more than a couple of days. My guy did my whole house in a day. I special ordered my windows though for a better quality and that took a while. The blow in insulation in the attic should be done before they move in also. It can be quite messy with insulation tracked all over. That should only take a day. We got the insulation at Home Depot and they let you use the blower for free with a minimum insulation purchase. If you are going to insulate the walls with blow in, you can do that later if you need to break things up. Usually that happens from the outside. I would caution you to get someone who really knows what they are doing though. My siding guys did it before siding and they somehow knocked out my electric.