All Forum Posts by: Jennifer T.

As mentioned, insurance varies WIDELY based on all kinds of factors.

Just to compare yourself and @Bjorn Ahlblad if, assuming from the cities/states listed on your all names that is also where your all's properties are located, what's one of the differences between WA and TX?  Weather.  And that's a big one.

If I'm remembering correctly, TX has more tornadoes than any other state.  And Houston specifically is in Hurricane Alley.  My properties are in New Orleans so, unfortunately, I know ALL about the insanely high rates for named storm coverage (tropical storms and hurricanes) with property insurance.  And don't forget storm flooding because that is a SEPARATE policy, not included with property insurance.

You're doing the right things!  Getting multiple quotes.  That's the best way to tell what's "fair".  But it's too much comparing apples and oranges to compare rates to other people's, especially if you also don't know the "value" or size of the property that they are talking about.  

I totally agree with you.  There is definitely a big difference in inconvenience between no water due to frozen pipes and no oven/dishwasher.  I think even half the rent for those days would be too much, especially if this is a higher priced rental.

I'd roughly base it on how long it is out for, how many people are living there, and what would it cost for a cheap take-out or "pick up from the grocery/warehouse store" dinner 3-4 times/week.  Maybe $50-$100/week rental discount for December's rent.

Anecdotal, but I had electricity issues at one of my rentals last year and my tenant was worried about the food in her fridge.  I had an extra fridge in a vacant rental and offered to pick up her main food items and temporarily  transport them to that fridge.  Because I didn't want to feel obligated to pay for spoiled food!  For whatever reason, she didn't want to do that.  Fine.  But I did offer a solution she didn't want, so I no longer felt obligated to reimburse her for any lost food.

Long story short, the electrical issue...which started as a small part my electrician's fault, but blossomed into a big and totally unnecessary problem with the energy company...ended up being a hassle for everyone.  She was without electricity for 1-2 days on two different occasions.  I credited her next month's rent with a $100 discount (close, but not quite returning 3-4 days of rent).  She was thankful and surprised.   

I'm in New Orleans this week and all the time, lol.  But I am sad all the rest of you couldn't come on down!  We'll just have to make sure the good times roll twice as hard next year.

No dogs under the age of 1, ie no puppies.  Animals need to be housetrained.  There are also a number of dog breeds I don't allow.  No more than two animals, per unit.

I charge a $300 non-refundable animal deposit and $25/month animal fee (per dog).  I don't charge the monthly fee for cats, but do charge the deposit.

One thing that makes me more comfortable allowing animals is I don't have any carpets in any of my rental units.  Tile and waterproof LVP only.  I did have one unit with carpeting that was there when I bought the house.  But just replaced it with LVP after my last tenants left.

i'm not in the mobile home niche so, keep that in mind.  But I've heard around BP that getting financing for a mobile home can be a lot more difficult.

I've used funds from a HELOC for a DP before with two different lenders. But I'll give you some warnings about that. Banks/lenders don't like it. Some of them require DP funds to have been "seasoned" in a more typical checking/savings for 6 months or longer. But not all. When you are speaking to potential lenders, bring up you want to use your HELOC for the DP in the first few minutes so you can cut the conversation short if they require seasoning that is too long.

Even the two different lenders I used required at least 30 days of seasoning. But in the beginning both loan officers "needed to check on that, because we really prefer to see the funds in a demand deposit account." Right after I was given the "we don't like it, but we'll do it" green light, I took the money needed for my DP out of my HELOC and put it in my savings account to just sit there while I went through the loan process. By the time we got to closing, the money had been in my account for at least 30 days, albeit barely!

1. Except she didn't do her market research.  She just wanted a really large discount and was comparing it to where she was currently living.  Which, for all I know, was much smaller even if it was a 3 bedroom.  And I'd bet was in much worse condition.  Otherwise, why move within the same area.  It also seemed ridiculous that she still wanted to come for a showing for a house she'd already said she thought was too expensive.  And, I suspect, was out of her budget and her original comments more had to do with the $1,000/month being the top of her range.

Sorry, I didn't answer your last question.  Initially, I was going to pay asking price for this property and its sister (two duplexes next to each other from the same seller) because, before the inspection, it was a fair price.  After the inspection, that uncovered a lot of major problems, I counteroffered a new fair price.  We fell out of contract.  Months later, the seller reduced the price to about what my counter-offers had been, ie fair prices.  There was a bidding war for one of the duplexes, which I won by offering $5K more than the list.  I offered my same counter for the other one, which was at that point $4K less than the list.  So, in the end, I actually paid $1K more than his final list prices.

2.  and 3.  I guess we just have different ideas on what a huge "ask" is.  For this neighborhood and price points, those were huge and unnecessary asks to me.  Especially the driveway!

I usually do try to match appliances, even though it's not really necessary for C-class rentals.  But every once in awhile I can't.  Or, in this case, I found an amazing deal on a much better new stainless steel stove as opposed to the typical basic stoves.

I personally don't think the driveway is ugly, though it does have a lot of cracks, so maybe some people do.  But it was rude of her to use the word "ugly", because that has a strong, negative connotation.  Perhaps she doesn't know how expensive it is to lay down a new driveway.  But, from my perspective, she's using an insulting word and then wanting a 4-figure repair, that is for her cosmetic purposes only.  The cracks aren't bad enough that they affect either the function or the feel of the driveway. 

Here are a few stories from a recent vacancy we had.  This is a 3 bd/2ba unit for $1200/month.  Newly renovated and in great condition.  C/C+ neighborhood.

1) Sends me a message on FB.  Tells me she is currently paying $900 for the 3 bed home she is staying in and mentions the address, I assume to show she is in the same neighborhood.  She tells me she really likes the look of the place from the pictures, but thinks the rent is too high and asks if I would consider taking $1,000 instead!  Are you kidding me?  I reply back that I do a good bit of research before setting a rental price and the market rate is around $1,250 for a 3-bed home of that size, so I feel $1200/month is already a fair price.  I also mention that the ad is less than 2 days old and I've already had a lot of interest and applications turned in, so I cannot justify lowering the price at this time. 

But the icing on the cake?  She STILL wants to set up a showing.  We do more an open-house style showing anyway, so I told her when the next one was.  But made note of her name because I doubt I would have wanted to rent to her.  I don't necessarily mind someone trying to do a little haggling, especially if they have some kind of substantiation for it.  But that was a big drop and totally unwarranted.

2) A Section 8 potential tenant said she was interested, but only if we would get a stainless steel fridge to match the oven.  ((Sputtering coffee as my husband tells me this over the phone)), "NO, we aren't doing that."

3) Potential tenants asks if we are planning to repave the driveway because it is ugly and has a lot of cracks.  Fair enough, it's an old driveway.  But there is nothing functionally wrong with it nor does it feel rough to drive on.  That was another hard no, while I'm trying not to sound shocked or accidentally add an "are you crazy?!?!" utterance.

Advertise like you normally do that the house has 2 beds/1ba (or whatever the configuration is).  Then, in your description, write a brief 1-2 sentences that something like "it's a shared bathroom with pocket doors".

My personal duplex is a shotgun double and I rent out the other side.  A shotgun layout has few interior doors or hallways.  Sometimes it also doesn't have walls between rooms.  My particular one separates the rooms with walls, but the only interior door and short hallway is for the one bathroom.  I mention in the ad they are renting one half of a shotgun double.  It has 2 beds/1 ba.

It helps that there are lots of houses in my area with this type of layout, so potential tenants are already familiar with it.  Most of my tenants, even potential tenants, for this unit have been couples or singles.  But I've had two different families rent it out, albeit for shorter terms (a few months). 

I agree it depends a lot on the local market/sub-market.  All my properties are in NOLA which, normally, I think has a soft rental market.  In the past, it's taken me as long as 6 weeks to find a tenant and, on average, 3 weeks.

I've had four vacancies since early July, three of them at the same two recently renovated/almost renovated duplexes.  

I had tenants lined up for my first vacancy after 10 days, with a move-in date for August 1st.

The second vacancy was posted in early Sept.  It took less than one week and the tenant moved in Sept. 15th.

From showings for the that second vacancy, we already have a tenant lined up for when we finish the 4th unit at those duplexes (sometime this week).  I won't even have to advertise that vacancy.

Another tenant from that showing asked if we had any available properties in East NOLA (totally different part of town).  So funny she should ask!  We did, but hadn't advertised it yet because there were repairs needed after the previous tenant.  Ended up not having to advertise that house either.  We finished those repairs last week and she is moving in today.

I also have a clause in my lease that says something about tenants cannot violate the quiet enjoyment of others, ie neighbors.  Whether the b/f smokes in the unit or not (and he probably does), you all are being negatively affected by the smell and are not having "quiet enjoyment" of your home.  I personally doubt the smell could be that strong in your all's unit, if they are just storing product in the house.  

I also have a clause that limits the amount of time non-tenants can inhabit the home.

I'd start with a calm conversation with the tenant that caters to her reasonable side.  Hopefully she has one.  Remind her there is no smoking allowed in the home and explain about the strong odors coming into your unit and it needs to stop.  A medical marijuana card doesn't override a tenant not being able to smoke in a rental property.  Ob, but wait.  He isn't a tenant.  So NOTHING he does exempts your tenant from herself and her guests having to follow the lease terms.