All Forum Posts by: Jim Bentley

I just rented one in Norman; three of the people who called about it said they were avoiding Moore because tornado season's started. I didn't bother telling them that Norman is just as likely to get hit as Moore. People are just irrational; that's why the casinos are booming here.

Anyway, I don't know if that's statistically significant enough to point to a reduced demand for Moore housing around this time of year or not.

One thing to consider: Repair (and replacement) costs tend to be a little less off-season. (Or maybe they cost a little more on-season).

@Marcia Maynard

Ha! That triggered an ancient childhood memory of a song:

"Well Senor Don Gato was a cat

On a high red roof Don Gato sat

something something something something

Meow meow meow"

etc.

This happened to me a few weeks ago with Zillow, which I posted to via Postlets. I got a call asking me if the rent was $500 or $800 because there were 2 ads for the same house. The $500 one had a local number; I called it and left a message, but they never returned my call. I contacted Zillow, and within a few hours the false ad was gone.

My renters' 1 year lease is up this month, and they would like to move to a month by month lease, which I am fine with.

For those who do this, do you have them sign a new contract? If so, how do you phrase the term of tenancy?

I'm not an expert, but as-best-os I know, there shouldn't be any danger.

Just stay out of the room while they're prepping the hole and there is construction dust floating around. If you're really concerned, ask them to wipe down the walls with a damp cloth and vacuum afterwards.

Has anybody anywhere ever been significantly hurt by a falling avocado??? The kid is a lot more likely to get hurt climbing the tree.

Some possibilities:

- Offer to buy a helmet for the tenant's softheaded kid.

- Offer to pay for counseling for the softheaded tenant.

- Buy the tenant a cookbook: 1001 Guacamole Recipes

- Offer to buy a net to catch falling avocados

- Offer to pay the owner for a liability policy with a specific provision for damages caused by falling avocados. (But don't tell the tenant!)

- Buy a BB gun for the kid and pay him a bounty for every avocado he shoots down before it falls.

Thanks for the replies. Is it necessary for me to get them to sign something acknowledging that the shelter stays with the house even though they paid for it?

My tenant called, and they want to pay to install a tornado shelter (this is the kind that goes in the garage floor; only takes a couple of hours and costs around $2500). This is in Oklahoma, about 15 miles from where the big tornadoes hit last May. I was already contemplating getting one of these installed at my three houses, but hadn't mentioned it to them. The addition of a storm shelter will easily be worth $50/month in additional rent around here if they do leave.

They want to pay for it themselves and right now plan on staying in the house for several years. They are great tenants.

What is the best way to handle this? I know there can be legal problems if we get mad at each other later and they decide they want to leave but then decide that they want payment for 'their' shelter. I also know that I'll have to handle the permits.

A couple of options I'm thinking about:

1) Lowering their rent by $25/month, and having them sign a new 1 year contract at the new rate, along with a clause that states that they relinquish the shelter when they leave.

2) Or would it be better for me to pay to install the shelter myself, and raise their rent by $25?

After I wrote this, I'm leaning towards option 2. Would there be any issues with that?

In our town, you're required to register the alarm system with the city, for a fee. You're also charged between $10 and $300/year renewal fee, depending on how many false alarms there have been during the previous year. If there's a false alarm at a residence with an unregistered alarm, they charge a huge amount.

That may be an additional fee you'd be on the hook for if the tenant moves out in the middle of the year.