All Forum Posts by: Sharon Rosendahl

@Curtis Bidwell Thank you for all the info. I will be sending emails. It is time to join a landlord association. I hope that soon I'll have better hours and be able to participate. I really believe getting actual bodies to Olympia will help prevent unreasonable bills.

@Brian Cohen Great letter. Especially regarding endangering other tenants. Without background checks we can't protect our tenants and neighbors. I do rent to people with a criminal history but I also am able to evaluate what they did and whether they will be safe for others.

@Justin Frank we have a couple houses we really want to keep and probably will sell the rest. We are very fair with our tenants but don't want to be forced to lose money. We have been discussing where to take our money next.

@Brian Berry No I haven't but I think it may have pretty recently been made a bill in the house. The company that sent it to me did so minutes before I posted it. They are pretty good about staying on top of these things since they are a tenant and employee screening company. Long time Anacortes company. I hope it doesn't make it anywhere but there have been a batch of rental unit bills that have been coming up and with the make up of the state legislature I could see them all passing.

Being an accountant sucks. I have been working 60-70 hours per week since the beginning of December. Barely managed holiday time off. I have not had time to address any of this. I know there is/was a day on the hill planned that included some of our landlord organizations. I feel like my rights will continue to slip away while I work myself to death.

I apologize in advance that the pdf link is through a vendor but I am working on closing the year, month and a lot of other year end stuff and am super busy. Among other horrible things, this seems to require a 6 month rent increase notice if you increase rent by more than 3% and then the tenant can immediately vacate even if there is a lease in place. Their only requirement is they pay you to the point they vacate. No mention of completing the current lease. If increase is less than or equal to 3% then you only have to give 60 days notice.

Late fees would be capped at .05% of the monthly rent. So that would mean $5 per every $1000? Yeah, huge deterrent for being late. 

(5) Late fees for past due rent may not exceed one-half of one
percent of the monthly or periodic rent.

So much frightening stuff going on this term.

http://www.orcainfo-com.com/uploads/HB2779RentControl.pdf

@Todd Powell We live super frugally as we raised 5 kids plus some random other ones that came along with our kids. Our tenants live better than us. I have an unfinished bathroom at home. No one pays me to use my bathroom but everyone else pays me to make sure their bathroom looks good. My attitude is, How bad do you want it? I want to leave working for others bad enough that we don't really take vacations, we don't buy stuff because it is fun, we rarely eat out. Being a cancer survivor I know better than many that I may have some regrets because I  have deferred some fun things in life but raising my family and making sure I have provided for my husband if I pass will be satisfying even if I don't get to enjoy it (although I'm really hoping to get to enjoy it).

What you need is different for everyone. I have budgeted $3k each month just for healthcare. I currently spend about $6k per year for copays etc (I am insulin dependent and a cancer survivor). Hubs spends less but it has been increasing as he ages. My employer subsidizes my premiums but currently the bill seems to be about $1500. I would lose that group plan price and likely pay more on the open market since I'm hard to insure. With dental and eye I figure I'd rather budget too much than too little.

We have figured out our costs if all of our personal debt were paid off. Add to that, some nice stuff. I have never gotten to travel a lot and would like to.

To quit my W2 I would need to have medical plus bare bones living coming in from our rental units. Obviously, all personal debt has to be paid. I want 1 year of bare bones living saved (this excludes investments, it is just liquid savings). At that point, I will spend all my time making sure we acquire enough rental income to be comfortable, probably about $120k per year in today's dollars. A little more would be fine. Then I'm just going to enjoy life. I've worked since I was 12, I'll be happy to retire.

1. You are inexperienced, you need someone to help you through this.

2. Ethics are important, even in a big town.

3. Dealing fairly with all involved is critical in a small town.

4. Legally, the agent who showed you a house is due commission, you might as well make use of their knowledge.

5. Relationships are very important. I believe in taking care of those who take care of me. A good agent will bring you a wealth of information

Since I had to finance my rentals they are in my name. To protect myself from lawsuits I have an umbrella insurance policy. If you are able to pay cash or your LLC has a credit line then find an attorney to help you set things up. A CPA also can help you with the tax related questions. My insurance broker is also a great help to me since she does both personal and commercial lines.

It is your property, you stated inspection time frame in your lease. Find out what the law is. In many states, you have to give notice of entering the unit except in an emergency ie water running out from under a door. Give that notice and then go in and inspect.

Some people do get a little paranoid. My daughter got her first inspection notice from her apartment and called me freaking out. Once I told her that they were doing routine inspections and it was probably the whole building got the same notice she settled down.

More likely your tenant is hiding something so just go and do it and be aware of that.

Be sure to have parents co-sign for students. Younger students don't have the credit and rental experience and just because they are students doesn't mean they will pay and be responsible. Might be different if you are doing grad students. My niece also had to sign a one year lease which prevents the summer vacancy problem.