All Forum Posts by: Patrick L.

 Sounds like the appraiser might have been pretty unprofessional in the case.   I'd want to see what comps he's using or if he just pulled a number out of his *** when he decided it wasn't going appraise and didn't do the report.   You need to look at what other sold properties in similar areas and similar condition are going for per unit, it might be that it's way over priced for the area.   I would want a real appraisal done.   

It's a terrible idea, if you stop using the tenant as an employee for any reason the tenant will instantly use that as the reason they don't have the rent money next month.  

There is even more competition around here in the auctions than there are on short sale listings, good luck with your plan.   The banks don't let most houses go for peanuts at the auction, every once in a while one will slip through but either the plaintiff max bids are high or 3rd party bidders drive the price up.   All of the Tampa Bay counties are on RealAuction so bidders from all over the world can drive the price up.  

 Renters.   They also love to flush baby wipes and pour their grease down the kitchen sink.   

"It wasn't me, I never flush anything down the toilet.  That must have been from the previous tenant."

I would have the appraiser finish the report and present it to the seller and use it to negotiate.  Unless the report is flawed using poor comps and adjustments then that's going to be around what the property is worth and may be similar for the next buyer unless he finds a cash buyer.  Did the appraiser give you a number?   

 Those are for employment and are not the same as as the fair housing act's protected classes which are:  race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status and handicap

Does your lease say anything about the tenant taking care of trees?  To me that's a landlord issue, unless the tenant cut down living trees.   Who knows why they died.  If you are concerned about your landscaping you need to hire a lawn service and build that into the rent when it is leased.    Other landlord issues are the caulk for the windows and pressure washing the outside.  To me it sounds like you need a someone local to the property that can check in on it and keep it up for you.  Often your neglect will lead to a tenant's neglect since they don't see anyone that cares about the property.   

If the property is below average condition then you aren't going to get market rent if you kick the tenant out.  How much will it cost you to bring the property into perfect condition again?    Your 5 year old carpets have reached the end of their useful life (according to the IRS, it's 5 years for carpet) so you won't be able to charge the tenant for those.  

If you're getting the rent on time and no real damage is being done to the property then keep collecting the rent.

@Alexander Felice I don't rely on credit scores as heavily as many people do, to me it's just a number and doesn't tell the whole story.   You can find a bad tenant with a high credit score and an amazing tenant with a terrible credit score.   If someone pays their rent first every month and didn't pay some old medical bills or their Target charge card then for me that isn't an issue.   If someone has stable verifiable income, has never been evicted and has a solid rental history, and has a clean criminal history then it's usually a good tenant for me.  Many people have a low score just because they don't utilize credit very much or at all.  

 Not sure the logic you're using to come up with that.   Why would the guy with triple the income of the other applicants be more likely to be evicted?   A family making $50k a year in unverified is probably going to struggle to afford $1675/month in rent.  Why would you expect the high income applicant to be the one that has to be evicted?   It seems like the $50k/yr applicant also has poor credit.  

First you cannot take family status into consideration when reviewing applicants so I'll go ahead and ignore most of your information.  

If one has VERIFIABLE INCOME OF $150K Yr and the other "says" they are self employed and make around $50k why are you even learning towards the one that makes a third as much?   A good rule of thumb for minimum income is 3x the monthly rent amount, your $50k/yr tenants fall short of that amount.   I'd verify his income and credit and if that checks out I'd take his increased rent amount and collect first last and security (as long as it's legal in your jurisdiction, it is here).   

Run your own credit and background checks, asking a tenant to submit those items is odd.  Stop going off what tenants tell you, verify everything yourself.   Believing what people tell you when they're trying to rent a place will get you in a world of trouble.