All Forum Posts by: Suzie B.

We got a great buy on a property we bought to hold and rent this year... only reason we could figure it didn't sell higher and quicker than it did... The neighbor behind the property. The house was recently updated and in great shape... didn't even have to clean it to rent it.

At closing we asked the owner what she thought was keeping the house from selling like it should. Her response without so much as a thought was the neighbor behind it.

We rented it, no problem. May put up some hedges or tall shrubs in the future.

So I'd say, fence or disguise... do something to hide the worst part of the neighbor anyway.

We use a PO Box. We have a few tenants who know where we live, but only because they have family/friends who knew us already. Two of them bring their rent to our home, not a preference for us but the saving of a stamp for them must be worth it to them. We have talked of putting a lock box on the outside of our home for them so that we don't have to be home or don't have to bother us to drop of their rent.

I agree with Michael. You are not in business to make friends with your tenants, but to maintain and care for your investment. Chances are any improvement will show them that you are working on the building even if they aren't excited about your choice of order. If they have been they for "year", they probably aren't going anywhere too fast if you're not raising their reta too much and if they get along with you ok.

I agree a lot with J.Scott

We have a great agent who starts promoting our property by word of mouth as soon as we get past major demo and start putting everything back together. By the time we are rolling out the carpet, she is doing final comps to help us set our price. Our first house sold before it hit MLS, had an offer the day we listed it. The second is a lease-to-own because of some unforseen things in our market, and an interested party needed a little time to re-establish credit. We expect the current occupants will buy it when before their lease is due to end.

When we went to go get into the one I acquired on a tax sale we knew one of the neighbors and he knew where to find the key that worked the back door.

Had that not happened, we would have first checked the windows to see if any were open, and if not, drilled a lock out. We changed the locks right away as well.

The one I acquired had been empty for a long time and the copper and the a/c unit had both been removed.. a risk you take regardless of the situation. One neighbor had taken to mowing the front yard, and another parked one of her cars in the drive often so it didn't look empty. The backyard was a jungle!

I'm sure my husband and I would love to catch a meeting sometime... just too busy right now. I will be watching to see if someone schedules another one and we will see if that time works for us.

Hope you all had a great time today!

I love it.. having been using it for a long time! It doesn't cover all states or even counties the same way, but it is great!

I guess I assumed most people who would have access for their areas of interest knew about it already... It is often handy when I do much of my research.

The remote water heater that Terry mentioned sounds promising if you have access to a company near you that has them.

If not... Have you thought of putting them up in a hotel for a few days so they have access to a hot shower, etc. They could go back and forth.. live at your property and bath/groom at the hotel. It would help them not have to inconvenience their family/friends while they wait. Sponge baths only work for so long before you want a real shower.

Maybe a big stack of paper plates, plastic silverware and cups would also be a good gesture since they don't have access to hot water for washing. That would minimize their dishes until you are able to get the problem fixed.

You already have finances going out for repairs, but I think it a good gesture at least offer them a hotel for a night or two prior to Monday while they wait, & the plates, etc are inexpensive and let them know you are concerned for their discomfort and are trying to make things easier for them.

I'm checking out the website too... Might make it easier for some people to do than printing and scanning, faxing or mailing back to us.

I will have to consider the screening process.. It is a little unclear on the site as to how the fees work for background checks, I agree. Can you have the tenant pay those fees when they do the screening.. ? We also ask for the application first and then if they "pass that step" then we do the screening. Is that possible on their site ?

In our area, month to month is really hard for any tenant to find and people expect to sign a 1 year lease. I'm with Michelle in the idea that the tenants feel obligated to stay for the 1 year term if they have any decency at all... However, it is more difficult to get rid of the tenant if they aren't what you expect.

We did give 1 tenant a month to month as a trial basis because they were moving to the area and looking for jobs, if they didn't find them, they would likely move on.

Another good tenant wanted month to month at the end of a lease and because they are just not heard of around here, we upcharged just a tiny bit and encouraged them to sign a new 1 year lease with us to drop that fee. They were looking to buy a home and didn't want the obligation of a 1 year lease so they paid the fee and stayed for about another 6 months when they bought a house.