All Forum Posts by: Catherine German

@Rudy MannaThe cosigner needs to have great credit and great income. So in this case, mom is not going to help her daughter's application. Find out what the tenant's portion of the rent is going to be and just make sure she has plenty of income to cover her portion of rent and the utilities. When you fill out the section 8 forms they will ask you to list the utilities and if landlord pays or tenant pays. It's fine to let tenant pay utilities and that is most common here in Tacoma. If you don't feel confident that this tenant is qualified then you can deny due to credit score, lack of rental history, or whatever the specific reasons are.

1. Yes, there is a risk taking someone with poor credit. Does she have good, stable, long term rental history? Why is her credit bad? Is it just medical bills or does she owe landlord debt ? Has she been on Section 8 for awhile or is this a new program for her? Does she have income to pay her rent portion? Is it just her or does she have family, roommates, etc that will be living there & helping to pay. Section 8 tenants usually pay their portion without any difficulty as long as they can afford to. 

2. The voucher is actually a piece of paper. She should show that to you to prove she has Section 8 before you sign the lease. It will be from the Pierce County Housing Authority. There is a whole packet she should show you.

3. Very minimal risk if you have just flipped the home. The inspectors are looking for habitability issues, trip hazards, fire hazards, etc. Cosmetic things don't matter. Make sure the place is safe and rodent free (that is a big issue in S. Tacoma) and there are no holes in the walls or floors, cooking stove works, refrig cools, windows open and close, heat work and there are smoke and CO detectors and you should be fine. 

I have tried something new and so far have gotten great results. I haven't gotten anywhere with social media so I have actually started doing snail mail letters. I marketed to the areas very close to where I live. I sent a letter with my picture on it, introduced myself as their neighbor and asked for them to allow me to assist them. I have sent less than 20 letters and received 2 phones calls already. One said no thank you and one said I'll keep your info and thank you for sending me the letter. I think it helps to drill down to a specific area or type of customer that you need. Making it very personal did help my results. Now that I know that the letter was opened and 2 people took the time to call me, I will send out more letters to more of my neighbors. Saves time and gas if you can do business in one region !

As someone who has received these letters and post cards I would say make sure they aren't cheesy looking. I can't stand receiving them and sometimes I just shake my head because they look like whoever put them together put no thought into them. They are so generic.  I like something personal, include your photo, tell me something about why I want to work with YOU or YOUR COMPANY. Don't use too much verbiage. I don't like the color yellow for the mailers at all. Not a bad tip for a handwritten note on a door, just don't mail anything yellow to me.  

@John Napier The buyer just needs to go to the property and talk to the tenants. The tenants will tell you if the property is managed well, if there have been deaths in the units, if there is crime in the community, etc. They will tell you everything. Seller will say they didn't know and the Management Company will say that they didn't realize these things had to be disclosed. If you want the 411 on a place, hang out there and talk to the folks that live there. You will find out everything you need to know.

I have dealt with bed bugs in several apartment communities that I was managing and I always spray between tenants and have the unit inspected by the pest control contractor before placing the next tenant so that I know it's bed bug free.

They are very tiny and not easy to spot. You will find out you have them when you start getting bites or sometimes you will see small red spots on your mattress or underneath your mattress.

As far as how they spread, kids can pick up bed bugs at school at they can hitchhike on people and travel. Also they can spread from one apartment to another. If your tenants purchase used furniture, bedding, clothing etc.  that can also be a source of the bed bugs.

If you get a bed bug addendum and have your tenants sign it at move in that might help for future scammers (may not be valid in all states). Bed bugs are very expensive to treat - $900-$2000 so they are in a whole other arena than ants, cockroaches, spiders.

some resources for you to read and refer to:

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/catenant.pdf

http://landlord.com/ll_rights_resp.htm

in the Pacific Northwest & other rainy areas it's a good idea to get the gutters cleaned out and roofs cleaned annually before winter. If you have snow, get the ice melt ready & make sure walk ways are clear of slip hazards such as algae/moss.

I've had a kid fall out of a 2 story window but luckily no falls or slips between bannister railings. 

I have a great rat infestation story. Owner didn't disclose rats at time of sale and when we took over property the rats had infested storage space and had damaged all former tenant file records. Also got a code enforcement complaint on my first week at the new property because large rats were in the attic above someone's unit and had accessed his apartment. That could have been a really ugly case but luckily I was able to get that one resolved without legal action against new property owner.

I mentioned the death disclosure and I know all states don't have this but they do have it in CA and I have worked at multiple properties where deaths in apt. units were not disclosed. If your state requires notifying future tenants that a death occurred in the unit this is something to check on and question seller and his management company before you buy the property.

Yes, aluminum wiring (had the same experience with piggy back wiring), also check the bannisters and railings on balconies to make sure they are kid proof. The railings and balconies have to have lattice or some type of material attached to them to make sure someone such as a small child can't slip through them. Insurance Inspectors will also require water heater strapping on all units.  Make sure you don't have a rodent infestation and if you do that it's remedied before close. Rodents, bats, etc. can cause a whole lot of problems (tenant and property) and can be costly and difficult to get rid of. Check all the roofs and attics for signs of creatures, nests, droppings.