All Forum Posts by: Vysakh Sivarajan

Hello BP members,

I bought a condo unit in Lowell MA few months back and got a tenant coming in next week. Going through the Lowell MA website (https://www.lowellma.gov/625/Health-Permits) , I saw a rental permit ordinance. Does anyone know about this requirement ? The unit is not a new construction. If I need the permit, will that prevent the tenants from moving in next week ? 

- Vysakh 

@Taylor L.  That is something I need a take a look at. I wanted to learn about the whole process and the experience it ( though not like this). I am also concerned about the property management fee eating into my cash flow. My impression was the property management is for investors who had lots of units or who lived far away or did not want to go through the whole renting process. 

@Samir T.  When I screen the tenants, I wanted a min of 600 credit score, good payment history, reference from the previous landlords and Income to rent ratio of 4:1. They met all of these and they had a little daughter about to go to school. With all these factors, I thought they will be a long term tenants. 

@Adam Martin that is exactly what I was planning to do. I want him to pay the rent and use the security deposit to backup to fix any issues in the unit. She is on the lease too and is not responding to my messages. The lease agreement is defaulted after 7 days of non payment of rent. I am hoping they will move out after the pay or quit notice and do not have to go through the eviction process. 

Hello BP members,

I bought my first investment property in 2018 and started renting out to my first tenant ( Yayyy, was so excited ) last year. I moved to buying another rental unit this year too. Although the tenant was late a few times, I thought if they are not giving me a big headache, it should be fine. Even waived-off the late fee couple of times ( Newbie mistake ? ). They failed to pay the rent this month due on the first and started ignoring my mails, texts and calls. Knocked on the door after seeing their car in the parking lot without any response. Tried again another day. Today I walked around the building only to find the tenant on the balcony. He had to open the door for me and we talked. The tenant and his girlfriend had a breakup and he does not have the money to pay. Both of them are on the lease and only he is living in the unit now. 

Even though he told me that he can make the rent next week, I am filing my first eviction notice. I feel sorry for them but I want to pay my bills too. Kind of having mixed feelings about the whole rental investment and wondering if I started off on the wrong feet.  I don't want to quit but would love to hear from other investors who had similar experience.

Thanks a lot everyone. I am using Cozy's online rent payment for receiving the rent. I went back and checked the New Hampshire rental laws (thank you @Ann Bellamy ). It says a landlord can require no more than $100 or one month's rent as security deposit. I already got the security deposit when the tenant moved in. So I guess I have to give the extra payment back to the tenant and ask him to pay the full amount by the due date.@Jeremy Wirths I think splitting the rent payment is a choice I can give to the tenant. 

Hello BiggerPockets members,

I got my first unit recently rented out in Nashua New Hampshire and I am dipping my toes into real estate investing. I got a tenant who is now paying his next month's rent too early. He is paying almost half of the rent 20 days early and the rest by the due date. Even though I don't mind getting paid early, the lease agreement says full payment by the due date. Should I just enforce that or just allow to continue ? 

Btw, this website and the forum is just awesome. Everyone seems to encourage others to get better in REI.

- Vysakh