All Forum Posts by: Yiv L.

Sharon Hiebing gave good advices.

Try not to react too quickly to tenants' call. It's case by case. Many "emergency" issues are not true emergency, and not many issues happen late at night because tenants are not doing much during that time (normally things break when being used). Best is try to understand the situation and decide. I had one call at night for sewage clog-up, but the it was not too severe that I can wait until the next morning to bring in plumber. If it was flooding the house, then I would react differently.

@Ashli Uphoff, sorry to hear about the move-out problems. Did you bring the concerns you posted here directly to the property manager or landlord? Every landlord operates differently. Also, I do see many things in your list can be fixed easily, such as key, blind, a/c vent, light bulbs, .... In general, if you fix the broken items and fix them properly, they won't get charged. Just some ideas.

How long had they stayed there? 4 hours are not enough to erase the fond memories. They love the place!! You'd got to be treating them well :-)

Difference between option #1 and #2 is $250-$350. WSG can not be this high per month. So, your options are not consistent.

Some pros and cons for the options:

#1 Fixed rent: is simple to handle. Just update the contract, it's done

#2 Share utilitilies: How do you split the water and sewage bills if there is no separate meter? I foresee on-going disagreements and arguments, and tenants won't be happy and might leave sooner than later. If they agree to certain terms, this will only encourage tenants to waste more water/sewage because they think three families will share the cost. At least in option #1, it's not obvious that they also pay the bills (included with the rent).

@Alex Dewberry, being a landlord needs to be strong-minded and disciplined. You can be friendly to your tenants, but no need to be friends. For deadbeat tenants, written notices (5-day, 10-day) should be served the soonest allowed by local laws. Verbal communications mostly likely be viewed as negotiations, and only encourage further violations, exactly what happens to this tenant. Also, you need to let go the PM immediately.

@Johnny Johnson, 20 unit will need commercial loan, normally require 20% down. High income and good credit are always good things, but banks for commercial loan will look also into your past experiences, tenant rent roll of the building, among other things.

Another option is to see if she is a friend to anyone within the complex and see if she is willing borrow the bathroom/shower as needed. Some rent discount to the other unit for the month will help everyone, including your motel cost.

Most low income tenants do not have internet access and are computer challenged. I collect the credit check fee and run the credit myself based on the info they provide in the application form. I am using ctcredit.net. For the very low income tenants, I mainly look at criminal history, and then talk to current landlord making sure they are good tenants and paying rent.