All Forum Posts by: Zech Ehnert

Doing a deal without an Agent and would like an attorney to go over our contract. Should be boiler plate contract with a few modifications. message me. Probably looking to close by the end of the April 2016.

I bought my 4 plex and it was already occupied and it worked out fine. The hardest part is that I want to renovate but have to wait until the units are vacated. It is not OK to take a week to redo a bathroom or kitchen with a tenant in the unit. 

You have to honor the leases that the old landlord had. Make sure that the security deposited are transferred to you as well. 

I am planing on buying much larger buildings with 8 or more units. I can't imagine having it empty. That would be a big red flag for me. 

I never let tenants do repairs themselves. I would only let a tenant pay for a repair if they caused the damage. Then I would use my contractors or do it myself.

 I agree with the height requirement. When you buy them you can see if they are ADA compliant. I think that they require a 16-17 inch height. These are the only ones I would put in. 

I don't like touching a toilet twice. If I install it, that's it for me. I'm in a position that most people won't be. I'm going to be gutting all of the bathrooms in my 4 unit as the current tenants vacate. At that point I plan on going down to the sub-floor and depending on the condition of that we may take that up. at that time I may run studs along the flange and bolt the toilet to that. I plan on using metal washers rather than the plastic ones they come with it. Then I'll shim the toilet so it won't rock then caulk around it.

If I couldn't do that, I'd use the metal washers, get some locking nuts and shim and caulk it.

Wisconsin law doesn't directly deal with late fees. The reason for the daily fee is so that tenants pay as soon as they are able. At this point, I only have 4 units and even though we have a cash reserve, a 25% cut in cash flow can cause problems. 

Great ideas! I think this is the way we are going to go in the leases.

5 day grace. Which means rent will be paid then. 

$10 late fee for every day after that. I will cut that in half if you discuss it with me before the 1st.

One free pass as long as you discuss it with me

Unless discussed with me, the 10th of the month I'm posting a 5 day to correct or vacate notice. This is the first step in an eviction in Wisconsin.

It is possible that they are protected in your area. I believe that just being obese may not be enough to protect them they may qualify for disability and that protect them. 

Only suggestion would when replacing or repairing toilets reinforce them to handle the extra weight. I have a few units that are going to have bathroom rehabs, after reading this I'm going to make sure that the toilets are reinforced. I mean I rent properties in Wisconsin.

From http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=a2bc...

Currently, Michigan is the only state that has enacted legislation that explicitly prohibits discrimination in the workplace on the basis of a person’s weight. In addition, six cities in the United States have enacted similar laws – Urbana, IL; Madison, WI; Santa Cruz and San Francisco, CA; Washington, D.C; and Binghamton, NY.

While there is no federal statute that specifically identifies obese individuals as a protected class, employees and job applicants across the country have initiated lawsuits alleging disability discrimination on the basis of their weight.

Thanks for all the ideas everyone! Most of the leases were up in a few months so we decided to let the old ones expire. We have 2 up for renewal this month, and are going through our new leases and wanted to know how to handle late fees.

I just bought a 4 unit in a C neighborhood and inherited all of the tenants. They are lower income and though we've only collected rent twice, 3 of the 4 units paid late. 

I came from a lower income and understand that some times a penalty can snowball into other problems. I don't want my tenants to be stuck in a trap or feel that they need to take out a Pay Day loan to pay me, but I don't want to be paid late. 

Any advice on an appropriate late fee and how to handle habitually late tenants?

I was thinking of putting in an incentive for early payment. Anyone have experience with this?