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timpanihilistic posted:
I'll make good note of this for my next vacancy!
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Sep 3, 2013 23:21
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I just got a letter from the city my rental is in that they are now (assuming just starting the program) inspecting the exterior of all non-homesteaded homes because of the recent glut of them from the collapse. They said they will be charging me $125 for the first inspection and $56 for subsequent (every two years) inspections with good sized fines for violations (obvious blight stuff I don't have to worry about) and permit issues. I'm a bit nervous as I had a small deck and fence connecting my deck to the garage (non-perimeter if it matters) put in before it moved out without a permit. I am certain it's highly location dependent, but what inspection/permit issues have you guys encountered? I have the option to be there for it, which I am considering but fear being put on the spot and say a damning statement that I can respond to later.
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Oct 30, 2013 00:11
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Great points from both of you, thanks! I will look into the bylaws and let them know I want to be present. It's roughly a ten by ten deck with only a foot high. More of a platform... It's the fence from the house to the detached garage I'm concerned about. But nothing I can control now.
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Oct 30, 2013 01:11
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Just checked the website. ALL fences and decks require permits. Welp, here's to them not looking!
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Oct 30, 2013 01:21
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Any guidance on how to respond to the question in my above situation for "Does that have a permit?" when he points to my deck/fencing? I imagine that saying it was there before I bought the house isn't an excuse.
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Oct 30, 2013 20:07
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It's that time of year again, end of lease time! My current tenants have been in since last summer and I offered them a $50 discount (from $1500 to $1450) if I didn't paint it and gave them immediate occupancy. They were stiff negotiators but it was what I was receiving before and made it so I didn't have any gap in rent since the previous tenants left before their month was up. Comes up to renewal time so I make my friendly phone call 45 days ahead of time (generally do it sooner, but life overtook events) to see what their plans were. I let them know that I would be willing to keep the rent the same if they signed another year and otherwise we'd do month-to-month for a bit. A few days later she comes back with a request of lowering the rent another $100/month to sign for another year, or else they'll do month-to-month until whenever. This is following a comment she made about how difficult it is to find a place to rent in the area and how quickly they go. Her rationale is that I will have to spend money (mortgage/etc) to find new tenants so she's saving me money by doing so. I love the logic that saving my vacancy costs should be her profit. I reply back with three options: 1. Renew lease for $1,450/month (same rent) 2. Sign two year lease for $1,400/month 3. Go month-to-month for $1,450/month for a maximum of 3 months My rationale for the 3rd is that I don't want to rent out in the middle of the winter or 30 days before they feel like flying the f out of there. I'm kind of regretting allowing the three month as it puts me in Sept/Oct when school is back in session and a lot of prospective tenants have children. She responds back with a counter-offer of $1,400/month for a year, or else they'll go month-to-month until they find something. She starts commenting on some leak that is moldy that her kid can't sleep in (it's mostly condensation from the tub above the room, it's leaked before but nothing that's a big deal) and that the place needs paint and has nails all in the walls. She would be doing me a favor by taking a $600 discount so that I could avoid vacancy. At this point, I'm prepared to pull my offer to do month-to-month and just ask them to leave at the end of the lease. I would be able to paint and re-carpet the whole home and likely charge $100-200 more a month in rent for the property. I don't feel that I could pull that option in good faith at the moment because I had agreed to be flexible at the end of the lease previously and they've simply ASKED for a discount, but haven't been nasty about it. However, if she continues to push the case I am going to do so. I'm itching to do the work in the house, actually. I thought you would all enjoy this little tale and update as there hasn't been much posting here recently. I also wanted to ask if anyone had any suggestions and insights about the cheapest way to do carpet/flooring. I have really old carpet and nasty linoleum in the home. It's about 1,550 square feet (of which maybe 10x15 is lino, 95% of remainder carpet, with the rest tile I won't touch) and I just want something fresh down and isn't a nasty color. What's the industry standard trick for this? I don't have time to install it myself. Thanks!
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May 23, 2014 19:21
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Blackjack2000 posted:You have every right to pull your offer. In fact, you don't even have to. As soon as she makes a counter offer, that implies that she has declined what you offered. Unless you REALLY need the money and can't risk vacancy, I would just tell them that you're sorry you couldn't come to an agreement, and let them know that you will begin marketing the apartment immediately. Thanks for the feedback. After she said she would do the month to month I said that there would be a three month maximum. She really didn't affirm or deny anything so I'm not sure where that is from a legal perspective especially since it's all verbal (well over text message). I think I may have painted myself into a three month corner unless she counters again. C'est la vie. I went to home depot today and it didn't seem to bad of a deal but will shop around. About $1700 to replace 1165 square feet of carpet including ten stairs on their cheapest neutral brand. The 21x10 kitchen can be done for $350 of the allure brand of floating plank that looks stupid easy to install. Considering extending that to the living room on that floor and then carpet the rest.
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May 24, 2014 00:50
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Blackjack2000 posted:I don't think you're in a bad position. You can fill a vacancy in the fall, it's a little bit more of a pain, but it's certainly doable. Not every prospective renter has school age kids, and even some that do will need to find another place for one reason or another. Word is it is very hard to find a place right now, my neighbor is a realtor and tells me that they send over an intent to occupy before seeing the place. I live a solid sixty miles from my rental so it may not hold up to how crazy my primary homes market is going but gauging the listings nearby it's slim pickings for those moving. I have ten bucks the tenants come back in a month or two and ask to sign that one year. At that point, should I raise it on them?
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May 24, 2014 04:00
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DNova posted:People, do not use Home Depot as a contractor. Find yourself a good independent flooring guy. Thanks, I will check the local guys. When the lease ends on June 30, do I need to do anything from a paperwork standpoint to roll into a month-to-month? Anything that I SHOULD do to protect myself? edit: May have answered my own question, create an addendum. I did the following: quote:This is addendum to the Lease Agreement signed on June 29, 2013, by Owner and Tenant. This document modifies the Lease Agreement as described below. with signatures at the bottom. TraderStav fucked around with this message at 18:51 on May 27, 2014 |
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May 27, 2014 18:21
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Does anyone have a good off-the-shelf notice to terminate lease that they use? Just looking for something in writing to tell my tenants that they are expected to move out on September 30th as they are on a month-to-month right now and refuse to sign a longer term lease without a decrease in rent. Googling turns up a lot of really forceful sounding language about being evicted and this is already been agreed upon with my tenant. Just need the legal paper in the event that they try to stick around after 9/30. Thanks!
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Aug 18, 2014 19:15
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Hey all, I'm in the process of selling my rental house that the previous tenants just left. I have some questions about how to handle charges against the security deposit. I know it can be very state specific (I'm in Michigan) so I will try to cite the relevant law (or NOLO summary) where necessary in hopes that someone else in my state (or if it's universally standard) can help clarify some points. I have a lot of charges that I intend to put against their security deposit as they were very rough on the house and neglectful in many areas. - In Michigan, after the tenant moves out they have four days to provide the forwarding address or I do not have to provide a notice of damages. (provided the original Security Deposit notice signed at the beginning included very specific language about this, which it did) The notice of damages must include specific language about having 7 days to respond, and in the event that they disagree and we cannot come to a settlement I must sue them and go to court for the balance. NOLO posted:Within (30) days after you move out your (former) landlord either has to return your deposit or send you a list of the things that she claims as damages (a “notice of damages”). If the landlord does not do this, the law says that she gives up any right to keep your security deposit. But, if you did not give your landlord your forwarding address within 4 days after moving out (assuming your landlord told you in writing of this responsibility), your landlord does not have to give you a notice of damages. (see sections 9 & 10 of the act and Sample letter #2, p. 15) My tenants did NOT provide me with their forwarding address and it is August 5th, with a move out of July 31st. I know that this does not mean that I can go hog-wild with the deposit and keep it all (there are mentions about the tenant still having rights against abuses) but I do believe that the tenants have given up a good amount of their rights to challenge the charges I will make against their deposit. Does this mean that I can simply send them the balance of their deposit with a note on general charges put against them and they do not have the right to force me to sue them for disagreements? Have the tables turned where they must sue me versus my suing them? All of my googling/research is not very clear on what happens at this point other than that the tenants REALLY SHOULD have responded in those four days. How would you interpret / handle that? - How have you handled neglect to grass and landscaping in your rental properties? My lease says: TraderStav's amazing generic lease template posted:Yard Maintenance: The tenants let the (rather nice) landscaping overgrow and did not ever add mulch. There are lots of weeds and have not watered this entire year. The grass in the back is nearly dead and the front yard is not looking great as well. There is crab grass everywhere. I did not get to the house often as it is quite distant from where I live. Did I miss my opportunity to force them to comply with the lease prior to them leaving (as they were mistreating/not maintaining) or can I capture some of the costs to bring back to a standard in the security deposit? - Lastly, anyone here with a keen eye on roofs and what type of return you can get on them for a sale? The roof is old (~40 years) but had a second layer put on at some point. Several of the roofing quotes I received said that I had a good 2-5 years left on it. Question is, will a buyer discount the value of the house at this level and it would be worthwhile to invest the $3100 (my lowest, insane quote) to do a tear-off and put a new one on. That's where I'm struggling as I'm running pretty tight above breakeven on the sale. Every corner I can cut will help since I'm putting in about $13K already (new bathroom, new floors throughout, etc) and starting to wear some risk of losing that money. Here is an imgur album if anyone is able to provide any general advice on this. http://imgur.com/a/uqsBh The reason I'm selling is that the house was not purchased with the intent of being a rental property as it was my former residence before moving away for a new job. The margins were decent, but far from ideal for a viable continuing property to own. ($1189 PITI currently, was getting $1450. After renovations could arguably get $1600-1800) With the roof and siding needing work in the very near future I thought this strong market we're having in SE Michigan would be a good opportunity to off-load it and re-evaluate more ideal rental properties down the line. Appreciate any feedback! Thanks! edit: Found this little snippet in a handbook published by the State of Michigan (http://www.legislature.mi.gov/Publications/tenantlandlord.pdf) quote:Without a forwarding address, the landlord has no duty to make arrangements for returning the deposit. If the forwarding address is provided within the 4 days, the landlord has 30 days from moveout to respond. That is interesting... TraderStav fucked around with this message at 18:53 on Aug 5, 2015 |
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Aug 5, 2015 17:48
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n8r posted:So you really have no way of getting ahold of the tenants? No cell numbers? No, that's not what I'm asking. I have a way of getting a hold of them. I'm asking what is the interpretation of the legal requirement in this case for those with experience/knowledge on it. But as landlords, it's in our best interest to make sure we (ethically and legally) optimize for the most efficient way to collect and keep legitimate costs against the security deposit. I've done a lot of researching and still cannot find any mention of what occurs if the tenant does not provide a written forwarding address in the appropriate timeline other than that they lose a significant amount of their rights to the deposit. I am unclear on what actions I need to take in this case in order to minimize the chance of going to court and if so, be as defensible as possible. After posting this I went and compiled the termination of occupancy inventory checklist and I'm fairly certain that this list is greater than their security deposit. I'm just waiting on a few quotes back from my handyman but they were very rough on the place. In that event, I think I will still send the itemized list (with photos) so that they can see that I am legitimately holding their deposit and not just running off with it. Should also help in the event they try to sue for the deposit.
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Aug 5, 2015 21:12
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Thanks for the feedback. That's the direction that I'm heading toward. Anecdotally, people are telling me that we have an irrational housing market in my city currently. It's probably best to use that money as a potential concession rather than anything else. I'll pull together as much documentation as I can for the damages, and that should not be difficult. Question is, for work that I am doing, what would be a fair labor rate to charge? Obviously I value my time at $2,000/hr but that would never hold up in court. Is there a rule of thumb in these cases?
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Aug 6, 2015 15:21
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n8r posted:No offense TraderStav - it seems like you've decided you want to keep their deposit and are now coming up with justifications for it. I'm glad I've never had a landlord try to gently caress me over, but just think if you were in the reverse situation. I can see how you can read that, but it's not the situation at all. Here is the list of damages done to the place and estimates (where I have them) from my Handyman: Insulated Unit Replacement (Window) (237) (Broken window, probably soccer ball) Kicked-in Door Jamb Repair (145) (claimed the mother with dementia was locked in room, door does not have lock) Shed Partial Repl. (door ripped off) (200) (New one is $400-500, was not brand new when moved in) Punched wall repair (35) Unauthorized deck modification removal (25) (for some reason but a board up on my deck to keep flies away, forgetting they can fly) Missing Crown molding repair (100) (Just gone on top of kitchen cabinets) Doorwall Handle Replacement (100) (flat out broke it) Doorwall Lock Replacement (50) (kicked apart, no longer working) Smoke Detector Replacement (35) ($15 for detector, figured $20 for labor, just smashed on the ceiling) Broken Wall Light by Bathroom (58) ($33 for light, $25 labor, hanging by the wire with glass cover missing) Broken spindle on deck fence (100) (looked like it was kicked, they tried to mend it with SCOTCH tape) Broken latch on deck fence (50) Bent/Broke Siding air vent (50) Bathroom light replacement - upstairs (75) (estimated, fixture + labor) Grass Seed (44) Grass Repair (100) (this is estimated labor for my time to rake all the dead grass and re-seed) Landscaping maintenance (100) (this is estimated labor for my time to weed and trim back the insanely overgrown landscaping, and re-mulch) Exterior door (handle and plunger) (200) Water Bill (133) (courtesy payment of final water bill, not a damage) That total comes to $1,837 out of a $2,175 security deposit. They beat the poo poo out of my house. Just rough people and apparently lots of family and friends over all the time. The only subjective numbers on there are the shed and landscaping work. Of which I am not including any mulch cost as I would be doing that regardless. The work hasn't been completed (or items purchased) on any of that list so the actuals may come in higher or lower. But you can now see that I'm looking at the level where the possibility of a full capture may be in play. I'm not a dick, the first set of tenants got all of their deposit back. But they also repaired any damages and/or were generally respectful to the condition of the house. The tenants just left also did a bunch of damage to the carpets but since I already had planned to replace them I did not charge them for any of that either. TraderStav fucked around with this message at 20:53 on Aug 6, 2015 |
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Aug 6, 2015 20:50
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I quickly threw together just a few of the damages I have pictures for on hand. I'm not being petty. http://imgur.com/a/A5baT (bonus picture of painting I was hoping they'd leave behind)
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Aug 6, 2015 21:06
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n8r posted:That lawn doesn't look bad at all - looks to me like it needs some water. Do you expect a renter to keep golf course quality grass? Some of that interior damage looks pretty legit, but that fence work looks rotten as hell and ready to break. The tenant should have notified you regarding that exterior fence/deck work, but expecting that stuff to hold up doesn't look all that reasonable. If I were the tenant I'd fight you on a bunch of that stuff, especially the yard. Photos don't likely capture it very well, but large portions of the grass are like hay and will come right up just by touching it. I also didn't have any pictures on hand of the landscaping where everything is insanely overgrown and filled with weeds. Here is another that better captures the death of it:  I do expect the tenant to actually water the grass and maintain it as the lease that they agreed to requires them to. I even posted that portion of the lease in my OP. Are there two types of ways to manage properties? Is there the official lease and the actual 'I'm just a cool landlord' lease that people are supposed to follow with much more lax rules that are unspecified? Am I in the right thread here? Frankly, all of your responses have been 'just be a cool dude and do the tenants a solid' and that approach is not very consistent with being a successful landlord. I absolutely do not mean that a landlord should be completely self-serving and an rear end in a top hat who finds every penny to ding a tenant for. I clearly stated several times about the numerous things that I did not charge them for that I have complete legal standing to. It is not unreasonable for a landlord to expect property to be returned in similar condition minus wear and tear. This is not normal wear and tear. Here are pictures from before they moved in. That grass and landscaping WAS nice.   The fence is fine, strong and sturdy wolmanized wood, just a bit faded/greyed over time in the sun. Was built in 08. Not sure where you see it being 'rotten as hell'.
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Aug 7, 2015 16:54
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Bloody Queef posted:Trader, I try to be active in the thread as an actual landlord, but I haven't been reading until today where I saw your first post. You're not crazy, you're not being unreasonable, and you're being generous to your tenant. Thanks for the reply and I'm working right now on renovating so will likely reply again later in more detail. I have to agree with your last statement. I live a decent distance and should have had more involvement with these tenants. The first set of tenants I did but got lax with these. It's a solid lesson. I was more or less forced into landlordship as I couldn't sell my house and had to move. I would absolutely get back into it with the right house and economics, where this one was just barely breaking even.
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Aug 8, 2015 15:35
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Oh,also just found the handle to the washer inside of it. These people were animals. Everything that you could open or close has damage.
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Aug 8, 2015 16:05
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But congrats on the inheritance and my condolences for the loss of your sister. It sounds like you are being very cautious about how to handle this. Continue that and seek the counsel of wise people to protect this windfall.
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Sep 2, 2015 02:37
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SiGmA_X posted:Have whoever is doing the move out walk through pickup the keys at the same time?? Simple enough. If it's really a concern, pay a local handyman to change the locks and send them to you.
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Sep 16, 2015 20:34
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adorai posted:Why can't you just not sign a new lease? Unless it specifies otherwise, the end of the lease should serve as a duty to vacate, in the absence of a new lease. A better approach is to allocate a portion of the collected rent to these items. Rent: $1,000 Vacancy expense (8%): $80 Capex (10%): $100 Maintenance (5%): $50 Property Management (9%): $90 PITI: $350 Net cash flow: $330 Then when those expenses come up you can draw the balance to cover it. Those are just base values you can adjust and tweak based on the condition of the house/market/etc. Also, I recommend you DO account for property management, even if you're managing it yourself as you should pay yourself as well as make sure you purchase a property with the right numbers to hand over to someone else to manage one day.
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Sep 6, 2016 19:01
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adorai posted:I do plan to do that, however, I want to seed my maintenance fund and was looking for a guideline for that. Are you doing any rehab up front? Not likely to need the maintenance for a while if you do it well. If you want reserves just keep reserves. Maybe shoot for six months or a year of the expenses I highlighted.
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Sep 7, 2016 03:17
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