Rental houses

[D2Cat]

In my first conversation with any perspective tenant I tell them I have three or four already on a list that have inquired. I have a list of folks that at one time may have inquired, but it leaves the door open to reject anyone without grief.

I always tell the perspective tenant to their face, "Three thing I expect from from any tenant, you pay your rent on time, keep the place clean, and don't lie to me." If they look away, they just got disqualified.

 

[Little Joe]

I have 3 rentals, first I bought the tenants have been there since day one (8 years) and are great renters, 2nd the tenant there has been with me since day one (6 years) and the third is on second tenant that's been there 4 years I believe, the third one is the only one I ever have trouble with getting rent but she eventually always pays but she takes the best care of a house than the others. I could ask more rent than what I'm getting but as others have stated I'd rather have good renters. I also want the cheapest house in the best area, druggies don't want to live around good people that call the law on you. As others have stated, have a good firm contract laying out all expectations. There are things that I don't always hold true to on the contract but it's there if I need to fall back on it as my contract states that me allowing something doesn't necessarily mean I can't enforce it later. My main thing is absolutely no smoking in the house. I collect rent monthly in person in their house, that gives me opportunity to lay my eyes on the place. I also do all my own repairs. As for the third bedroom I wouldn't add it and would actually hope for an older couple to rent it.

 

[Pep Union]

Meeting the right tenant is sometimes completely your destiny. While the weirdest people may be your best tenant with zero problems at all, you may have to deal with the well mannered and cool looking people for months, even years.

 

[BigBear56]

Meeting the right tenant is sometimes completely your destiny. While the weirdest people may be your best tenant with zero problems at all, you may have to deal with the well mannered and cool looking people for months, even years.

I couldn't agree more. We were looking to sell our home almost 9 years ago. We were under water on it by about $10-15k and had already bought a new home. We had it listed for 6 months with no offers. We went 3 months with 2 mortgages and I decided to rent it out. I put an add on Craigslist and a sign in the yard. I probably had 70 phone calls and emails. So many I decided to do an open house and hand out applications and meet prospective tenants. I had 2 people show up. Both took apps. Only 1 app was returned. She was a single lady that had recently lost a home and had an adult daughter that lives with her. We moved her in in October on 2012. She's been there ever since. We meet annually for her to sign the lease for the next year (and for me to see the property). She gives me an envelope full of post dated rent checks for the entire year and has bounced 1 check and she called me right after it happened. She takes great care of the property and has remodeled some of the rooms (flooring and paint). Place always looks good. Now I'm at the point where the market is absolutely on fire around here and I'm having the moral dilemma of selling the house out from underneath her. I always told my wife I would keep her in there until we could make enough off of that house to pay off our current home. Welp we're almost there. She has been a blessing to us. Tough situation for me anyways

 

[Chevy]

I couldn't agree more. We were looking to sell our home almost 9 years ago. We were under water on it by about $10-15k and had already bought a new home. We had it listed for 6 months with no offers. We went 3 months with 2 mortgages and I decided to rent it out. I put an add on Craigslist and a sign in the yard. I probably had 70 phone calls and emails. So many I decided to do an open house and hand out applications and meet prospective tenants. I had 2 people show up. Both took apps. Only 1 app was returned. She was a single lady that had recently lost a home and had an adult daughter that lives with her. We moved her in in October on 2012. She's been there ever since. We meet annually for her to sign the lease for the next year (and for me to see the property). She gives me an envelope full of post dated rent checks for the entire year and has bounced 1 check and she called me right after it happened. She takes great care of the property and has remodeled some of the rooms (flooring and paint). Place always looks good. Now I'm at the point where the market is absolutely on fire around here and I'm having the moral dilemma of selling the house out from underneath her. I always told my wife I would keep her in there until we could make enough off of that house to pay off our current home. Welp we're almost there. She has been a blessing to us. Tough situation for me anyways

My 2 cents if she is paying rent is a good tenant don't sell it. Sounds like she had been good to ya'll. The house market is only going up with all this pandemic and all going on. Correct me if I'm wrong. Price of lumber is high right now. All houses put on the market normally sell fast.

 

[Chevy]

So should I make it set up for an elder with handicap doors, bathroom, ect?

 

[D2Cat]

So should I make it set up for an elder with handicap doors, bathroom, ect?

I would not build to suit someone else's need. Find tenants that fit your property without the additional codes to meet.

 

[ccr]

Can the government prohibit a landlord from evicting a tenant that is not paying rent?

CDC Extends Its Eviction Moratorium

 

[kenny thomas]

Can the government prohibit a landlord from evicting a tenant that is not paying rent?

CDC Extends Its Eviction Moratorium

Supposedly they can and not a thing you can do except add the monthly amount to the amount you are going to loose eventually.

 

[BFE]

Best rental setup I know of. The owners have invested in smaller, 1-2 bedroom houses. All are immaculate. They target older retired widows/single working age women who don't mind paying a bit of a premium on rent. The owners are in the HVAC/plumbing business and formerly general construction. If the renters have a problem, it's fixed immediately, no worries on their part except paying the rent. Both sides are happy.

I've seen the worst case rental situations through the years of driving a propane truck and working utilities, enough to scare me from ever wanting to get into it. Be as vigilant as possible.

 

[backhoeboogie]

We use an agent for our rental houses. She runs a credit check and a background check. She charges us 15%. $500 for each house is set in an account. Accumulatively that leaves quite a purse when you figure how many houses she handles for us. If there is an emergency repair needed, we have enough nickels set back to get started. No bad renters yet. We usually get first shot on doing minor repairs on our own.

As far as 1 BR or 2BR I guess the question is what does the market demand ? We have 3 cabins that seem to make more money than our 4 BR 4 bath rental. Property taxes make that big house a burden.

 

[Chevy]

I prefer not to know the renters personally. Turn it over to a property manager

Guess I'll play "property manager". Sounds good to have a real property manager. When your not rich you learn to work on everything yourself, do all the jobs rich folks pay people do do. Save money live better.

 

[shaz]

Guess I'll play "property manager". Sounds good to have a real property manager. When your not rich you learn to work on everything yourself, do all the jobs rich folks pay people do do. Save money live better.

The reason not to know your tenants is that familiarity breeds contempt. Much better they think of the landlord as an entity, not a person. Sooner or later you'll see what I mean.

 

[backhoeboogie]

What kind of grills/bbqs and/or smokers do ya'll like gas, charcoal, ect.

Do ya'll do all of outdoor cooking?

Guess I'll play "property manager". Sounds good to have a real property manager. When your not rich you learn to work on everything yourself, do all the jobs rich folks pay people do do. Save money live better.

If only it worked that way ! If you live in a home, you can do your own work. No problem. If you are renting that home the cities view it almost like commercial property. You have to hire certified electricians, plumbers etc. One local town requires electrical workers to have a one and a half million dollar bond to do things like change out pumps on swimming pools. The bonds get expensive for them. One electrician told me the cheapest route is to show up at the coffee shop in the a.m. and pay for all their breakfasts. I wonder if the city manager doesn't have a wife who sells insurance.

My lesson learned here is to not buy rental houses within the city limits. Stay away from any HOA areas too.

 

[D2Cat]

We have properties in towns of 2,000 and 6,000 population, and in the country. Do all the work I choose to do without problems. Also have a 6 page lease that details every imaginable circumstance. They know where I stand and know what's expected before they sign the papers. I have no problems with contempt. To each his own. One has to know what they can handle, I guess.

 

[Chevy]

If only it worked that way ! If you live in a home, you can do your own work. No problem. If you are renting that home the cities view it almost like commercial property. You have to hire certified electricians, plumbers etc. One local town requires electrical workers to have a one and a half million dollar bond to do things like change out pumps on swimming pools. The bonds get expensive for them. One electrician told me the cheapest route is to show up at the coffee shop in the a.m. and pay for all their breakfasts. I wonder if the city manager doesn't have a wife who sells insurance.

My lesson learned here is to not buy rental houses within the city limits. Stay away from any HOA areas too.

We have a house in an HOA.... we are currently remodeling. I've already showed my entire BUTT to the HOA President. I'm easy going until I'm not then my redhead temper come out, straight up famous "Shell fit" rare but it happens.
The president was going around putting papers on everybody's front doors reminder of the HOA meeting. She stood in our yard yelling at her husband "do we have to invite them?" We never even meet the lady. We always wave at her when we see her outside in her yard she won't ever wave back just stares. I was so hot I explained in Kentucky we do this friend thing when we see our friends, family, neighbors, ect we put our arm in the air and move it side to side its called waving! Although there is different times of this and I could show her if she like me too. Just cause she was being a to me saying she could teach me how to use my phone and download some app. To pay the HOA dues. I don't care nothing about any apps to pay a HOA bill they better just except cash. That's really not even half of it but story times over.

 

[kenny thomas]

We have a house in an HOA.... we are currently remodeling. I've already showed my entire BUTT to the HOA President. I'm easy going until I'm not then my redhead temper come out, straight up famous "Shell fit" rare but it happens.
The president was going around putting papers on everybody's front doors reminder of the HOA meeting. She stood in our yard yelling at her husband "do we have to invite them?" We never even meet the lady. We always wave at her when we see her outside in her yard she won't ever wave back just stares. I was so hot I explained in Kentucky we do this friend thing when we see our friends, family, neighbors, ect we put our arm in the air and move it side to side its called waving! Although there is different times of this and I could show her if she like me too. Just cause she was being a to me saying she could teach me how to use my phone and download some app. To pay the HOA dues. I don't care nothing about any apps to pay a HOA bill they better just except cash. That's really not even half of it but story times over.

Showing a redheaded butt? Got my attention. Lol

 

[Ky hills]

The reason not to know your tenants is that familiarity breeds contempt. Much better they think of the landlord as an entity, not a person. Sooner or later you'll see what I mean.

I agree that familiarity breeds contempt. We just have 2 rental houses both on our farm properties. We learned the hard way about renting to people we kind of knew, and exactly the scenario that I had always said we should not rent to but we thought they would be different. I felt that there was contempt from the first time we expected rent money from them. It seemed like they thought it was optional, and always an excuse why they couldn't pay.

 

[D2Cat]

The reason not to know your tenants is that familiarity breeds contempt. Much better they think of the landlord as an entity, not a person. Sooner or later you'll see what I mean.

Are you referring to family members or what when you say "the reason not to know your tenants breeds contempt"?

My goal is to find out all I can before someone becomes a tenant! I need at least three references with phone numbers that work and they expect a call and not family members. Talk to employer, past landlords, internet information, anything to find out the persons habits/character. That's what I mean by "know your tenants".

 

[Little Joe]

The reason not to know your tenants is that familiarity breeds contempt. Much better they think of the landlord as an entity, not a person. Sooner or later you'll see what I mean.

2 of my tenants have been a pleasure to know personally 1 of them I wish I had property management to deal with them.