Renting a house for the first time ... advice needed

[Jogeephus]

Bought some land that joins me and it has a house on it. Have fixed it up and am looking at renting it to a family. Have heard war stories about rental property and would appreciate any advice you folks may have. I would like this arrangement to be a win/win deal for both parties. Thanks in advance.

 

[Crowderfarms]

Get the first year of rent up front, as security.

 

[redfornow]

Get the first year of rent up front, as security.

Yep that would be nice.

Not going to happen but nice.

Check references at least two rentals back. (the first one will lie to get rid a bad renter)
Check were they are living now usually if they dont keep the outside up the inside out of sight is worse.
Look at thier car, doesnt matter what year if its clean then they are clean if not well, you get the drill.
Get a good size deposit (at least one months rent)
Have a signed lease, of at least a year.
Have all outside bills (water eletric garbage) in their name.
Make sure that the lady of the house knows that "personal items" are not to be flushed, if you dont the septic bills will add up quickly.
Define what is an emergency, roof leaking call me NOW.
Cable off call me in the morning. (been there got the t-shirt)
Set a late payment date and live by that. Once this becomes were you care aobut their porblems they will no longer care about paying you only telling you a story, we all have em.

As you can tell I have visited these and many more.
Email if you have questions, as this is all I could think of of the top of my head.

MD

 

[Wewild]

Go here

http://www.money99.com/resources/produc ... ductType=4

and pay the money.

Look for "the Landlord's Survival Guide"

Read it and follow it. It is the best $100 I ever spent 10 years ago.

 

[Alice]

I sold all mine...

The last one I had evicted turned the water on and left it running while I was going thru eviction procedings...$600 water bill...

Others, well, nevermind...it was not a good experience for me.

Do what Wewild said...spend a little to save a lot...buy the book.

And, heed redfornow's cautions.

Alice

 

[redfornow]

How have you been Alice?
MD

 

[Alice]

I've been pretty good...thanks for asking. It's rained like crazy here and the grass is as tall as I've ever seen it. That's always a stress reliever.

How have you been? :)

Alice

 

[Gale Seddon]

Oh yes, tenants...I learned the hard way. Rented my former residence to some people who managed to unplug the smoke alarm and call me in the middle of the night to say there was a strange "animal type" beep coming from the ceiling somewhere; then there was the "toilet not working" problem (I won't explain this one); then they ran out of water (it was a WELL, you idiots, we're having a drought, you don't wash your car during a drought!) Expensive tenants. I learned, rather quickly, that NOBODY takes care of your home the way YOU do! Was sure glad to sell that place.

 

[redfornow]

Gale,

I had one turn the kill switch on the air condition off and call me a 3 in the morning cause the "air was broke" only to get there turn the switch back on. He said he thought that was the light for the utility room. :shock:
Didnt notice that when he hit the "light switch" that the air went off but NOT the light. lol

MD

Ps renting is much like the cattle business not nearly as much money as people think there is and more trouble than you can ever imagine.
But if you enjoy it, well its a good time...

 

[redfornow]

I've been pretty good...thanks for asking. It's rained like crazy here and the grass is as tall as I've ever seen it. That's always a stress reliever.

How have you been? :)

Alice

Great just about done with calving here.
Not many heifers this year so the stress level is low as it can get for a redneck in ky. ;-)
Glad to hear you got grass, we all need grass.

MD

 

[Bez>]

If I might make a suggestion - we have owned rentals a few times due to keeping a house longer than we wanted. We used to do the fix up and flip before it became "de rigeur" and a bunch of cool television programs.

I did some serious research in our area and went out and found a management company to run the houses.

Now you will pay for this but it is a tax write of. Yeah, it is still an expense.

But there are some serious advantages.

1. I am not the person who gets the call about the toilet overflowing.

2. I am not the person who must collect the rent.

3. I am not the person who has to worry about the type of person renting - although naturally I do.

4. I am not the person who deals with contracts and such.

5. I do not concern myself with the utility bills.

I looked for the paperwork from the last outfit we dealt with in Alberta and could not find it - but I believe we paid 10% of the monthly rent plus a start up fee of a couple hundred bucks.

If the rent was not collected, we did not pay the company. The company had to collect or there was a penalty they paid to us as owners.

Trust me they always got their money - and maybe we were lucky, but we always had real good renters. Their method of checking out the potential renters seemed to work - I have no idea how it was done and did not even ask them - it was their problem not mine.

One renter went real long term - almost 8 years - left the house better than when they moved in.

Just something for you to consider. If you want to be known to your renter and you want to have the hassles of dealing with them - then forget the tip.

If you want to remain an anonymous owner - and have someone else do the work - then do some homework - there are some very good property management outfits out there.

Most are quite affordable.

Good luck,

Bez>

 

[Wewild]

Bez>

2. DISCOUNT RENT: There is a $50.00 discount off the above stated rent if the rent is received in the post office box of Management prior to 5:00 p.m. on or before the first day of the month. The resident bears responsibility for delivery - mailing the rent does not constitute payment.

23. REPAIRS: Management will make necessary repairs to the dwelling and systems including electrical, plumbing, heating and hot water heating with reasonable promptness after receipt of written notice from resident. Resident agrees to bear the first $50.00 of the cost of these repairs during each calendar month. Management will bear all costs above the first $50.00 for repairs. If any damage, beyond normal wear and tear, is caused by resident or his guest, resident agrees to pay management the cost of repair with the next rent payment or upon termination of this agreement, whichever comes first.

Two of my favorite items.

 

[Bez>]

Bez>

2. DISCOUNT RENT: There is a $50.00 discount off the above stated rent if the rent is received in the post office box of Management prior to 5:00 p.m. on or before the first day of the month. The resident bears responsibility for delivery - mailing the rent does not constitute payment.

23. REPAIRS: Management will make necessary repairs to the dwelling and systems including electrical, plumbing, heating and hot water heating with reasonable promptness after receipt of written notice from resident. Resident agrees to bear the first $50.00 of the cost of these repairs during each calendar month. Management will bear all costs above the first $50.00 for repairs. If any damage, beyond normal wear and tear, is caused by resident or his guest, resident agrees to pay management the cost of repair with the next rent payment or upon termination of this agreement, whichever comes first.

Two of my favorite items.

Ladies and gentlemen - I see we have a winner!

Yeah, most folks want to do it themselves - me, I like my weekends without fixing and such.

Ain't management grand?

Cheers,

Bez>

 

[Wewild]

Ladies and gentlemen - I see we have a winner!

Yeah, most folks want to do it themselves - me, I like my weekends without fixing and such.

Ain't management grand?

Cheers,

Bez>

I'd say it's good. I just place a call and they pick up the first $50. I haven't seemed to have them make the call without trying first. If thay do ... It don't take much time on my part. I just place a call.

 

[john250]

A trackhoe can fix this problem in half a day.
My landlord experiences have not been good.

 

[Wewild]

A trackhoe can fix this problem in half a day.
My landlord experiences have not been good.

Tell us about them. I bet there was a solution you didn't come up with ... or start with.

 

[john250]

A trackhoe can fix this problem in half a day.
My landlord experiences have not been good.

Tell us about them. I bet there was a solution you didn't come up with ... or start with.

My mistake was not being professional about renting.
Farming was the business and renting a couple old farmhouses was just a sideline. The houses were low-end, so you can imagine my tenants.
Landlord can be a good deal if you enjoy the work. I'd rather tear down the house and have another acre of pasture.

 

[Alice]

Had some tenants file a false police report...said they'd had their house broken into and their money stolen so they wouldn't have to pay the rent...and it worked, dangit. Fortunately, the police found out and took care of the problem for me.

Another time, I was out hanging up clothes...someone pulled up, got out of his pickup and told me I needed to pay him for the money his wife lost. Of course I said, "Huh?"

Turns out a drug deal was made out of the rental and the man decided to come to me to get his money. The sheriff was pleased to hear...I didn't get the rent that month.

Alice

 

[Wewild]

Had some tenants file a false police report...said they'd had their house broken into and their money stolen so they wouldn't have to pay the rent...and it worked, dangit. Fortunately, the police found out and took care of the problem for me.

Another time, I was out hanging up clothes...someone pulled up, got out of his pickup and told me I needed to pay him for the money his wife lost. Of course I said, "Huh?"

Turns out a drug deal was made out of the rental and the man decided to come to me to get his money. The sheriff was pleased to hear...I didn't get the rent that month.

Alice

I'd say you had some basic screening and background check issues.

Kinda like buying a bad cow that ain't never gona work.

 

[john250]

Had some tenants file a false police report...said they'd had their house broken into and their money stolen so they wouldn't have to pay the rent...and it worked, dangit. Fortunately, the police found out and took care of the problem for me.

Another time, I was out hanging up clothes...someone pulled up, got out of his pickup and told me I needed to pay him for the money his wife lost. Of course I said, "Huh?"

Turns out a drug deal was made out of the rental and the man decided to come to me to get his money. The sheriff was pleased to hear...I didn't get the rent that month.

Alice

Pot growers. I had them.
Junk car collectors. I had them.
Had a guy who gave "for profit" parties. Barbeque and a keg and a band for $5. I was mighty lucky nobody got hurt.
Nobody ever asked me to pay for their drugs, Alice. You got me there. I'm a cattleman, not a landlord. I'll net more $ out of grass than a house.