Narz
keeping it real
Anyone here own a home or building they rent out?
Any landlords?
- Thread starter Narz
- Start date
FriendlyFire
Codex WMDicanious
US state laws are different to Australia though but if you have a non law question or problems sure fire away
Before I retired I ran a company that leased office building space. Quite a while ago, we had a house we rented to others. What do you want to know?
Bugfatty300
Buddha Squirrel
I inherited a mobile home park in 2005. I moved into the nicest unit and I tried to do the landlord thing but I was just 19 and had no idea what I was doing. People treated them like hotel rooms so I gave up and quit renting them all together. Eventually they were all vacant so I ended up having the whole place to myself.
I also quit maintaining the place so it looked like a post-apocalyptic ghost town for most of the time I lived there.
I also quit maintaining the place so it looked like a post-apocalyptic ghost town for most of the time I lived there.
Contact local movie location scouts and make sure they know you have a great zombie apocalypse set they can rent for their next movie. For real!
Bugfatty300
Buddha Squirrel
Unfortunately the county appropriated the land years ago and I had to declare the units abandoned to avoid all the lot fees. They sold it someone who made it habitable again.
Here's one of my friends at the Wii release party at my community center during it's decrepit heyday. (everything inside is powered by a drop cord plugged into the one unit with power)
Spoiler :
plarq
Crazy forever
I have a condo unit where I live in one bedroom and rent out another.
Narz
keeping it real
No specific questions, just thinking of getting a multi-unit building and renting out apartments with my girlfriend.
Sounds like fun.
Just make sure that your rents collected (from tenants and you) cover any mortgage, insurance, real estate and town taxes, utilities and build a substantial contingency for repairs.No specific questions, just thinking of getting a multi-unit building and renting out apartments with my girlfriend.
Sounds like fun.
Synobun
Deity
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Along those same lines, if you're stocking these units with appliances then you'll need to balance between new and used. It's tempting to go new because it's state of the art and you can advertise it in the ads for increased cost, but a lot of new appliances are more difficult to repair and there's the obvious price tag component as well. Sometimes it may be best to use older appliances that are easy to repair and are known for being sturdy.
My apartment has a landlord-provided microwave that was manufactured six months after I was born. It's over 22 years old. It's so incredibly durable however that it hasn't needed any servicing or replacing.
Quieter tenants, or people who avoid conflict, will probably not tell you when something's broken or acting strangely. Check in every now and then and ask directly if something's not working as it should. If you replace your own appliances, see if a tenant might want to have your old ones if they're markedly better than theirs. It costs you nothing and increases goodwill with your tenants which can be important in keeping the good ones around.
Beyond all that, my last point of advice is more as a victim of nightmare landlords. Don't traipse around the property and lord over the tenants. Don't "swing by" for a "quick chat", don't just walk into their units, don't tell them what they can or can't do, don't tell them to make arbitrary changes based on your tastes, etc. Every landlord I've had in Vancouver has also taken it upon themselves to assert authority on how I live inside my unit. At best it's a constant annoyance, at worst it's fuel for burning resentment.
Farm Boy
I hope you dance
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Not sure about the market, but you probably can't provide both a candyland and turn a profit. Mind your eviction laws and use them properly for damage/illegal commercial activity/nonpayment and the like. Unless you are well enough off to subsidize your own section housing and kindhearted enough to do it.
Dad waited a almost a year once to remove a tenant for nonpayment because it cropped up first around the holidays and evicting somebody then was too mean for him. After the rent stopped coming in, the damage to the house accelerated rapidly from what I can tell.
Dad waited a almost a year once to remove a tenant for nonpayment because it cropped up first around the holidays and evicting somebody then was too mean for him. After the rent stopped coming in, the damage to the house accelerated rapidly from what I can tell.
caketastydelish
Deity
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I'm lord of the land of Canteberry, as I watch over my dominion and see that the peasants tend to their crops. My knights protect my people as they pick berries and grow the wine vineyards, and my land is at peace.
Samez
Emperor
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First and probably most important thing as home owner and landlord is:
- get a good relation with your local fire department: If there should ever be an issue like a fire or a flood they will be much more motivated to help someone they know well
In German there is the word Mietnomade. It describes tenants who refuse to pay any rent until they are expelled from their current home. They usually repeat this over and over again and will, as worst case, devastate the rooms they lived in. It can be quite hard to expel them, as tenants have a high legal protection level here and legal suits lasting several years can happen. As worst case you won't have any income from rent and you have to repair the rooms and as compensation you only have a legal claim against someone who will never pay it.
The laws on the other side of the great lake is probably different but it is better to be prepared:
- get a good lawyer - in the best case he/she will just have to check the contracts, as worst case they will fight the law suits for you
- when doing contract stuff and when visiting you tenants later try to take someone else with you who is not directly related to you - they can be witness when law suits happen, they can moderate when there is an emotional discussion and they can be intimidating for people who do not intend to follow the law.
It sound very negative, but as my aunt is currently a full time landlord I have heard a lot of wired stories.
- get a good relation with your local fire department: If there should ever be an issue like a fire or a flood they will be much more motivated to help someone they know well
In German there is the word Mietnomade. It describes tenants who refuse to pay any rent until they are expelled from their current home. They usually repeat this over and over again and will, as worst case, devastate the rooms they lived in. It can be quite hard to expel them, as tenants have a high legal protection level here and legal suits lasting several years can happen. As worst case you won't have any income from rent and you have to repair the rooms and as compensation you only have a legal claim against someone who will never pay it.
The laws on the other side of the great lake is probably different but it is better to be prepared:
- get a good lawyer - in the best case he/she will just have to check the contracts, as worst case they will fight the law suits for you
- when doing contract stuff and when visiting you tenants later try to take someone else with you who is not directly related to you - they can be witness when law suits happen, they can moderate when there is an emotional discussion and they can be intimidating for people who do not intend to follow the law.
It sound very negative, but as my aunt is currently a full time landlord I have heard a lot of wired stories.
Synobun
Deity
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Ah yes! This reminds me.
Get into the habit of doing a "damages" check with the tenant before the move-in date. Take photos and list everything. Determine what the tenant wants fixed or what needs to be fixed through tenancy law. Notarize this package. Do a move-in check when they move in to confirm repairs, take photos. Notarize it.
You'll also do this when they want to move out to ascertain if any of the security deposit should be held. Notarized photos guarantees your case if they dispute the deduction. The document would also be good evidence if they trash your place and you take them to court over it.
Most banks offer free notary services or you can find a reliable one close-by. It shouldn't be too expensive if you get a private notary.
Bamspeedy
CheeseBob
I'd be surprised if that really makes a difference in response time. (Donations after the fact to help someone get back on their feet, sure that would make a difference).
Varies by state, but generally 30 day eviction notice is given, and if the tenant doesn't challenge it or take care of the reasons for the eviction, the court will usually then accept the eviction, at which point the tenant then has 24 hours to move out.
But, if you get one of those 'expert' con artists who knows the law and how much they can get away with, it can drag out for months or longer. I saw some show, it may have been "World's Worst Tenants" and in California (maybe Florida?) this guy was trying to evict this woman. The TV host (some sort of professional that is hired to evict tenants) starts talking to her and realizes she knows her stuff. He tells the landlord, "Man, I can already tell from talking to her just for a few minutes, that she is going to drag this through the courts for months, and with your lawyer fees and court costs, you are better off paying her off instead". He pays her $10,000 to move out. But I didn't feel bad for the landlord, as it appeared to be a situation of "She was my girlfriend so I gave her a rent-free apartment, well now she's not my girlfriend anymore and I want her evicted".
Yeah, that's what any real estate investor wants, but that's kind of like telling an investor in any other asset class "make sure your returns cover your fees". Realistically, you only control your costs, and rents are dictated by market conditions. (Assuming you're not in a jurisdiction with government rent control or other wackiness I'm unfamiliar with.) The only way you have much control over rent is by changing the quality of amenities you provide.
FriendlyFire
Codex WMDicanious
Wow someone is loaded with money, 10k bribe, free apartment for the girlfriend
Bet he made the mistake of not signing a lease in writting and just verbal agreement with the girlfriend, then of course there is the relationship which must have been serious enough for that free apartment, breakup and such
It is also practical. Renting property, even if it is half of a duplex, can be risky. If rents don't cover mortgage payments, It comes from the landlord's bank account. If you cannot cover annual taxes, the city, county or state will be on your ass. When a roof fails, or a furnace needs replacing, the landlord pays. Those repairs come from his funds and not from the tenants.
Narz's plan may be to eliminate his cash needs by having tenants foot the entire mortgage bill. That's a good plan if the rental market will bear that price point. My worry is that lack of a reserve fund of capital to cover repairs and taxes will create problems and create a situation where they will lose the entire building. Mortgages and taxes are known quantities; repairs unknown, but having a fund is imperative. I would suggest that he build a fund (over time) of up to $10,000. Whether he likes it or not, being a landlord puts Narz into a business and using capital to improve his situation. It would be foolish to ignore standard practices that lead to being successful.
