| Author | Message | ||
     Doughnut |
I am about to be a landlord for the first time. I am not going to be making a profit on this and don't want to make it a bussiness. It will help off set my expensence untill I can sell the house and also help the young lady by getting her out of the bad rental she is in as well as help her get herself established. She is interested in buying the house but is not in a position to right now. Any advice from other landlords? | ||
| Buellerandy |
I'm not a landlord by no means, but this goes without experience... contract contract contract. | ||
| Sifo |
I would suggest a credit check, but it sounds like you have a renter in mind for whatever reasons. +1 on contracts to protect both parties. Evictions are a PITA should the need ever arise. It kind of sounds like someone you are friends with. Hopefully this won't lead to hurting that friendship. | ||
| Doughnut |
Not "friends" with. I have dealt with her twice. She rents next door (the only rental on the block). From the very few dealings I have had with her she seems decent. I know she has put work and her own money into the rental she is in now. Plus she is trying to get into my field of work and knows what I do. | ||
| Blk_uly |
As a landlord for 10+ years do your self a favor and don't make friends with her either. It only makes it harder to do what you may be forced to do later. Business and friends and all that. | ||
| Nillaice |
do a background check, check credit and call every reference they give you, but ask the references to give you a reference. don't listen to thier current landlord, ask the one they are not living at anymore, so the opinion is un-biased and honest (the current land lord will lie and tell you they are great just to get rid of them) and stay indifferent to the person. you are entrusting them with something very valuable, and depending on them to pay up. | ||
| Kim_g |
+1 on a lease. You can probably find a standard one online for free. Definitely do a credit and reference check. Find out if your town or county have any rental property requirements. The city we own a rental property in requires rentals to be registered and inspected by the city prior to being allowed to rent, they also require the standard lead inspection (this is also required by our state if you have a rental property). +1000 on not becoming too friendly the "nicest" people will push this to the limit when they aren't holding up there end of the deal... been there done that.... | ||
| Cityxslicker |
go watch pacific heights..... | ||
| Doughnut |
pacific heights Can I get the cliff notes? She already knows besides the credit check that I will be doing a check of her at work. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
couple rents to Michael Keating, he strips the place of all the facets, electrical conduits, the lighting fixtures, and grafitti the walls, planting a droves of cockroaches and attempted rape of the wife,... and all protected because of some 'home renters' laws in the state (I believe it was California) um yeah. | ||
| Aptbldr |
Rented a place to "nice folks" for five years. They didn't pay rent the last eight months and I accepted the losses. Don't know how I'd make different choices today and I'm working afternoons to remedy the damages. Visit and inspect your property during its rental. Landlord isn't an easy role for a soft-hearted person. (Message edited by aptbldr on September 26, 2010) | ||
| Augustus74 |
She sounds like she may be a risk to rent to. | ||
| Doughnut |
Share, not being an ass, but why from what little I have shared does she sound a risk? | ||
| Toona |
Don't let her get away with anything. I HAD a rental and couldn't wait to get rid of it after the second tenant had to be evicted. I'm sure some of you have had great tenants, but mine both acted like I OWED them a place to live. Make it very clear in the contract that if she breaks any ONE piece of the contract that the eviction process will begin immediately, not after the 2nd or 3rd warning - AND STICK TO IT! Here in PA anyway, evicting someone in the winter months is a ROYAL pain. Dot your "I"s and cross your "T"s, pay attention to every detail. | ||
| Doughnut |
I have never wanted to be a landlord and you guys aren't helping  I am just trying to help sustain the property untill I can sell. I REALLY don't want it vacant till then. I had my moment (a few may remember) when I had to leave it empty. Sounds like my worst ideas are not unlikly. Please keep up the advice. | ||
| 46champ |
Are you trying to make money or just keep it occupied tell you can sell? Your expectations will be different depending on the result your trying to achieve. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
occupied until you sell is another landmine. House we bought had a tenant that wanted to stay on. Insisted on it and refused to move. We made sure our purchase agreement said empty house, no tenants. Seller did not know until closing day if tenant would leave. Tenant left about an hour before we got there. House was a good deal but seller was panicking. Movers were told not to step on the property until I agreed. I didn't step on the property until the agent had walked through the house. The house was a great deal but, oh yeah, seller was panicking. Just another caution. | ||
| Iamarchangel |
On the flip side, way back when we were just about on welfare, a buddy gave us a rental deal on a house he was going to demolish. Part of that was a handshake that we would leave when he had made his business deal. He never made a deal. We were there for years but we were ready to keep to the original agreement. | ||
| Doughnut |
I WANT to just be done with it. There is a long story as to why I have it and "had" to keep it untill now. I have owned it for about 4-5 years and would love to just walk away. I don't care if I make money from it at all. But it will be empty soon. I have payed the morg. because moms and her man lived there and I was taking care of it. Now I just want out. I have gotten the parents to where they are safe and good and want my money freed up. I can't live there. I would sell it just for what I owe. The market is not that well to make such a fast sell here (there). I would even leave stuff like my monster snow blower and mower. But untill I can sell I see renting to a person I "trust" as the best inbetween option. I can't even re-finance because I live too close and don't live ther myself. It is an odd situation that I have gotten into. For me it is bad but I would do it again to take care of moms. But now i have gotten her safe (at additional cost) and I just want out so I can start living my own life. I may have to share speifices later but not right now as I am tired and it will take a lot of background. | ||
| 86129squids |
Good luck dude. Do what you can to make your world go round, and help others do the same. Minimize your risks. "Time and Perseverance are the greatest warriors." Tolstoy | ||
| Whisperstealth |
Fires do happen.... Uh wait, I'm talking to a cop, nevermind I've learned doing the next right thing, works out more often than not. Let her rent, just CYA. Take picture/video before she moves in, and get a rental agreement signed. If she is looking to get into your field, odds are she will treat the place well, and be a good renter. You never know what may happen, lots of good things can come about as well. She may find a way to but the place someday, or invite a friend over who happens to like it. Good cop, extra doughnut  | ||
| Maximum |
Been there (the landlord thing) and done that. Never again UNLESS there is enough profit margin to pay a management company to handle the legal and repair issues. Contracts are required...credit and background checks are nice...but they don't tell the whole story. Many people are suffering bad credit because of just plain bad circumstances. I preferred former home owners that just moved to the area...trying to get a feel for the city before buying another house. But my favorite test was to look at their car...if their car was poorly maintained...that is how they will take care of your house. I had the best experiences with people that drove immaculate older cars. | ||
| Whatever |
There is a lot of good info here. Some specific to Madison and some specific to Wisconsin. Good Luck. http://www.tenantresourcecenter.org/ | ||
| Brumbear |
Go and look at her present apartment to see the condition of it, Contract is a must DO NOT GET into a relationship with her!!!!!! | ||
| Reepicheep |
+1. Don't be shy about building in what you think will be a profit, as it will lower your overall losses when all is said and done.  If your attitude is "whatever I get is better than having it empty" you will probably come out of it OK. If it's anything other than that, leave it empty. And make sure you have a nice tight contract that says you can end the agreement at any time for any reason with 30 days notice. A friend of mine just did this, he ended up getting rent for about half the months. Fortunately the tenants were good about keeping the place up and even doing some painting and repair. | ||
| Kyrocket |
See if your city/town has a landlord's association. Sometimes they keep track of deadbeat renters. Like others have said, CYA, I have several friends that rent property and I myself am a code enforcement officer and you couldn't give me rental property. I've seen places absolutely trashed, even poured quickrete down the toilet on one recently. But for every one of them there are 10 decent ones. The bad ones just stick out. Not saying yours will do this and being a LEO you've probably seen more than I but they'll clean up during the interview and stay clean long enough to get in but then Katy bar the door... Good luck. | ||
| Xb1125r |
get a contract form a realtor. they can give you a copy of what they use or you can find on online. do creidt reports, do ont get burned. its pain to deal with assholes in courts. not fun never deal with friends, money is not a reason to sacrifice a friendship if things go bad. | ||
| Nevrenuf |
just had a conversation about this an hr ago. i won't rent. if i can't sell, i won't move. check your loss on evictions. my buddy rents by the week so he can get rid of someone down here in the tampa area a lot easier. he never really tole me the whole secret but there are loop holes for a quick eviction. you just have to find them. you also might want to see if your allowed to put something in the contract that allows you to spot check the property to see if she's keeping it the way she got it. just my opinion. i've seen my buddy go through hell with his rentals. good luck doughnut. | ||
| Bluzm2 |
Jon, Don't beat yourself up over the past 4-5 years. You did the right thing with your folks. Way more than most would/could. You've banked some serious Karmic points for that. I don't have much to add to all the above postings but just be careful and have a good contract/lease. I like the inspection thing as well. It could be bi-monthly as a spot check for "repairs". Use the excuse of checking weatherstripping, doors, locks, plumbing, loose hand rails, etc. what ever works. Safety inspection comes to mind. Brad (Message edited by bluzm2 on September 27, 2010) | ||
| Dwardo |
Hire a rental agent to handle the property for you. It will cost you 10% plus, probably, a first-refusal to list the dwelling if you sell. It will be worth every penny. |
