Rookie Landlord

[BigV]

I've recently agreed to rent my house out.

This is a *big* deal for me, emotionally, financially, logistically, relationally. Twil and I live together now. Since I got a (real) job, not working at J-Lube anymore, it's been more practical and more pleasant to live with her in her house. But that means we're living in one and paying for two. I have a good job I love, but the pay has left me just a little under-solvent. And when you're losing a dollar a unit, you can't really make it up on volume.

The emotional component is largely due to the fact that this is my first house, my only house (I don't even have a Monopoly yet!). Tink and I bought this house in 1993. It's been the only house I've ever owned. And I raised a family in it for a couple decades. It's *full* of stuff. Not just my stuff, but I have kids that have moved out, moved back, moved out, and back, etc, etc. Not everything in the house actually belongs to me. So I have to get all that taken care of.

Speaking of "things in the house that are not mine" there are four people living there, my son, my sister, my brother and his girlfriend. They have to go, too. The conversations have all been opened, but no one has a new place yet.

Yeah.... I think I covered all those bases.

Right now, it's just a GIANT pile of work, with a hard end date/move in date. I'll be moving back to the house, starting tomorrow night, so I can work at work all day and then come home and work until I drop so I can get up and do it all over again.

I wanted to start this thread to get youse guyz up to date and to give me a place to put my works-in-progress photos. Also, anyone who's got good advice to be a successful landlord, speak up. I'm a rookie and it's the end of spring training almost. Opening day is almost here.

[sexobon]

I leased out a home in NC for several years before selling it. Realtors there did property management cheap in hopes of clients eventually selling with them. They already have the apparatus in place for showings and background checks. They also have the connections to promptly take care of any fair wear and tear repairs, which are the landlord's responsibility, that have to be done for the tenants. Those expenses are simply deducted from the rent proceeds. It was a good deal since I had moved to TX.

[Clodfobble]

So you're not renting a room in the house you're living in, right? You're staying in Twil's house, and kicking out (politely) all the people who are still in your old house but paying no rent? Sounds like a good idea.

As far as being a landlord, all I can say is choose your renters very, very carefully. I've seen some really horrendous damage done to houses by renters who just didn't give a shit.

[xoxoxoBruce]

I'm with sexo, at least talk to some of the real estate property managers in your area and get a handle on cost, advantages and disadvantages. I can't see any disadvantages except cost, and of course not dealing directly with the tenants, no chance of getting a penalty blowjob if they are a day late with the rent.

Oh, and decide if you want to restrict renters, like no cats, or no dogs, maybe no Boa Constrictors, or children.

[glatt]

The renters you get will make all the difference. Seriously. I know of landlords who have literally paid renters to leave they were so bad and the system is so slow to get rid of them.

I am POA for my elderly cousin with dementia. He had a rental property in another state. Rented it to a father and son. The father died, and he let the son take over the lease and continue living there. To say the son trashed the house is like saying the titanic bumped into a snowball floating in the ocean. We ended up getting the son evicted after 6 months of no rent payments, but the house sustained so much damage that when I sold it to raise money for nursing home expenses, the property with an $80k assessed value could only fetch $32k. It needed to be gutted by the new owners. Down to the floor joists and wall studs. It was TRASHED. Son had no money, so no use going after him. No money on the books anyway.

Neighbors told me the son had 3 dogs, and never let them outside. The animal feces was piled up inside on the floors. Soaked into the floors. Fleas. Urine damage swelled the floorboards so much, the back door couldn't swing open. Every window broken. Furnace literally smashed apart. Junk everywhere.

I need to stop typing about this. I spent $2K hiring people to clean it up enough to sell "as is" to someone who planned to gut it and leave it all winter with the windows open to air out before he tried to fix it back up again.

Chose your renters wisely, and keep an eye on the place. But be friendly about it.

[glatt]

Also, there are fairly complicated IRS rules for rental property. You'll want to depreciate the property over time on your taxes to take those deductions, and those rules are complicated. My cousin was an accountant and understood them well before he got dementia, and this year I hired an accountant and showed her what he had done in years past, and she seemed to understand it as well, but I had no freaking clue. People build careers around understanding this complicated stuff. You can either educate yourself enough to be confident in your ability to DIY, or hire someone.

[Gravdigr]

If you don’t rent to criminals, are you a racist?

In a 10-page “guidance” issued on April 4, [The Department of Housing and Urban Development] announced that any landlord with a blanket policy of not renting to people with a criminal conviction is effectively discriminating on the basis of race or national origin.

Is that not a racist statement in itself?

It essentially says that if you're a criminal, you are apparently non-white, and/or non-American.

[Happy Monkey]

It's more of an admission of racial bias in the criminal justice system.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by glatt

The renters you get will make all the difference. Seriously. I know of landlords who have literally paid renters to leave they were so bad and the system is so slow to get rid of them.

Ditto.

A friend would get rid of tenants by offering them $1000 to be out in a week. He said the cost of eviction would run to $5000 not including the 6 months it would take and the lost income. It was a win-win. For a grand everyone can find a couch to crash on. He also pointed out that having dozens of rental properties spreads the loss out, when you've only got one, the impact of a non paying tenant is acute.

Another thought is if you have to evict the family, why not offer to rent it to them? If they move they'll have to pay rent where ever they go, might as well pay it to you and save them the cost of moving.

Could also be a recipe for disaster.

[glatt]

I just realized that the bad renters are always getting kicked out, so always are looking for a new landlord to take advantage of. I bet that during any given time, a very significant portion of the rental seekers are bad renters. Look for renters who have a good story. Military family being transferred to the area. Somebody who stayed at their previous apartment for ten years, but the landlord died and kids are selling to property. Something like that. If somebody is moving after 6 months in the same town, you have to wonder why.

I have no idea what the law allows in the way of discrimination of various renters.

[Clodfobble]

When we lived in a duplex, the other half was rented out to at least 3 or 4 different people during the year (maaaaybe two?) that we were there. It sat empty a fair amount, and any time it was up for rent there was a "first month's rent free!" deal involved. One family of Way Too Many was there only two months: the free month, then a month of not paying, then they disappeared again in the middle of the night. They traveled very light and you could tell this was standard practice for them, to just crash for 2-3 months free everywhere they went.

[footfootfoot]

Originally Posted by glatt

I just realized that the bad renters are always getting kicked out, so always are looking for a new landlord to take advantage of. I bet that during any given time, a very significant portion of the rental seekers are bad renters. Look for renters who have a good story. Military family being transferred to the area. Somebody who stayed at their previous apartment for ten years, but the landlord died and kids are selling to property. Something like that. If somebody is moving after 6 months in the same town, you have to wonder why.

I have no idea what the law allows in the way of discrimination of various renters.

I watched my friend in action one time. He never asked any questions directly, he was just very conversational and chatty as if the question of renting to them had already been settled and they were just shooting the breeze. In the course of the conversation he'd found out pretty much everything he needed to know and he'd end by saying, "I'll be in touch."

[monster]

Use an agent. Several of my friend have rental properties, they all reckon an agent is worth it. You can usually still elect to be in control of property maintenance to keep their cut down and retain more control. those who started off without an agent got one pretty pronto. If nothing else, renters are often wary of landlords who rent privately

[xoxoxoBruce]

Let an agent handle it, then after they've been there a couple weeks show up in Hells angel's gear, preferably with some friends dressed alike. Tell them you're the owner and just checking on your property. Minimize the interaction, then ride off into the sunset.

Who was that, Dear?
Says he's the owner.
Hey kids, get your hands off the woodwork... and wipe your feet.

[BigV]

Hi.

I'm so tired.

To bed last night at about 1130, alarm goes off at 450, letting me get on this ferry, the 610.

I'm going to ask my boss if I can shift and shorten my work schedule, say, 700 to 1200. Right now, I'm getting home at about 600 and that's not enough time, daytime, to get this job done.