DIY oh my! and tips when renting out a property
I met the inspector for the SC house yesterday. Good news is the foundation, electrical, roof and plumbing are all in good shape.
The hot water heater and dishwasher need to be replaced. They removed the dishwater motor? Weird.
Aside from those two items, it looks like all the other damage is purely cosmetic. Apparently there was an orange (the fruit), fight in one of the rooms, that I missed when I was down there last week. I could see the splatter marks and the residue, once I had some better light in there. That will be interesting to clean. One of the rooms had 100+ knife holes in the wall and I couldn't figure out what would have caused that, but I found a throwing star behind a door and that made sense. A ton of fist sized holes and a couple that I think were caused by a foot. Two of the door frames are broken where it looked like they were kicked in. Crazy. I don't understand how people can do that much damage to a place they live in, regardless whether they own it or not.
All in all, I am guessing I have about 20 to 30 hours in sheet rock repair. Last year it took me about 60 hours to paint it all. I have to replace two of the door frames, which I've never done. I need to replace a bunch of the doors, but that should go quickly, so I'm guessing about six hours for all of the door work. Almost every screen needs to be replaced. I will re-screen those myself but that can be a little time consuming. Good news is I can do that from my house up here and just take them back down for installation. I can rent a carpet cleaner and that might take about five hours. The only place I am really concerned is the stairs. They look really bad!! It is the only place I am considering trying to replace. The area's that have cigarette burns in the master bedroom, I can patch. So when all is said and done, I am guessing I will have about a hundred twenty hours worth of labor time.
I have located a discount builders supply as well as Habitat for Humanity and provided they have what I am looking for, I might save some money there.
A little bit of landscaping and I'll be able to put it back on the market. Sounds like a lot of work, and a lot more money than I wish I had to spend, and unfortunately, I am probably going to just break even on the house. Bright side is that it shouldn't be a loss! I am just going to have to accept that it is what it is.
For those of you who are even considering renting a property out, a couple of tips based on my experience;
Do a thorough back ground check, and check the last two landlords of your potential resident. I took the word of a good friend that this family was a really good family and they had known them for years. I was an idiot!!
If you can't drive by on occasion to take a look at the property, then don't rent it. Being three hours away made it a huge burden for a drive by inspection and I just didn't do it. I was an idiot!!
When you have the renter sign the agreement, make sure you do write in that you have the freedom to do an occasional walk through at a time when they are home. I was smart enough to do this, but I only took advantage of it last March. My hopes were, that knowing that I would do this, it would keep the renters on their toes. I was an idiot!!
This is a business agreement. If your renter falls behind in their rent, stick with the terms of the agreement. Do not allow the excuses of life to deviate, regardless how unfortunate the renters circumstances may change and how they promise to catch up the next month. I allowed myself to feel bad and cut them some slack. Add the fact that the courthouse didn't process my paperwork correctly, it gave these folks several months there, while I received no money. Now I am the one having unfortunate circumstances as well as the renter.
This was my third set of renters in this house. The first family was a dream, they paid on time and the house was in great condition, but they only needed a six month lease. The second family got behind in their rent and left with out having to be evicted. The condition of the house wasn't too bad, but I only ended up breaking even after regular renovations, (painting and carpet), to get it ready for the next renters. This third family was obviously a bad choice!
Through out this process of having them evicted and the inspection, I have heard some real horror stories. I do feel, I didn't get it as bad as some of the things I've heard! One woman I spoke with, her renters literally gutted the house of all the copper wiring, plumbing and appliances!! Needless to say, I will never rent again. If you consider it, accept that you could loose from the out set, and while the extra cash in your pocket may be nice, no one I have talked to is getting rich from owning rental properties!
The hot water heater and dishwasher need to be replaced. They removed the dishwater motor? Weird.
Aside from those two items, it looks like all the other damage is purely cosmetic. Apparently there was an orange (the fruit), fight in one of the rooms, that I missed when I was down there last week. I could see the splatter marks and the residue, once I had some better light in there. That will be interesting to clean. One of the rooms had 100+ knife holes in the wall and I couldn't figure out what would have caused that, but I found a throwing star behind a door and that made sense. A ton of fist sized holes and a couple that I think were caused by a foot. Two of the door frames are broken where it looked like they were kicked in. Crazy. I don't understand how people can do that much damage to a place they live in, regardless whether they own it or not.
All in all, I am guessing I have about 20 to 30 hours in sheet rock repair. Last year it took me about 60 hours to paint it all. I have to replace two of the door frames, which I've never done. I need to replace a bunch of the doors, but that should go quickly, so I'm guessing about six hours for all of the door work. Almost every screen needs to be replaced. I will re-screen those myself but that can be a little time consuming. Good news is I can do that from my house up here and just take them back down for installation. I can rent a carpet cleaner and that might take about five hours. The only place I am really concerned is the stairs. They look really bad!! It is the only place I am considering trying to replace. The area's that have cigarette burns in the master bedroom, I can patch. So when all is said and done, I am guessing I will have about a hundred twenty hours worth of labor time.
I have located a discount builders supply as well as Habitat for Humanity and provided they have what I am looking for, I might save some money there.
A little bit of landscaping and I'll be able to put it back on the market. Sounds like a lot of work, and a lot more money than I wish I had to spend, and unfortunately, I am probably going to just break even on the house. Bright side is that it shouldn't be a loss! I am just going to have to accept that it is what it is.
For those of you who are even considering renting a property out, a couple of tips based on my experience;
Do a thorough back ground check, and check the last two landlords of your potential resident. I took the word of a good friend that this family was a really good family and they had known them for years. I was an idiot!!
If you can't drive by on occasion to take a look at the property, then don't rent it. Being three hours away made it a huge burden for a drive by inspection and I just didn't do it. I was an idiot!!
When you have the renter sign the agreement, make sure you do write in that you have the freedom to do an occasional walk through at a time when they are home. I was smart enough to do this, but I only took advantage of it last March. My hopes were, that knowing that I would do this, it would keep the renters on their toes. I was an idiot!!
This is a business agreement. If your renter falls behind in their rent, stick with the terms of the agreement. Do not allow the excuses of life to deviate, regardless how unfortunate the renters circumstances may change and how they promise to catch up the next month. I allowed myself to feel bad and cut them some slack. Add the fact that the courthouse didn't process my paperwork correctly, it gave these folks several months there, while I received no money. Now I am the one having unfortunate circumstances as well as the renter.
This was my third set of renters in this house. The first family was a dream, they paid on time and the house was in great condition, but they only needed a six month lease. The second family got behind in their rent and left with out having to be evicted. The condition of the house wasn't too bad, but I only ended up breaking even after regular renovations, (painting and carpet), to get it ready for the next renters. This third family was obviously a bad choice!
Through out this process of having them evicted and the inspection, I have heard some real horror stories. I do feel, I didn't get it as bad as some of the things I've heard! One woman I spoke with, her renters literally gutted the house of all the copper wiring, plumbing and appliances!! Needless to say, I will never rent again. If you consider it, accept that you could loose from the out set, and while the extra cash in your pocket may be nice, no one I have talked to is getting rich from owning rental properties!
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Use a Background checking service
I am a landlord and have been for many years.
The most important thing you can do is to use a reputable reporting and credit check service. Here in Utah for my company that renovates and leases apartment units, letsfixitup.com, I utilize a service call Western Reporting, thet charge a fee of $40.00 that I in turn pass on to the applicant. They will check credit, credit history, back ground check, criminal records, verify job and call previous landlords. This has saved me a ton of headaches.Posted 04-12-2019 at 11:43 AM by HandyManX
