Renting out our house in Kenai (area) (Craig: real estate market, renter)

[parakeets]

My dh and I are at our wits end! is there no such thing as an "honest" property manager

Here's the story, my husband got transferred waay out of AK, the housing market being what it is... we decieded to rent out our house, so, here we are thousands of miles away and it seems people want to take advantage of that (including our own neighbors whom were our thought we "friends") and our poor house has sat empty for months.... the pipes froze, the driveway had 4ft of snow because the nice neighbors whom dh had offered to pay to plow, had in fact not! and the few property managers we've talked to via phone all want $$ I did get an email from a lady who told me they had (after 3 yrs) finally sold there house as a FSBO. we can't yet as we have a mortgage and want to make some S by renting out beloved house.

Of course we don't want smokers, druggies, ASHA or pets because we don't want our home trashed.... is that too much to ask?
we bought/lived in the house 4 yrs and thought people, as a general rule, looked out for one another, were kind, helpful... yet here we are feeling that alaskans are as cold as the ice and don't give a dang if they have nothing to gain

I say poo to our so-called "neighbors", they had both our phone numbers and the house could have burned down for all they DIDN'T care!

[snkalaska]

I leave my house vacant all winter and hope all goes well. My neighbors are pretty good. One neighbor keeps an eye on the furnace vent to make sure it's still working. Another signed for a UPS delivery and held the package for me. So there are nice neighbors here. I know I would help my neighbor.
You can also get one of those gizmos that call you and a repairman when something goes wrong with your heat.
I think you should bite the bullet and pay the bucks to a professional rental management company. You don't have much choice being far away.
The last time I got a renter I used Craigslist and it worked out great.

[parakeets]

Originally Posted by snkalaska

I leave my house vacant all winter and hope all goes well. My neighbors are pretty good. One neighbor keeps an eye on the furnace vent to make sure it's still working. Another signed for a UPS delivery and held the package for me. So there are nice neighbors here. I know I would help my neighbor.
You can also get one of those gizmos that call you and a repairman when something goes wrong with your heat.
I think you should bite the bullet and pay the bucks to a professional rental management company. You don't have much choice being far away.
The last time I got a renter I used Craigslist and it worked out great.

aww! wish you were our neighbors
the problem with the kenai penn is that there are only 3 "professional co's"
and after my dh contacted each they failed to impress

[Metlakatla]

Hmmm...when we rented out our house on POW quite a long time ago for the winter it turned into a real nightmare, and we couldn't get the people to leave without getting legal about it.

Of course we don't want smokers, druggies, ASHA or pets because we don't want our home trashed.... is that too much to ask?

I don't know what ASHA is; public housing maybe?

About the pets...I know that they can really trash a house, but I'd rethink that one for the right tenant. Good pet owners are most often just more stable people.

[froggin4colorado]

What a bummer! We are going to end up renting our home here in CO and worry about the house getting trashed...so I hear you there. We will probably rent ourselves, but we have three cats. If a cat is declawed and fixed, you shouldn't have problems...so you might consider cat owners. Our 3 cats don't jump on counters and don't spray. And the house we moved into had plenty of animals in here before we bought it so we worried about spraying. However, they haven't. I wouldn't consider renting our house to a dog because they tear up carpet, wood flooring with their nails, doors, and yards. In fact, childen tear up a house worse than cats...grin.
Anyhow, good luck with your house. We will be in the same boat trying to get good renters!

[Grannysroost]

I have to disagree with the pet issue. As Met said, good pet owners are often more stable. There are bad ones, just as their are bad parents...

We rented our house in MN to a young couple with cats and a dog. I warned her that the cats we had in that house if allowed downstairs would somehow climb in the laundry room and get over to the finished part and up in the false ceiling....They have a small dog that last winter would go in the same spot thus burning the grass, but told us how he blocked the area off and reseeded it. We didn't have trouble finding a place up here that initially said no pets, in being able to have our dogs. I work at home so am literally with them all day. At the point we were renting...if I left I kenneled them or took them with. Now when I go for just a few hours I will leave them out in the house, but if it's going to be an extended time or weather is too cold I will kennel them. I think there are questions that can be asked and you can pretty well tell by talking with someone how accurate the information is you are getting back. I think I much prefer responsible pet owners also over....

[Nephler]

If you have well behaved, trained pets (dogs mainly) then the house will not be harmed at all. We are renting now also, and the previous renters had kids. The kids trashed the house, carpets mainly. I saw photos of the house while they were still in, and it was a pig sty.

I also believe you can tell a lot about people by just talking with them.

Oops, forgot to say we have 3 dogs.

[blueflames50]

Originally Posted by parakeets

My dh and I are at our wits end! is there no such thing as an "honest" property manager

Here's the story, my husband got transferred waay out of AK, the housing market being what it is... we decieded to rent out our house, so, here we are thousands of miles away and it seems people want to take advantage of that (including our own neighbors whom were our thought we "friends") and our poor house has sat empty for months.... the pipes froze, the driveway had 4ft of snow because the nice neighbors whom dh had offered to pay to plow, had in fact not! and the few property managers we've talked to via phone all want $$ I did get an email from a lady who told me they had (after 3 yrs) finally sold there house as a FSBO. we can't yet as we have a mortgage and want to make some S by renting out beloved house.

Of course we don't want smokers, druggies, ASHA or pets because we don't want our home trashed.... is that too much to ask?
we bought/lived in the house 4 yrs and thought people, as a general rule, looked out for one another, were kind, helpful... yet here we are feeling that alaskans are as cold as the ice and don't give a dang if they have nothing to gain
I say poo to our so-called "neighbors", they had both our phone numbers and the house could have burned down for all they DIDN'T care!

Playing the devils advocate here....doesn't sound like you were "real" friends with your neighbors. And you still make pre-agreements to pay friends!!
To offer to pay for plowing and having an actual conversation with agreements is not the same thing.
Only speaking from experience of knowing people who "think" that because they know someone means they can ask, expect and are owed all kinds of "work" taking care of their issues when in fact that is not the case. Property manager, care takers get paid.
What and how much did you do for these people that you expect them to do work for you in return???

[snkalaska]

I think the other folks are right about pets. If your place is suitable for pets, you should allow them. Usually you would collect an extra deposit and pet owners with well behaved pets would be happy to pay. A lot of dogs just sleep all day around the house.
With the scarcity of places allowing pets, you'll have tons of renters to choose from and may find a much more responsible renter.
Have you called all the Realty offices? A lot of them do rentals as well.

[Grannysroost]

Originally Posted by snkalaska

I think the other folks are right about pets. If your place is suitable for pets, you should allow them. Usually you would collect an extra deposit and pet owners with well behaved pets would be happy to pay. A lot of dogs just sleep all day around the house.
With the scarcity of places allowing pets, you'll have tons of renters to choose from and may find a much more responsible renter.
Have you called all the Realty offices? A lot of them do rentals as well.

You are very right (IMO), and quite of few of the realty offices do have rentals, but you need to work out a contract with them. I think with the real estate market, there are going to be more rentals if no one is buying, as people come and go up here and have to leave the house if not sold. They are going to want a fee for advertising, showing, doing the actual rental, maintenance issues such as plowing, shoveling, mowing, or just doing a regular interior check until it is rented. I think you could pretty well make a contract with what you want, but you also need to cover the expenses incurred. You also will need to have insurance as a landlord, real estate taxes go up because you are not living there, and need to decide on utilities and who pays what. Also, how is the rent going to be collected and deposited....who is going to and how to pay for repairs if something happens, i.e., plumbing, appliances, and with the volcano so close there is ash clean-up issue and possible damage to anything with an outside air intake such as a forced-air furnace, some water heaters, etc.