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If you want to enter your property whenever you please, if you want to sell/show/build/demo your property without interference, if you want to have free reign over this thing that you own DON'T RENT IT OUT.
You do not have control over a piece of property that you lease out to someone, the same as a car dealership doesn't have control over where you drive the vehicle you leased from them.
My apartment is my home, not yours, just like your house is your home, not the home of the banker that holds your mortgage. You just own the property, just like the bank owns your property. The only difference between the two is that you promised to pay your bank for the whole value of the property, therefore you have the right to change it, while I only promised to pay you for the duration of my lease, therefore I do not have the right to make irreversable changes.
In general, both landlords and tenants are responsible for all the acrimony being expressed here. Some up front communication and understanding solves 98% of the problem right at the start. Showing a property is really no big deal at all if the landlord is respectful and professional, and the tenant is reasonable and rational.
Steve
Austin-Steve: It sounds like you know what you're doing.
We're leasing a home from an older couple who lived in the house for 38 years, wanted to retire three hours away, couldn't sell their house, decided they wanted some income and leased it. My family is very respectful. Verbally, the homeowner requested that we did not hang anything on the walls unless it was on a hook or nail already installed and we have complied. When we feel there is an issue with the landscaping we make a call. We begin each conversation by telling them we are just giving them a heads up. Every conversation ends with my husband or I frustrated by being yelled at by these folks and accused of purposefully sabotaging or breaking things so we can get new things. Examples include: A running toilet-we asked that they have a plumber come out and look at it (we requested this in writing before we moved in) and they did and it was a very simple fix. A few months later, we had a leak in an upstairs bathroom (I posted on this in December on this forum) that escalated into a major leak with damage to the the upstairs and downstairs as well as my personal furniture. They accused my children of overflowing the bathtub and when that was not the case, they said that we were trying to get them to put new toilets in. My husband very nicely explained that there is no way we would purposefully inconvenience ourselves for almost two months during the Christmas holidays, make our children sleep on the floor since their room was torn apart, have a hole in our ceiling for 48 days and have relatives who were supposed to stay in the house pay for hotels. Last week, the microwave started acting funny so we called. She informed the repairman (over the phone but I could hear her) that he should make sure I didn't purposefully break it to get a new one. My husband's response again is why would we do it and inconvenience ourselves??? We are getting to a point of desperation to leave this house. We really like the area and the house is okay. For the amount of money (and I'm not lying $4,500/mo), they should be kissing up to me, not yelling at us, berating us and making us feel uncomfortable in a home that we pay a pretty penny for and have never been late on rent (as a matter of fact, they always cash our check before the first of the month) After reading other people's horror stories, I'm trying to figure out if this is just the norm on renting (this is our first experience)...
After reading other people's horror stories, I'm trying to figure out if this is just the norm on renting (this is our first experience)...
Unfortunately, I think it's common with amature owner/landlords such as yours. And there are lousy "professional" property managers out there too.
Sometimes a renter prospect will grill me with a lot of questions about how often we come over, how repairs are handled, how they submit repair requests, etc. I'll stop them and ask "have you had a bad landlord experience?", and then I hear the horror stories, such as yours.
So then I have to explain how we do things, the repair process, our "three day" goal for non-urgent repairs, etc. Often they are still skeptical and they were made that way by the bad landlord they had last time.
It is not unusual for a long time home owner that has "Never" had a problem to have several the first couple of months the home is rented to a family.
It actually kind of makes sense. Two elderly people are often very easy usage wise on a homes various systems. You won't have several people trying to blow dry their hair at the same time the microwave is going and the laundry is being washed.
One example that I was involved with had to do with a Total line blockage caused by the most massive 30' long root I had ever seen... it was so big that the local media did a story.
The previous resident, a long time widow had lived in her home for over 60 years and NEVER had a drain problem. She had rented the home upon moving to a retirement home and the first night the new family of 5 move in... every drain in the home is stopped-up and 3 fuses blew. Apparently, the widow, used so little water... about 35 gallons per day, that the pipes could handle it even with the root...
Always be aware of first time renters and first time landlords... Both often have much to learn and sometimes it's not pretty.
Always be aware of first time renters and first time landlords... Both often have much to learn and sometimes it's not pretty.
So true.
My buddy who will be renting with me I think is quite quite new to the prospect of finding a rental. But, he's solid. He's also a good judge of character, which is good because I approach potential rentals with specific economic goals in mind.
Whats the deposit?
Whats the rent?
What utilities do we pay?
Whats the rent grace period?
etc.
I'm all for getting to know my landlord, but my initial questions are about the fiscal ability of myself to pay for a place. After I've determined that, I can go on with meeting the landlord and determining if I want to rent from them.
Oh, and to those renters who have this absurd notion that wherever they rent is truly their 'home', and they are fully entitled to that space... Check your state laws and your lease. You may be in for a rude awakening in the amount of time a landlord has to tell you to get out, and for what reasons. Selling is almost universally a reason that you'd have to vacate, and before its sold, you cannot be 'unreasonable' in your denial to showings.
So... tough luck folks. I'm a renter too, its really not that hard to acknowledge this fact and move onto bigger and more important things.
I'm sorry. I should have pointed out that I didn't mean to imply that MY experience related to your capability as a landlord. Just pointing out my experiences.
No offense here! the moral of the story is to perhaps take everyone on an individual basis than to say all "renters are like this" OR "all landlords are like that"
In general, both landlords and tenants are responsible for all the acrimony being expressed here. Some up front communication and understanding solves 98% of the problem right at the start. Showing a property is really no big deal at all if the landlord is respectful and professional, and the tenant is reasonable and rational.
Steve
I believe i covered the "respectful and professional" part, not sure the tenant has covered the "reasonable and rational" part". Although a big part of me believes it's a "English-as-second-language" challenge. Still respect the man, coming to a new country, sole supporter, all odds against him....he's doing alright.
I dont want to come and go as i please...........I Want His Schedule! So i will not interfer with his privacy! And no matter how many times or different ways i try to phrase this point, he immediately becomes "English Impaired"LOL.
Im riding it out folks, already rented out the other property to compensate for any "financial blunt force trauma" at the end of the month
One more point, I Do consider it the renters "Home" even when they are renting from me. Especially emotionally......a home is where you relax, safe from the big bad world, where you raise your children, joyful memories and heartaches, where you spend endless hours on the boobtube or going blind on the internet, and let's not forget my favourite pasttime........sleeping.
Put up your pictures, paint the walls your favourite colour..........I want you to be happy because i want you to treat my house like it was your own.
House or Home whatever you want to call it..............but remember i have the legal documents
One more point, I Do consider it the renters "Home" even when they are renting from me. Especially emotionally......a home is where you relax, safe from the big bad world, where you raise your children, joyful memories and heartaches, where you spend endless hours on the boobtube or going blind on the internet, and let's not forget my favourite pasttime........sleeping.
Put up your pictures, paint the walls your favourite colour..........I want you to be happy because i want you to treat my house like it was your own.
House or Home whatever you want to call it..............but remember i have the legal documents
Overtaxed, reps and props to you. I'm mostly arguing with other people at this point. I know you're trying to do the right thing, and I think you did--even though it did "cost" you extra to wait the 2 months when they refused to respond to your requests, that was really the right thing to do by your tenants. I hope they do the right thing by you and leave the place quietly and cleanly when the 60 days are up.
It is a bummer for your tenants that they have to move out after 4 years, but that is the cost of renting. I'm monthly, and I'm well aware that I could get "kicked out" with 30 days notice at any time.
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