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We are moving due to a job relocation. Our house is underwater so we are renting it through our realtor. The perspective tenants have filled out a credit application and given a deposit. The realtor will do the credit checks.
I do have a few questions that I would like to ask people who are experienced landlords.
Since we will not be local, we will have a friend be "on-call' for emergencies/repairs. He will be able to diagnose the problem and either fix it, or know who to call to get it fixed. Our realtor suggested we get a home warranty that we pay annually that will cover appliances/electrical and plumbing. There would be $100 deductible for each issue. Is this a waste of money? Is it reasonable to have written in the lease that the tenants pay the deductible to limit frivolous repairs?
The renter's agent asked me at the showing if the washer/dryer stay. I said they were negotiable. They requested them their application. We will leave them as part of the rent, but we want it written into the lease that we will not replace/repair them since they are not required appliances. We feel the same way about the refrigerator. Is this not reasonable? We know we need to replace/repair stationary appliances, heating, a/c, etc. Our realtor says she has never heard of a landlord not repairing appliances, but again, these are added bonuses included in the rent and not something we have to supply.
I feel like we are walking a fine line between what is reasonable and expected and not scaring them off.
They asked for other things, all of which we agreed to.
We feel the same way about the refrigerator. Is this not reasonable? Our realtor says she has never heard of a landlord not repairing appliances, but again, these are added bonuses included in the rent and not something we have to supply.
I don't think that's unreasonable, and it's certainly within your rights to do so (barring any local landlord-tenant law that says otherwise). I've seen a handful of borderline-slumlords around here that require tenants to bring their own appliances.
However, I wouldn't exactly call a refrigerator a "bonus". Frankly, if a potential landlord tried to trump up the fridge as an "added bonus", I'd find somewhere else to rent.
Illegal? Unethical? Improper? No.
A competitive disadvantage? A little strange? A red flag? Definitely.
I don't think that's unreasonable, and it's certainly within your rights to do so (barring any local landlord-tenant law that says otherwise). I've seen a handful of borderline-slumlords around here that require tenants to bring their own appliances.
However, I wouldn't exactly call a refrigerator a "bonus". Frankly, if a potential landlord tried to trump up the fridge as an "added bonus", I'd find somewhere else to rent.
Illegal? Unethical? Improper? No.
A competitive disadvantage? A little strange? A red flag? Definitely.
A red flag? Why? I see rentals on the market in our area that don't include the fridge. We are.
But actually I really wanted to know about the washer/dryer and the warranty, none of which you really addressed.
A red flag? Why? I see rentals on the market in our area that don't include the fridge. We are.
But actually I really wanted to know about the washer/dryer and the warranty, none of which you really addressed.
Washer and Dryer I would include and do 100 bucks a piece on Craigslist
Warranty waste of money Google “is a home warranty a scam” the first 20+ pages are complaints.
Is it reasonable to have written in the lease that the tenants pay the deductible I would say no
Washer and Dryer I would include and do 100 bucks a piece on Craigslist
Warranty waste of money Google “is a home warranty a scam†the first 20+ pages are complaints.
Is it reasonable to have written in the lease that the tenants pay the deductible I would say no
You mean you WOULDN'T include the washer/dryer? I wouldn't need to list them on craigslist. They are pretty new and I would take them with me, if that were the case.
I will definitely look at the home warranty scams; thanks for the advice.
You're blurring the lines of ownership on those appliances and frankly, it sends a big, red flag to me. Either sell them to the tenants, include and maintain them, or sell them off and make your tenants bring their own. If I don't own them, I'm not gonna pay to fix them, much like the rest of the mechanicals in the house.
Home warranties generally aren't worth it. Also, do they put any sort of restrictions on home warranties if the property is an investment property and not owner-occupied?
First thing you do is grab a copy of your state landlord tenant code and READ it from A - Z!
Understand excatly what they consider a covered rental and what exactly they say is part of a rental property. You may find out that a refrigerator is MANDATORY in a rental. You state laws will explain everything you need to know and follow as a landlord.
There have been many topics on issues related to apliances, repairs, what has to be included, when repairs must be made, etc. In almost all cases where a LL got into trouble because they violated the law, the number 1 thing has been because they never read the laws and didn't understand what was to be done.
Once you start as a LL, this is not like letting friends stay over for a week, you are in a contractual business relationship that is covered my many laws. Being new, not understanding, or not thinking something applies is seldom if ever accepted by a judge for violations of the law. Since some states grant double or triple damages for violations, you don;t want to find out your boo-boo is costing you three times the amount.
You mean you WOULDN'T include the washer/dryer? I wouldn't need to list them on craigslist. They are pretty new and I would take them with me, if that were the case.
I will definitely look at the home warranty scams; thanks for the advice.
A red flag? Why? I see rentals on the market in our area that don't include the fridge. We are. But actually I really wanted to know about the washer/dryer and the warranty, none of which you really addressed.
It's a red flag because it signals an absentee landlord who is trying to get by with the minimum amount of responsibility allowed by law. If you don't want to provide the appliances, fine -- take them out of the picture and sell them on Craigslist as others have suggested. As it stands now, you're telling the tenant that they are responsible for repairing / replacing your equipment.
If you want the tenant to fork over the expense of maintaining your equipment, what do they get in return? Best views in the city? Granite floors and marble countertops? 20% lower rent than comparable property in the market?
Finally, as others have said, make sure you read over the landlord / tenant laws in your area. There may be specific requirements pertaining to this, and just because "it's in the lease" doesn't necessarily make a clause binding. Laws notwithstanding, you're free to rent your apartment any way you see fit. All we're telling you is that if you ask your tenant to provide maintenance on your equipment, you're inviting a lot of problems.
Good luck.
Edit: Avoid the home warranties.
Last edited by DowntownHarrisburg; 05-31-2011 at 02:27 PM..
I rent my private properties and also owne a property management company/brokerage.
One of my own rentals is rented out without fridge and washer/dryer. It is a higher end rental in a resort style community. The tenants never had an issue to bring their own appliances and the present tenant brought everything and took my dishwasher/microwave, stove/range/oven out and stored them in the garage since he had almost new appliances from the home is was going to loose due to foreclosure.
The other one has all appliances but I don't warrant the washer/dryer. I do want to know if anything is wrong with them so I can help them with a cheap official insured repair company and if it is something that can't be fixed it can be removed. I just want to be informed and can decide to pay or not pay for it.
With all properties that we manage we don't warrant any washer/dryers. We recently had one tenant get rid of the washer at a property since she didn't like how it run and bought new ones and threw it out without consulting with us. The owner wasn't happy about that since she would have removed it and transported it to another rental she has, that is why i have now added it that a tenant has to inform us.
A Landlord is not in the appliance business but in the rental business. Only items under the law needs to be provided and repaired, which doesn't make the landlord to be a bad landlord, just a smart business person as long as the landlord takes care of repairs.
You can't however charge the tenant for every repair, but you can put in your contract that the tenant is responsible for all repairs caused by tenants negligence.
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