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I guess I must be getting soft; and maybe its time to get out of the landlord biz. I have leased a condo I own to someone in a desperate situation and a rent amount $400/mo below what I could get for the place and asked for no security deposit. It is someone I have known for 5+ years.... a single Mom with 2 geriatric dogs with bad credit and a felony from 6 years ago. I have seen her struggle for a really long time now, and I had the place available and wanted to just give her a chance to breathe and finish her last year of college. In return, she is supposed to be making the place cleaned and polished so I can sell it next Spring... Her rent simply covers my HOA fees, taxes and insurance. I approached her and made the offer to lease the place until next Spring when she is finished with her college.
Has any other Landlord done this and it turned out OK? All I read are the horror stories.
You have not been treating this situation as a business. I think you need to get out of this arrangement before it gets worse. It will only go down hill.
Nobody can possibly predict what the outcome will be but the odds (unfortunately) are good that this will turn out badly. If you're in a position that you can check the place weekly, do so. Do NOT give her a term lease. Max month to month. If the rent isn't paid when due or any other obligations aren't met, immediately deliver a 3 day cure or quit and if that fails to produce results then give her the required notice to leave. No rule-bending, no favors.
Going by your previous posts, it may well be time for you to get out of the land lording business unless you can seriously toughen up. Good luck.
I hope it goes well, but in all honesty I don't think it will. If she trashes your unit what are you going to do? You have no deposit to fall back on, she has no money for you to sue for so you're going to eat the cost of getting that unit back into shape;
I agree..month to month rental only and visit the property at least monthly or whatever you can get away with under the law.
I guess I must be getting soft; and maybe its time to get out of the landlord biz. I have leased a condo I own to someone in a desperate situation and a rent amount $400/mo below what I could get for the place and asked for no security deposit. It is someone I have known for 5+ years.... a single Mom with 2 geriatric dogs with bad credit and a felony from 6 years ago. I have seen her struggle for a really long time now, and I had the place available and wanted to just give her a chance to breathe and finish her last year of college. In return, she is supposed to be making the place cleaned and polished so I can sell it next Spring... Her rent simply covers my HOA fees, taxes and insurance. I approached her and made the offer to lease the place until next Spring when she is finished with her college.
Pardon me for saying this, but that's CRAZY!!!
Kids, don't try this at home. Even an amateur landlord should read up before entering a rental agreement. You rented the place for $400 under market? You could hire maid service for far less than that.
Another error is getting emotional: "I have seen her struggle for a really long time now, and I had the place available and wanted to just give her a chance to breathe and finish her last year of college."
Another error is the dogs. Geriatric as in possibly becoming incontinent? Planning on buying new carpets?
Bad credit? Felony conviction?
If I had a check list of how to rent an apartment or house with 20 items my guess would be that you probably got about 4-5 of them right.
Good luck. You are going to need it for this to not end poorly.
I guess I must be getting soft; and maybe its time to get out of the landlord biz. I have leased a condo I own to someone in a desperate situation and a rent amount $400/mo below what I could get for the place and asked for no security deposit. It is someone I have known for 5+ years.... a single Mom with 2 geriatric dogs with bad credit and a felony from 6 years ago. I have seen her struggle for a really long time now, and I had the place available and wanted to just give her a chance to breathe and finish her last year of college. In return, she is supposed to be making the place cleaned and polished so I can sell it next Spring... Her rent simply covers my HOA fees, taxes and insurance. I approached her and made the offer to lease the place until next Spring when she is finished with her college.
Has any other Landlord done this and it turned out OK? All I read are the horror stories.
My husband and I have been landlords in the past but we are not now.
When we started out, we were suckers for a sob story and the old, "But she's putting her life together and she is really trying" line. We soon learned that starting with someone who has made bad decisions was a bad decision on our part. With experience, we realized that even tenants with a great history will sometimes default and become problem tenants. Here you are starting with someone who historically makes bad decisions, so there is a good chance she will screw up again and you will be left hanging out to dry.
Personally I always separate business and charity and I think you are trying to combine the two. Please let us know what happens, though, I will be rooting for you and for her to make this the exception that proves the rule!
Well, I know its not the model for renting. I am wondering if anyone, anyone has had this turn out ok. I long ago learned never to lend anyone money unless I was prepared never to be repaid.
And, in this case, I am prepared for the worst and can sustain the loss if it comes to that. Life has been very good to me, and as a single mom I had an education and the safety net of family who always had my back. So, this gal has none of those things but has managed to stay in college full time for 3 years while working full time.
I may get kicked in the teeth on this one. And I don't view this as part of my rental biz; I guess its my swan song to being a Landlord as retirement is around the corner......
But, has anyone ever done something similar and it turned out well?
Well, I know its not the model for renting. I am wondering if anyone, anyone has had this turn out ok. I long ago learned never to lend anyone money unless I was prepared never to be repaid.
I never loan money to family for friends. I tell them, truthfully, that I've seen friendships and family relationships go bad over lending to friends and family. I tell them our relationship is too important for me to risk it over money.
I never loan money to strangers. I tell the, "What? Do I look like a _____ing bank?" Go borrow it from them. Reply, in whiny voice, "But I don't have good credit!" I say, "Good. There's another great reason I wouldn't loan you money. If the banks won't trust you do I look like a sucker?"
Actually I did agree to lend my second cousin $1K-$2K -- at zero interest -- because it appeared he might not make his scholarship support for his last year of engineering at UCSD. I'm an engineer and a UC grad too, and I like the guy because he's so much like me, that it would have been worth it even if I never got it back. But I was sure he would pay, and anyway the scholarship came through and now he's working a summer job at Google up in Silicon valley.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Squirl
But, has anyone ever done something similar and it turned out well?
It is not impossible that it might work out. There are some honest poor people in the world.
Just generally, people with felonies and bad credit aren't part of the group of honest working poor. But hey, if you want to donate your money to charity with no limit set on how much it might end up costing you, go right ahead. It's your money to do with as you wish.
My life experience is that when people are given a break, they do not respond by being grateful. Instead they see their benefactor as someone who is easy to take advantage of and they set out to take advantage as much as possible.
But it is possible that you will be an exception and this will work for you.
My life experience is that when people are given a break, they do not respond by being grateful. Instead they see their benefactor as someone who is easy to take advantage of and they set out to take advantage as much as possible.
Greetings fellow cynic! That is exactly my experience too. Once a leach finds a sucker they keep leaching until the sucker runs dry.
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I have leased a condo I own to someone in a desperate situation and a rent amount $400/mo below what I could get for the place and asked for no security deposit. It is someone I have known for 5+ years.... a single Mom with 2 geriatric dogs with bad credit and a felony from 6 years ago. I have seen her struggle for a really long time now, and I had the place available and wanted to just give her a chance to breathe and finish her last year of college. In return, she is supposed to be making the place cleaned and polished so I can sell it next Spring... Her rent simply covers my HOA fees, taxes and insurance. I approached her and made the offer to lease the place until next Spring when she is finished with her college.
Go borrow it from them. Reply, in whiny voice, "But I don't have good credit!" I say, "Good. There's another great reason I wouldn't loan you money. If the banks won't trust you do I look like a sucker?"
