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My husband and I live in the same town as my son's rental house. We had a pretty good experience with a Property Management company as far as screening tenants and keeping these tenants in line. The woman who runs it, runs it with an iron hand, which was fine with me.
After our tenant left, my son decided to part company with this PM company, and now they are in a vindictive s**ting contest, in which the PM is trying to charge him for 90 days of fees and putting pressure on the service people we hired to do work not to show up, etc.
So my husband and I could easily show the house and take care of routine maintenance, but we do not know the ins and outs when things don't go smoothly, such as screening out bad risks, dealing with late payments, and security deposits, etc. and God forbid, evicting someone.
Should we just tell the kid, "You made your bed, now sleep in it", or volunteer to manage the house?
You already answer your own question when you wrote:
Quote:
but we do not know the ins and outs when things don't go smoothly, such as screening out bad risks, dealing with late payments, and security deposits, etc. and God forbid, evicting someone.
Stay away from this one. He has made his bed. If you don't know what he signed, don't go to bat for him.
You also say "our" tenant. Do you have any actual, on paper, ownership in this property? If you do, you need to have a serious come-to-Jesus with him if he has found himself in a pissing contest with the management company. If you don't own any part of the property, just walk away and do not get involved. If someone is willing to get in an argument when there is probably a contract, do you really want to put your neck out there if he belittles a new tenant?
As far as background checks, they're easy enough to find. You just have to decide how detailed you want to be if you do take this on. Detail = $$$ The best friend of someone doing a background check is Google. Take everything on the application with a grain of salt. Don't trust it. Always verify. Look for any red flags or anything that just doesn't feel right. Check property records for the current landlord. Make sure the name on the application is an actual property owner and not a friend or roommate. Stuff like that.
Also, North of Citrus and South of Corn doesn't help us in the least bit when it comes to your state's laws. Upon further thought, I agree with sj08054. You already know you shouldn't do this. If you know you don't know this stuff, you shouldn't go trial by fire. There are lots of very bad things that can happen when you say what you think is something innocent, or a joke. Landlording is not really something that lends itself to on the job learning, especially if you don't have anyone teaching you. There is a reason property management companies exist. Your family is a good example of that. I mean no offense with that statement.
Location: Central Atlantic Region, though consults worldwide
266 posts, read 450,912 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by gentlearts
My husband and I live in the same town as my son's rental house. We had a pretty good experience with a Property Management company as far as screening tenants and keeping these tenants in line. The woman who runs it, runs it with an iron hand, which was fine with me.
After our tenant left, my son decided to part company with this PM company, and now they are in a vindictive s**ting contest, in which the PM is trying to charge him for 90 days of fees and putting pressure on the service people we hired to do work not to show up, etc.
So my husband and I could easily show the house and take care of routine maintenance, but we do not know the ins and outs when things don't go smoothly, such as screening out bad risks, dealing with late payments, and security deposits, etc. and God forbid, evicting someone.
Should we just tell the kid, "You made your bed, now sleep in it", or volunteer to manage the house?
Its all rather common sense. Screening becomes more an art than a science over time.
The eviction crap is terrible though. Depending on your state you may be able to have your lawyer draft an Non-Eviction Process waiver. This, through contract, allows the owner to give 30 days notice to vacate or the tenant will be moved out at their cost, and forcibly if necessary. Include a 3rd party arbitration clause to begin arbitration immediately at a firs scheduled opportunity for both parties but a dispute must be arbitrated within 10/15/ 30 days. The party found faulted is responsible for arbitrators cost, or apportioned if both have responsibility.
Pick any reasonable topic that you would desire to protect you and read the thing while the potential renter reads along and initializes each clause.
One right you still have in America is the unlimited right to contract. Use that protected right.
My husband and I live in the same town as my son's rental house. We had a pretty good experience with a Property Management company as far as screening tenants and keeping these tenants in line. The woman who runs it, runs it with an iron hand, which was fine with me.
After our tenant left, my son decided to part company with this PM company, and now they are in a vindictive s**ting contest, in which the PM is trying to charge him for 90 days of fees and putting pressure on the service people we hired to do work not to show up, etc.
So my husband and I could easily show the house and take care of routine maintenance, but we do not know the ins and outs when things don't go smoothly, such as screening out bad risks, dealing with late payments, and security deposits, etc. and God forbid, evicting someone.
Should we just tell the kid, "You made your bed, now sleep in it", or volunteer to manage the house?
I wouldn't volunteer to do anything. You have no experience. Nothing good can come of this. If your don was smart he would if read his contract, and then terminate the contract.
If I ever needed a good PMC I would hope I find a HARDASS who sees me and my properties as their customer and takes care of the account.
Did your son terminate the cibtractorscontractors correctly as stated or just decided to "fire" them. How can they pressure people you hired not to do the work/show up?
I hired a PM to just pre-screen, credit check, and income verify my old place along with doing showings. Paid him $250.00 for the service, but he found qualified tenants quite fast.
I am handy and have experience & know several vendors for the stuff it needs. It all depends on your skill level and ability to put alittle time in. If you don't want the hassle and the numbers work, a Property Manager can work better.
One thing is the deductible nature of the property changes when someone else manages it. You can't deduct HOA fee's then.
I wouldn't volunteer to do anything. You have no experience. Nothing good can come of this. If your don was smart he would if read his contract, and then terminate the contract.
If I ever needed a good PMC I would hope I find a HARDASS who sees me and my properties as their customer and takes care of the account.
Did your son terminate the cibtractorscontractors correctly as stated or just decided to "fire" them. How can they pressure people you hired not to do the work/show up?
I agree, the kid was happy when she was being a hard ass on his behalf, but now for whatever reason he doesn't like her. I have his POA and I got this PM in the first place, since he is a soldier and isn't around a lot of the time, so I think he just wants someone else he feels more comfortable with.
The contract says it terminates upon completion of a lease, or 90 days. She is trying to charge him for 3 mos fees despite the fact that it was at the completion of the lease. According to a family friend lawyer, she is bluffing.
Any way, y'all are right and we aren't going to offer to manage it.
Any person with average intelligence can manage a rental property, if they bother to educate themselves on their state laws and how to do that properly. You can find some excellent guides here as well as lease contracts written for your state laws. Landlords, Rental Property & Property Management - Nolo.com
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