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Hi all! I have a townhome I have struggled with since May. Last tenant abandoned the property. After 2 1/2 months of craigslist, rentals.com, driving 2 hrs every Saturday monrning to show the house to either deadbeats I wouldnt rent a cardboard box to, or driving to the home just to get burned by no-shows, I finally found what I thought would be a good tenant. A young lady that is 8 months pregnant. I even agreed to allow her to pay her securiy deposit over two months, seeing as how the economy is. Well, evidently my "landlord" 6th sense served me wrong! We had everything nailed down in terms of her move in, mainly through trading e-mails. She was to move in day after tommorow, but when I call to confirm with her the time, (have been calling & e-mailing since last week) she does not return my calls, nor does she return my e-mails. Since she is VERY much pregnant, I called one of her emergency contacts on her application, to make sure all is well. (Best friend.) Her "best friend" says she hasn't talked to her, but that she will relay the message. A blind man can see that I have been stood up. But what is really frustrating is that she just did not seem like the type to not have common courtesy. I generally do not charge anything to hold the property, because it actually seems to be a deterrent. What can I do, to, 1. Prevent this @#$% from happening again, and 2. Get a good tenant fassst! The mortgage payment, gas, extra time, utilities, maintenance, etc, are breaking us.
I have a philiosophy I learned a long time ago as a LL. If you have to help someone to get into your apartment/house, you will have to help them get out. Meaning, no money in full up front...no rental.
Put an ad in the local paper. Leave a telephone number in the ad and on the message inform callers calling about the unit to visit the open house on Saturday from 9 AM to 1PM. You could also put the address in the ad and mention the open house on the date and time you set. Take applications with you and a receipt book. Only take full deposit in cash/money order as a deposit and hold and check the application for employer.
Advertise locally in the paper. it's a last ditch effort I use all the time. Stop craig's list and any other internet ads. use local resources.
That way you may sit around and wait or you may have 3/4/5 or more people come looking.
She is 8 months pregnant and moving in by herself and you’re surprised that she is irresponsible
Have you tried to market as a lease option instead of rent only 50% follow throught?
well we learned the hard way as well. Trying to help a couple move from NY to FL who had a job as an RN in place already. Wanted to keep our home in FL occupied so it seemed like we would be helping each other out. Our home was fully furnished. They sent security deposit of $1300 right away, we checked out references which came back all great then after one month, we were begging for them to pay us the rent. Because work had just started, they were playing catch up on their big move. We didn't want to throw them out on the street as they did have a little boy and i was thinking an RN should be making decent amount of money for our low rent. Well after 4 months of fighting for money, we had to let them go. We did have a year long lease signed as well but we agreed to terminate it. Well, they didn't leave without taking our fridge and destroying our glass stove top. Couldn't file a police report because we had to prove we owned the appliances with a receipt which we didn't have as they were 3 years old. Had to be a civil matter. We don't have time for that especially living 1500 miles away. So live and learn. I can say we will do many things different next time.
Being a ll isn't easy! We had a mobile home we rented out. I got a call one day that there was water running OUT of it. Well the darling had moved in the dead of winter without so much as a word and the pipes froze and broke and ruined near everything. I could do nothing, I had rented to a relative.
Another time I helped my mother who had a rental. Not fun. They became later and later on the rent and she let them do the little payment thing. Finally we had to help her go through the motions to evict them. Funny how people who agree to pay rent, then don't pay rent can become such a pain in the a$$ and somehow think it's the ll's fault for their situation even if they have gone far out of their way to let the tenant catch up.
Another time I had a house next door that was vacant and still needed some work done. A young woman stopped by and wanted to rent it so we agreed to finish it for her by such and such a date and she bailed. We never did rent it out, let it sit till we sold. I'm sure I was better off she had bailed.
I'm sorry your tenant bailed, might be a blessing.
I'd hate to say, but the filthiest and least responsibile tenants I've ever had were new parents. It's unbelievable how people raise their children. Consider yourself lucky, as once she's in with a newborn, getting her out would be a major court battle. You would probably loose the house before the courts would put her on the street. Never help a tenant with the deposits. If they can't pay security, how are they going to pay the rent? I see no husband in the picture and she'll be out of work for awhile. Being a landlord is not an exercise in charity. It's a business.
I would try to hire a local real estate agent to handle your house rental. Yes, it will cost you but they will be local, get the headaches if no one shows up, and they can advise on how to word your lease so you do not get screwed.
Having a property a few hours away and renting it is a recipe for disaster. Let a local pro deal with the tenants and keep an eye on it for you!
I like Craigslist a lot, but now that I think about it, back when we rented we often just found places by driving by and seeing a sign. Do you have a sign up? Or maybe that's bad ... I don't know.
Hi all! I have a townhome I have struggled with since May. Last tenant abandoned the property. After 2 1/2 months of craigslist, rentals.com, driving 2 hrs every Saturday monrning to show the house to either deadbeats I wouldnt rent a cardboard box to, or driving to the home just to get burned by no-shows, I finally found what I thought would be a good tenant. A young lady that is 8 months pregnant. I even agreed to allow her to pay her securiy deposit over two months, seeing as how the economy is. Well, evidently my "landlord" 6th sense served me wrong! We had everything nailed down in terms of her move in, mainly through trading e-mails. She was to move in day after tommorow, but when I call to confirm with her the time, (have been calling & e-mailing since last week) she does not return my calls, nor does she return my e-mails. Since she is VERY much pregnant, I called one of her emergency contacts on her application, to make sure all is well. (Best friend.) Her "best friend" says she hasn't talked to her, but that she will relay the message. A blind man can see that I have been stood up. But what is really frustrating is that she just did not seem like the type to not have common courtesy. I generally do not charge anything to hold the property, because it actually seems to be a deterrent. What can I do, to, 1. Prevent this @#$% from happening again, and 2. Get a good tenant fassst! The mortgage payment, gas, extra time, utilities, maintenance, etc, are breaking us.
Don't hold any property without at least half of the deposit, and make sure they know it isn't refundable should they decide not to lease the property. Also, make sure you agree for the amount of time you are willing to hold it for the person. Also, until the person has actually signed the lease agreement, take back up applications. Those are the tactics that I use to mitigate my risk
I'd hate to say, but the filthiest and least responsibile tenants I've ever had were new parents. It's unbelievable how people raise their children. Consider yourself lucky, as once she's in with a newborn, getting her out would be a major court battle. You would probably loose the house before the courts would put her on the street. Never help a tenant with the deposits. If they can't pay security, how are they going to pay the rent? I see no husband in the picture and she'll be out of work for awhile. Being a landlord is not an exercise in charity. It's a business.
I haven't had bad luck helping out a tenant with deposits and we have done it several times with my grandmother's home which we have rented for 8 years. I require half (non-refundable) to hold it and the other half and first month's rent upon move-in. It can be expensive moving to a new place, and usually if a person has to rent they don't have two or three months worth of rent saved up. Of course, then again, I'm very sensitive to the subject. I own my home currently and am in the process of getting it rented, but I'm having to rent where I'm moving to 1200 miles away, so I guess I can relate to the expense issues since I'm paying a mortgage, coming up with a deposit and first months rent.
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Hi all! I have a townhome I have struggled with since May. Last tenant abandoned the property. After 2 1/2 months of craigslist, rentals.com, driving 2 hrs every Saturday monrning to show the house to either deadbeats I wouldnt rent a cardboard box to, or driving to the home just to get burned by no-shows, I finally found what I thought would be a good tenant. A young lady that is 8 months pregnant. I even agreed to allow her to pay her securiy deposit over two months, seeing as how the economy is. Well, evidently my "landlord" 6th sense served me wrong! We had everything nailed down in terms of her move in, mainly through trading e-mails. She was to move in day after tommorow, but when I call to confirm with her the time, (have been calling & e-mailing since last week) she does not return my calls, nor does she return my e-mails. Since she is VERY much pregnant, I called one of her emergency contacts on her application, to make sure all is well. (Best friend.) Her "best friend" says she hasn't talked to her, but that she will relay the message. A blind man can see that I have been stood up. But what is really frustrating is that she just did not seem like the type to not have common courtesy. I generally do not charge anything to hold the property, because it actually seems to be a deterrent. What can I do, to, 1. Prevent this @#$% from happening again, and 2. Get a good tenant fassst! The mortgage payment, gas, extra time, utilities, maintenance, etc, are breaking us.
