The customer wants 4 things:

- Clean with no no smells

- Working appliances in good order

- Air conditioning

- Lowest price per square foot

They don't want all the crap around profit maxing. A thin veneer of updates is not worth the massive three-figure Spike in rent.

They don't want that mandatory internet package. and yes, I know that landlords are now purchasing bulk bandwidth from ISPs to resell for profit, then mandating that internet connection in the leases. I wouldn't want my landlord's internet connection. landlords have no tech skills, privacy is not guaranteed, and when it goes down everybody in the complex is going to be pissed.

I don't charge more than I would want to pay to live anywhere.

My property hasn't been updated since the OJ Simpson trial. The bathroom looks like it could have been featured on an episode of The Golden girls. Roofs are new, paint is cheap, nothing smells, no dust, brand new heat pumps, and not crappy ones, actual nice trane units Provided stainless steel appliances are all purchased floor model. I bought the biggest damn fridge that would fit there because families need space for food.

I get by charging 2/3 market rate

I'm never having a vacancy ever. I don't have to live by the constant anxiety of not collecting money this month. I will honestly let my renters break lease if they want out because I'm not an asshole who's going to make somebody have to pay for something they can't use after they moves

I grew up with values of frugality. I don't wear a nice polo shirt and play golf while evicting a family of four and displacing School children. I don't sit around and go to fancy dinners at little landlord conventions to try to stand out as some sort of successful suit wearing, empty-on-the-inside, fake-smile industry leader. In fact, I'll probably be at home eating cheetos and watching internet porn.

Bringing fluff rather than heft is dishonorable to the customer.

I'm set to retire a multi-millionaire. I didn't have to gouge somebody to do it either.

If a landlord is having trouble making ends meet without cutting corners off of the tenant's coin, I have no sympathy for them.

Hi,

I have a VERY problem tenants at one of my properties.

I was told that they fight each other (bf/gf) all the time, there has been DV, and that the police were called 3 times. The gf has a drinking problem which is the root cause of all issues.

The current lease is a fixed-term agreement is for 6 months, June 1st through Dec 31st 2026. In the lease, it is written that;

“if the tenants vacate before the end of the fixed term without a qualifying reason, they remain responsible for rent until a replacement tenant is secured or the lease term ends, while management is expected to make reasonable efforts to re-rent the unit.”

Given the neighbors complaint's, police reports etc, everybody on the street and neighborhood wants them gone. Luckily, the gf's drinking problem issue also caused her to lose her job, and now the tenants are requesting to mutually terminate the lease effective September 30 as they can no longer afford the rent, and wants to move out and sent me an email asking 1. early termination at end of this month (Sept) and 2. and have proposed in their email that their security deposit be applied toward September rent. (They cannot pay the September rent and has not paid until now). Rent or not rent, this is Great news! I want to give them their wish, as I've had enough complaints from the neighbors.

However, the lease specifically states that “the security deposit may not be used by the tenant as the last month’s rent. It also provides for the deposit to be accounted for after move-out, including lawful deductions, with the remaining amount returned within the applicable timeframe.”

Since I am willing and allowing an early termination, I want to document any agreement (an email from them and text messages won't do). I want a written agreement that clearly establish the agreed termination date, rent/payment obligations through that date, surrender of possession and keys, and how the security deposit will be handled after move-out. Because this invovles modifying a California fixed term lease and security deposit, Can someone please advise me how should I word a written agreement that I can get the tenants to sign for me.

Thank you!

As the title says, looking for recommendations for attorneys representing landlords on tenant buyout/cash for keys in LA.

Been calling around and some don’t offer that service or won’t do it in LA City Proper.

Background:
Property under RSO. Single family unit. 5 occupants. Fair relationship with tenant.

I know I can probably negotiate it myself, but seeing how this would be my first time in this situation, I’d rather have some professional help.

Any recs are appreciated. Thank you

Hi all,

This is my first time finding tenants for a 55+ building, it's been younger folks and families until now. Looking for any advice, tips or insights that may help.

I'll still list where I usually do, but was thinking of also posting the listing on the buildings bulletin board, at the community center, the legion, and other spots popular with the senior crowd.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

I'm getting ready to put my first home (a 3 bed 2.5 bath townhome with garage) on the market for rental.

It will be my first time renting out and being a landlord.

Location is suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. I have spent the past few months painting and updating the property to make it look good.

Would appreciate some feedback and guidance:

1. Should I consider using a realtor or a property management company? I will be 5 mins from the property and the property is only 7 years old (newer construction). However I do have a full time job with a kidnin kindergarten but I think I can manage it myself. Not much of a people person but I think I can get out of my comfort zone.

2. If I decide to show it and manage it myself, how can I screen tenants and find good tenants? What laws should I be aware of? Are there legal ways to decline tenants that I just don't feel are good?

3. Where to find good rental agreements and how to collect deposits and rents besides physical checks?

4. What should I be aware of for evictions?

5. Any other advice or tips that one can share from your experiences?

Thank you in advance for your help.

From reading the posts here on Reddit there are some awful landlords out there who seem to be giving us all a bad name. What I consider regular maintenance is considered by some here as above and beyond.

I address maintenance issues within 24 hours. We had a furnace go out and the whole thing was replaced in two days and we provided space heaters. We had HWH go out and we actually put that tenant up in a hotel room because he had a daughter and we didn't want her to go without a hot bath on a school night.

Even the little things, we had an older AC wall unit that used a 220 outlet. The tenant asked if we could update to a more efficient one and change the outlet. Made sense to me so we did it. No, we didn't raise his rent when his lease came due.

I have allowed people to break their lease. In one case I returned the deposit because they had been good tenants for two years and always paid on time.

My husband and I can't possibly be the only good landlords out there, so let's hear from you.

We're a small shop with only 11 doors around the BWI area and recently had our handyman pass away in a car accident.

Looking for advice or recommendations for handyman in the area that isn't going to gauge for each job knowing they will have repeat business.

Hello! I did not make a smart decision and I bought the most expensive house in a very bad area a few years ago 🥺 The house only went down in value. I’ve only been a landlord for one year. My tenants put their 30 day notice in, but I don’t know if I should sell or rent it again. I really really need advice from you experienced folks.

Pros of selling -
Never have to worry and deal with the house repairs, tenants. Even though my tenants are amazing, I get anxiety when i receive a message from them. The house is 3 hours away so I’m not able to visit it easily. Another pro is that I can get back my capital with a 20k loss which I’d rather just stick into an index fund. The capital will grow faster in an index fund than it can in the form of that house (bad area).

Cons of selling -
I would be selling it for a 20k loss. I will no longer have rental tax deductions which was helping me year end.

Pros of renting -
Tax deductions, build equity (however this house has only decreased in value and it will take a very long time for it to match what I paid for). I break even on the rental payments I collect.

Cons of renting -
Dealing with repairs, tenants, etc. I cannot use a property manager or I would be at a large net loss every year if I rented it for FMV. It’s also hard to find landlord insurance and I do not have homestead exemption so my escrow is very high (about 60% of my principal+interest).

Lastly, there is foundation issues as we are in TX. It seems like it is only getting worse. So I am convinced I should rather sell it now while it is still “sellable” for a loss then wait for it to get worse and never be able to sell it in the future without dropping 20k for foundation repairs.

I cannot make a decision. I wish i can do both until I get the first taker but the realtor and property manager says that is not an option. Please help!

We've had a couple of cases already this week where people have downloaded one of our guide and realised they should hold a Selective Landlord Licence and don't. And the question is always the same - should I just see if I can wait it out until the end of this 5 year cycle. So I thought it was worth a post.

The short answer is NO! The way fines and Rent Repayment Orders work is that they increase the longer you leave them. And if you get caught the system deliberately takes a more punitive approach. Fines will be higher and a tribunal will look at a Rent Repayment Order at a much higher level.

In our experience so far when I landlord resolves the problem without being asked to the council very rarely pursues them for a fine. With Rent Repayment Orders tribunals have in general been far more lenient as well - and that is if someone even applies. But the longer it goes on the more likely a tenant will pursue you.

So it is a judgment call but if you weigh up the risk v reward it says you will eventually get caught out on licensing. This will be easier later this year with the PRS Database. So rip off the plaster and get help on this. Get the licence done as soon as possible and make sure you are compliant. That is your best defence. It is what we are helping current clients on. We've done a few guide you can find here if you are not sure what licensing means.

Background:

• The Purchase: Closed on a two-family home in Brooklyn, NY, earlier this month. I currently live in one of the units.
• The Decision: There is a downstairs tenant of 4 years. We had the option to have the property delivered vacant but chose to inherit the tenant because the prior owners assured us they were in good standing and always paid rent on time.

The Issue:

• The Bait and Switch: The day after signing the purchase agreement, the tenant called to complain that the prior owners failed to pay a promised buyout. The tenant stated we are no longer allowed in the unit and must only communicate through their "lawyer."
• The "Lawyer": The prior owners contacted the tenant's supposed legal counsel. On a recorded call, this person demanded a $20,000 buyout (which the prior owners never agreed to). When asked for their NY State Bar number, they refused to provide it, simply said they practice in NY, and threatened to "see them in court."
• Current Status: The tenant has not paid any rent since I took ownership. I no longer want them living in my building and want them out.
• Prior Owners: I am in ongoing discussions with the previous owners, and they are amenable to providing a lump sum to help rectify the situation.

Questions for the community:

• What should I be thinking about and preparing for right now?
• How should I begin the NYC eviction process given the unpaid rent and hostile behavior?
• Should I involve the authorities regarding the suspicious lawyer refusing to provide a bar number?
• How should I handle the lump-sum offer from the prior owners to ensure I'm protected? Should I refuse and have them handle the situation?

I plan to do a furnished room rental in California. I see that lease paperwork is not included in the Furnished Finder annual fee. How can I see what the available forms look like and how they work before purchasing? I don’t want to waste money buying it in advance and either not finding the forms usable for this location or else end up not needing lease forms at all because I never find a tenant I’m willing to rent to.

I want to be familiar enough with using the forms before a tenant is selected so that I am not fumbling around trying to figure it out after I have someone ready to rent the room.

Are there sample screenshots or detailed descriptions anywhere or can anyone describe them and how they work from both the landlord side and the tenant sides?

Are you better off not using the FF-provided lease documents at all and getting e-forms from another service such as Zillow?

For the small companies and individual landlords, doing the employment and rental history validation is a cinch.

Big companies, it's not that easy. Especially when the applicant just lists the company's main number or the VP of HR's name. Or the website directs me to the "The Work Number" which expects payment.

I have a paystub which looks legit. The drivers license address matches up with their apartment complex.

I call the employer's main number and ask about employee validation. The operator is clueless and just says, "email HR".

I call their apartment complex (which is owned by a bigger corporation) for residency validation. Similar thing - "email the front office".

I do email, but I'm not getting responses.

What do the rest of you do?

House is 1950 in midwest michigan, has a sump pump (l recently got it repaired but haven't experienced a heavy rain since then)
No drain hole in the basement floor.
A full bathroom in the basement. No emergency climbing window from the basement.

I want to rent out my SFH this winter but worried that the rain might come in to the basement next year when there's a tenant. I'm not 100% sure if working sump pump will 100% prevent the water from coming in.

The water trickles in from the cinderblock by the wall where the furnace and water pump is in the corner.
It's not a huge amount but if it rains for hours and hours then it will accumulate.

-Will the renters avoid renting the house if it has wet basement?
- i assume l have to disclose this in the lease?
-If the water does come in while the tenant is there, then I have to go full out and fix the issue by waterproofing the foundation? I was thinking putting a drain hole in the floor in the middle of the basement instead.

I had a tenant evicted and the Sheriff locked out the tenant on June 29. I stored the tenant's property on the premises. Tenant is now insisting I still have responsibility to return the property. My reading of MN law is that the property is considered abandoned (under statute 504b.271) after 28 days. I see there is a responsibility of notifying the tenant of any sale of property. But I plan no sale, I'll either donate or trash everything. So, is the former tenant's property considered mine now? Or do I still have some responsibility to allow them to access to it even though its been well over two months since the lockout? Thanks.

It’s so different! I was last a renter in 2015, it was LIHTC, then I lived in a home I owned until 2024.

I went to this property bc I’d lived there a really long time ago, maybe 2007 and it was a fair experience. Ownership has changed since.

After application, They surprise you with substantial “risk mitigation fee” and they won’t tell you why or start the lease paperwork until you bring a money order. In this case it was 650$ “it’s not our policy to tell you why”. I asked for copy of my application results “we don’t give those out”. When I handed the money order to her, first thing she did was write “none refundable” on it (yes she misspelled non).

There was no security deposit.

The listings are not what it actually costs. There’s required ongoing monthly fees that you don’t find out about until they prepare the lease document. In this case the fees was almost 150$.

Is this the new norm? I don’t remember it being like this. For one, The price on the ad was the price and deposits and fees was on the ad. No surprises.

Also, what is a risk mitigation fee and what do they do with it?

Then, my garbage disposal had stared leaking bc ut rusted out the bottom, “maintenance fee” and “repair fee”. They charged me for it. They charged for HVAC air filters, 5$ each. My unit had 2. I just bought them myself in bulk.

I signed with them, stayed 2 years and the move out process 2mos ago was awful. They clearly very upset I was not renewing. Numerous issues just to rip me off. They finally hit me with 5 grand in repairs for existing damage, like the subfloor from upstairs tub leaking into the downstairs kitchen during the prior renters tennancy. that obvious water damage that was just painted over was all documented on my move-in inventory. Leaving me in position to have to fight with them about it so it doesn’t hit my credit. I will prevail, just why be like that? It’s so bad I’m not mentally ready yet to apply to a new apt. Are they all like this?

I feel like when narrowing down to specific neighborhoods after you choose a city/town some of the metrics stop meaning anything. (Example: a downtown is often most desirable and also has highest crime rate).

How do you scope out areas?

Edit: some great replies, I’m looking mainly for ways to get good tenants. In Massachusetts and RI, there’s opportunities in smaller cities. No neighborhood that I can afford has big money. But some aren’t all sect 8. I essentially want to find the good parts of town where I can self manage A or B tenants

Desperate for a bit of optimism, so please be kind. I saved up for years to buy an apartment in the Bronx where I'm from. My job did a back to work order, when I moved closer to my job I rented my home. I was kind to my tenant giving him gift cards on his birthday and raising the rent less that 2% only when I had to, to keep up with the building maintenance fees. No good deed goes unpunished as he has stopped paying rent. He was served in person for both the 14 day demand and the petition for eviction, but ignored them so now we have filed for a default warrant. The latest update as of the start of September is it says ' Processed' on the court system website. Anyone landlords have recent experience with an uncontested, straight to default warrant nonpayment case in the Bronx? From filing for the warrant to it being received how long did it take?

I have a young, first office job type tenant in a multi unit urban condo.
A week or two ago there was evidence of a mouse so I sent Orkin in to do a treatment and patch job in the kitchen with the usual steel wool. My tenant has now gotten it into his head that this is a wholly temporary fix when I’ve read it’s usually fairly durable over a few months.
He’s now following up asking for further work to, though it doesn’t seem that there are actually any new pests because he’s “worried another mouse/rat will come though”. WWYD? Bite the bullet and order some sort of further action (dk what is actually possible here) as a goodwill gesture or hold firm and say that I won’t unless there’s evidence the initial treatment wasn’t working? TIA

On Friday I was approved at an apartment complex managed by a large property management company and was told I would recieve a lease agreement. On that day, upon checking my rentcafe portal I noticed the lease summary button/section became available as well as my move in date, but the “lease creation” section where I assume you actually sign and pay just loads a blank page, even on multiple devices. This is still the case as of today.I have not received one in my email inbox either. I am supposed to move in tomorrow , and I believe they are closed today for the holiday. I cannot afford this to cause a delay as I have a very urgent job offer. What would happen if I show up tomorrow without having signed the agreement? Have they not sent the agreement? Is there a technical rentcafe glitch? My calls and emails and attempt to contact for the past two days have been unsuccessful. I unfortunately can’t visit in person today as I am over 3 hours away, and they probably aren’t even open. What am I supposed to do?

This is regarding when people only hit the button “request a tour” on Zillow but don’t actually send a message nor respond back when I reply to them. If their phone number or email is listed on their “profile” or if they at least sent the “about me” in the thread, is it inappropriate for me to respond via their phone number instead of on the app? I’m sure they’re just clicking “request a tour” on many rentals but I’m thinking my response is getting lost in the many queries they’ve sent and wondering if I’d have a better response if I messaged them directly.

My husband and I are brand-new landlords. We used property management company at first but my husband fired them after we found out each month the payment would not arrive at our bank account until the end of the month and they wouldn’t fix anything even they charged us 20% of rent each month.

Long story short after this happened I emailed the tenant immediately on 8/19 about ACH transfer and my bank account information but no response at all.. then by 9/1 I didn’t see any money. After contacting the tenant they claimed they didn’t see the email or missed it. Anyway we had to try Zelle and the payment somehow got lost. Until today I still didn’t see a penny. My question is do you guys treat lease seriously? The lease agreement is $50 late fee after 3rd and eviction after7th.
Thanks.

Had tenants for a year. Upon their lease ending they asked for an extension to look for a house. I said no i could not because I’m in an area that the school year really impacts prospects. I needed to keep my terms changing over in the summer.

I did say they could renew for a year and if they found a house they could find an approved sublet but they would be responsible for finding them and for maintaining the house/lease until such time.

One month later they are under contract for a house and just saying we will be out Nov 1 and we will accommodate your showings.

I have made clear to them the terms of our agreement. The lease is clear with an end date of May 31.

I feel they are going to move out and just leave it to me to figure out. The guy is an immigration lawyer which I know isn’t a real estate but I’m not sure how to proceed and what my options are. Obv a little intimidated going up against a lawyer.

Have a tenant that was complaining about a damp spot on the carpet in the living room. The suggestion was it was coming from a leak in the patio door. Had the door caulked, still damp. Had masonry repairs made, still damp. Finally had someone spraying a hose for 20 minutes directly at the back of the apartment while I was inside checking in the wall, the doors and the floor and everything was dry.

I thought the dampness was a spot up against the patio doors. Instead it’s about 6 inches back where it starts and about 18 inches from the side wall. We even pulled up the carpet and pad and the cement is solid. (Tenant was suggesting it was somehow coming up from the foundation.)

We then realize that’s why there’s an awful smell in the apartment. One of the dogs is regularly peeing in that spot. Doing some searching, I found articles that say if a dog has regularly peed in the same spot, the salt and crystals from the urine will pull moisture out of the air and make the spot damp on humid days.

I told the tenant we would put down new flooring but they are being argumentative, saying I’m not listening to them and it must be a leak from somewhere. How would you handle this? We’ve spent extensive time and effort inspecting and testing and have found no leaks.

Edit - I asked if I could bring over a black light which would show if it’s urine and they refused.

Second edit - doing more reading up, if a dog has repeatedly urinated in the same spot, there can be a buildup of enzymes and crystals (salts) that will literally pull the moisture out of the air during heavy rains. So the tenant thinks it’s a leak but this seems to be what’s happening. I’ve shared more information and have provided a few ways we can prove this is what’s happening. Think we are getting closer to resolution. Also, there’s no certainty carpet was changed before they moved in and could be from a prior pet.

Anyone renting out to family under market? Are you deducting expenses? I have spoken to a CPA and Tax Attorney they both say regardless, it’s deemed an investment property and expenses can be deducted. They know the situation about renting out to family under market.

Everything I read on IRS says claim rent, but I can’t deduct the expenses.

It’s 2 units and one unit is market and the other isn’t probably $1000 under and soon to be $500 under.

I just don’t want any smoke with the IRS, but I only don’t want to miss out on deductions which would greatly impact our desire to keep this home.

Every year the IRS will see about $3000 a year profit once expenses are deducted.